DREAMZZ UNLIMITED- STORIES THAT INSPIRE

I express my hearty gratitude to CVOCA to give me this opportunity for penning down my professional journey for the professional aspirants of our community. This helps a lot to the personal in initial phase as person who has travelled the path knows the pitfalls and can share their wisdom to dodge few pitfalls.

I’ll not only provide the journey from my perspective but will be covering entire experience which I have gained from the experience of others too. This will help in getting deeper insights. As they say individually it’s a 20-25 or say 30 years of experience but as a groupwe can percolate the learnings of may be 2000 years or may be 10000 years too!

Being from the humble background, it was a ground up journey for me and in hindsight it gives a sense of satisfaction.

Now let me list down the earnings of learnings from experience which you can and surely will implement in your professional journey. The list is not in any order of preference but just a normal listing and all are equally important:

• Attitude of gratitude:- During the course life (personal or professional), one comes across various people who may be working with us, providing service, helping us, working below us so on and so forth. These can be driver (incl auto/taxi driver), your librarian, your newspaper vendor, your friends/colleagues (whether junior or senior) etc. Express your gratitude to them on a continual basis. It is possible that you may also have some bitter experiences from few of them but that should not make difference to one’s attitude of gratitude. It helps a lot and it also leaves a mark in life of youracquaintance. And of course gratitude to your parents, family & relative’s whose blessings and good wishes have seen you grow over the period.
• Either you win or you learn:–It’s not always that one wins, however the otherwise also helpsshaping the individual as a person. Though in most of the readings around, there is over emphasis on winning, being on top/ being first in everything one does etc. however in life there are instances when it doesn’t happen as such. Not even best players have won always so why does one take stress if the results are not favorable. If you have put in the efforts, you have won and there is no second thought to it. Being practical always keeps you calm and composed. You may surely get some comments around you which may not suit your thoughts but never mind!
• Net ‘works’:–I just want to emphasis on the multiplier effect and power of having a good networking and to be in touch. There are lot of meetings you have regularly with various people – you remember few and you forget few. However the opportunity is to just keep in touch with them though it may not be possible to do it regularly. The opportunities arise when one’s network is leveraged. To support this point now you have multiple professional social media platforms also available. Just add them, nudge them during their birthday or work anniversary etc. These small relation building efforts can give you strong platform in future which you wont be able to envisage at the time of making these efforts.

• Knowl’EDGE’:-In the world of knowledge’ one who knows has the edge. We are in a dynamic environment and world is changing on daily basis. In these situations, you have to continually update your knowledge and it is not necessary that you seekinformation of domain in which you are a expert. A general knowledge of the other subject would also help you and aid in your development. Never ridicule someone for lack of knowledge in one subject/skill, they may be expert in other subject which may not be relevant today but can become the topic of the future. The organizations which have not upgraded itself on the latest trends, have fallen flat and new organizations have flourished quickly. Currently it is indeed very exciting timewhich we are going through.
• Have a mentor:-It is always very prudent to have a mentor who acts as your friend, philosopher or guide. You will surely have your friend/family support but they may not necessarily be aware of the topic/queries which have been going on in your mind. Invest your time and resources in having fruitful conversations with your mentor. Conversations can be casual / topic oriented, corporate related, work/life related etc and subject does not make any difference but support does. Your mentor would not answer all your queries but will guide you on how to approach the problem to find the solution. This can be really helpful in some situations when you are facing dilemma.
• Decision maker:-In our life we continually learn to get the capabilities to decide among various alternatives available i.e., which school to select for kid, which stream should we choose, which car / property / dress / holiday should be buy/ which stock to buy, should the audit report be qualified so on and so forth. So as a human our biggest capacity is to assess various alternatives and decide. And as a professional we have gone through the tough course to sharpen our decision makingskills. Noone is 100% perfect in all the decisions and as a normal rule if decision is taken withoutany assessmentit has 50% chance to be right. With our knowledge, academic achievements, experience and support, we are just enhancing our skills to improve our decision making and if we are not able to decide within timelines, we may miss the bus.Responsible decision making is valued!
• De-stress:-Easy said than done but each one of us is going through some stress which may not be felt apparently. Whether a professional person or family member at home, everyone has some stress. Acknowledge the same and it no use shying away from it. However at the same time you ought to find alternatives to de-stress yourself. Spending time with family/friends and withown self to go through relaxing moments and keep your mind free. Do yoga, spend time on spiritual activities, exercise, enjoy your holidays/movie or play you love and its never to late to start it if you have not yet initiated. This support system will sustain you for long term. Your body is your fixed asset and can depreciate very fast if you don’t maintain it well!

Care to help others, and your good deeds will bounce back on you in a way which may be pleasantly surprising for you.

Last and not the least, I have not numbered the above points as it would be unfair for me to do that as there is so much more to share. Happy to help anyone in their journeys too!