Where am I heading?

Ok, this has been long time coming I guess. If I was a 15 year old now and someone with a magic wand showed me a picture of my life “I would be a team manager at xxxxxxxx, 10 years down the line, doing xxxxxxxxxx” would I have taken it? I guess, my answer would be “No way”.

Life over the last few years have taken a lot of turns and looks like I have ended up with what I didn’t really wish for. Having said that, I love what I am currently doing and I am more than happy with the position I am in. However, this isn’t what I wished for, this is more like being contended to what I ended up with. Of course, the problem is with me, I just didn’t realize a lot of things early in my life.

The number of avenues that people can get into is enormous but when I was young there was no one really to guide me. Also, the media or the exposure to the outside world was also very less during the 90’s which deprived me a lot of things. If I actually think of it, I don’t think I knew anyone from school that ventured into a different field. Almost everyone I know who studied with me are either into business or into the corporate world.

If I look back and think of what could I have done differently, then there are a number of things that come to mind. I could have chosen to be a Pilot, doctor, sportsmen, detective, economist, politics, commentator, artist, musician …so on … but it was just the preemptive mindset that I would end up with family business right from childhood that didn’t help my cause. Now, with all the media, technology, knowledge I really wonder why this, why not something else?

Come to think of it., even this corporate life didn’t start at my wish, it just happened. I still remember I was sitting in my office when one of my friends (Mihir Shah) called me and checked if I was interested in attending an interview. I thought for a minute and then spoke to my mom. She advised me that it would be good to start a career outside and then come to business as I would learn a lot more. So, I decided to give 10 years of what I am doing now to gain the maturity and understanding of not just business but about different people and customers. Also, the fact that I would earn my own money, the sense of satisfaction from that is definitely humungous. So, I decided to give the interview and subsequently cleared it.

Anyways, now that I want to do something different am I doing anything about it? It’s difficult to say, I have been checking on how to be an international umpire which has got me fascinated off late, speaking to ppl on venturing into a new business may be. However, all this is just half hearted – why? ‘cos it’s just the fear, fear of losing what I have now, fear of failure, fear of age, fear of time that can be lost, fear of competition and that’s why all this should have been thought 10 years ago. Why not go back to my own business, well that becomes a routine, that’s normal, there is no spice to life then.

The only way I can cheer up is to think of the ever famous line “Everything happens for a reason and the reason is always good” so what I am doing now, is probably the best place for me.