Digital Corporate Adulthood

This post is originally written by Kunal D Mehta, a.k.a. ServerBaba, PluralSight.

Life Lessons I've Learnt:

There are a few things I've come to realize over the past few years. I'm just sharing them with you just in case it helps. I can't really speak of other countries, but in India these things make complete sense and are totally relevant.

1. You really need to have time bound life goals. List out things that you want to achieve and by what age. Take a printout of it and stick it on a wall where you will see it everyday. If you delay achieving any goal by more than 1.5 years, you will need to make major strategic changes in your life. Without concrete life goals, it's easy to be lost.

2. Most companies will make you slog in exchange for a few peanuts. High paying jobs will completely destroy your work-life balance. Slogging for the first 2 years of your career is okay, but not more than that. Finding a company that pays well and lets you lead a comfortable life is the key for long term sustainability.

3. Surviving on paycheck-to-paycheck is not enough. You need to establish at least another passive source of income to serve as fallback if you become sick or are laid off. People often focus a lot on savings, but never on maximizing their earnings. A total of at least two or more income sources brings a high degree of financial stability.

4. Your seniors at work will treat you like a subordinate and look down on you. They will try to suppress you the moment they realize you're smarter than them or can do better than them. Preventing you from progressing is the only way they fuel their self-inflated ego. You'll never be treated as an equal. Be aggressive and cut through them like a chainsaw cuts through wood.

5. By observing what my female friends go through, I've got to know that most messages you get on LinkedIn or any other platform pretending to be about work will actually only be a conversation starter disguised as work. Learn to differentiate between the genuine and fake messages. You will be harassed at your workplace and be put into difficult situations. Failure to comply will result in fake stories about your character circulating all over the office. Inform the HR about every such incident immediately on paper and let someone you trust know about it to ensure that the dots can be connected in case things go south in the future.

6. Motivational quotes and videos will only give you a temporary high. Don't rely on such crap at all. I've seen people sharing a million fancy quotes and really doing nothing in life. Only real passion for your goals will give you perpetual motivation. If you don't have any passion, it means you don't have concrete life goals. In which case, read point (1) written above.

7. People will pretend to encourage you only as long as you don't do better than them. Once you do, they will hate your guts. Do not think twice to let go of such people. And at the same time, be loyal and never let go of anyone who has positively impacted your life no matter how big or successful you become.

8. Whenever you are facing a major hurdle, spent more time on solving the problem rather than whining, crying, or cribbing about it. If there's no way you can fix it, then forget about it. Not everyone is Rajnikanth, right?

9. Travel at least twice a year. Going to new places and meeting new people gives you a new perspective of the world. Travelling widens your mental horizon which in turn can give you new innovative ideas to solve conventional problems.

10. Always have a visibility into at least two years in future of your life. Know what you're going to do, how you're going to do and where you will be after that. I almost always have my plan for the next 2-3 years ready for me. It brings a certainty to the critical components in life and gives you clarity and a peace of mind.

11. Health is above anything else. If you're continuously prioritizing work over health, you will suffer one day. Everything today is data-driven, so why not health? Get a full medical checkup done every year. We are the first generation transitioning into the excessive digital era and we don't know how far and how long can our bodies handle this lifestyle.

12. No matter what, suicide is never the solution. I've lost one of my classmate and got two of my relatives into trouble because of people committing suicide. You were the little swimmer that won. You could've been born an animal, but you didn't. You could've died at birth, but you didn't. You could've starved to death or been an illiterate, but that didn't happen. You have enough resources to be reading this Facebook post. I'd say 80% of the race is already won. Do you really want to quit at this stage? If there's anything which is troubling you so bad, run away from it, punch it in the face, or talk to a friend about it.

Questions? I'm happy to help. Cheers! 😜

Original Post: Facebook