It is that phase in the economic cycle when people do a reality check. Uncertainty looms ahead, and managements drive themselves crazy figuring out where the next big check is going to come from to keep the wheels of the organization running. Cowering in our own cubicle or workbench, we never know when they will hand us our proverbial pink slip and bid us goodbye.
There are two alternatives to handle this economic condition. The first is the tried and tested. Dignity in one pocket and resume in the other, we knock at the doors of the other companies whose outward facade conveys an impression of everything being hunky-dory inside. And get rejected by the people who aren't sure when they themselves will get the boot.
Let us consider this alternative from a different angle. When we were born, we used to be cleaned and washed, fed and clothed and generally taken care of. We used to look up to somebody to do all that for us. Haven't we continued with the same pattern, of looking up to somebody, of expecting a job to become available that we can perform, which will feed us and clothe us and generally fulfill our material needs? Isn't it time we grew up?
As kids, we were given an extra dollop of ice-cream for being good. Remember the visits of the Santa Claus every year? Now we expect somebody to pat our ego and nurse our pride with lofty-sounding designations and nifty little perks - the corner office, that special parking space, the vacation with the family, the topped-up bonus and that ESOP handout, the promotion that gives us the opportunity to look down upon people who once were peers, thank you. And when these goodies are not forthcoming, we sulk and we pout and we go look for another Santa Claus. Tell me really, have we grown up at all?
And so let us see what the second alternative looks like. Here it is!
Which is to use the season of doom and economic gloom to go inward and realize that this actually is an opportunity to get out of the rat race once and for all and do our own thing. Set up our own shop. Be our own boss. Hoist our own flag. I am running out of symbolism, but you get the idea.
Returning again to the kid analogy, remember the things that we enjoyed doing when we were young and not yet entered the rat race, the things that thrilled us the most? When we did what we did because we liked doing what we were doing, and not because we had to do what we ended up doing because that was what the boss wanted us to do. Or else. There is money to be made, you know, in doing things that we enjoy and are passionate about. It is only a question of figuring out how. Let me also tell you, that the figuring out how happens only during times of economic recession, and not when the going is good and everybody is smiling and doing the rumba.
"Realize your own potential" becomes a cliche when the HR boys and girls use it while dangling the golden cage before us. It becomes a mantra when we use it to really understand how far we can go when we are on our own. Have we forgotten life outside the cage? Have we forgotten - or worse, never ever known? - what it means to be free and to do our own thing? To set our own goals, to make our own targets, and to soar as high as our wings and our ambitions can take us?
Or have we become rather addicted to our inner child's needs being taken care of by that neatly-suited-booted HR manager and his / her team of cohorts and headhunters and detectives, spying on every move we make outside the office and trying to figure out what must be going on in our mind, so that we can be, uh, appropriately manipulated?
Or have we rather come to enjoy the performance reviews where the senior takes malicious pleasure in nitpicking the omissions and commissions that we may or may not have indulged in throughout the year? Like the stern teacher handing over the grades in class. The armpits used to sweat the same way then too, didn't they?
Or have we rather come to relish the politics and the backbiting and the gossip and the bitching in the office and the workplace? The latest news about this affair and that, the latest news on who is in favor and who has fallen out of favor, the devil who is badmouthing about us behind the back ... oh, won't we miss them all?
Let's step out of the world we have immersed ourselves in and become comfortable in. And step into the world of freedom. Let's find the vocation that we enjoy the most. Let's learn the right skills that are needed to survive and thrive in the market. And take the plunge with faith and belief in self. Success and prosperity are waiting to be ours, if only we reach out for them. Let us be brave for a change. Let's reach out! Now!
Sanjay Agrawal is a writer and self-development enthusiast. Enjoyed reading this piece? Find more on his blog here: http://success-nirvana.blogspot.com
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