The Practicality of being Impractical

When we’re young students in school, bright eyed and bushy tailed we dream of the grand schemes we’ll accomplish. Then we grow up and sensibly kill all ‘impractical’ dreams of grand schemes.

A lot of people who are now really successful were initially told their ideas were too wild and ‘impractical’. But they never killed their dream.

We conform in a bid to fit societal norms. Successful people who make it big tend to be non-conformists who don’t limit themselves by trying to be ‘practical’ and fit societal definitions and expectations.

We grow up and in an attempt to be an adult member of society, we become ‘practical’ and impose unnecessary restrictions on ourselves.

Soon we have to apply to college and choose what we do for the rest of our lives.

What should we choose?

‘Helpful’ suggestions immediately start flooding in from all corners.

Join a profession (typically meaning, doctor, lawyer or chartered accountant). (It may make you miserable but at least) You’ll never be out of work!

“Why don’t you do an engineering? It looks good and Chintu Uncle’s son Pappu is also doing it at that ‘New Place with the Fancy but Vague Name’. What does it matter if you hate studying it, it’ll help you get a job for sure.”

All very safe, very ‘practical’ options.

But there’s a certain ‘practicality' in taking the, risky, ‘impractical’, less travelled route; especially if you love what you’re doing.

The degree you choose to pursue should be (a)about something that you find genuinely interesting and (b) that will help you pursue a career you feel passionately about.

You may not know what exactly you find interesting. A good place to start is to think about what you are curious about. Hardly practical you may think. But it’s important to uncover these less obvious interests because that’s what will differentiate you from the masses.

Steve Jobs had an interest in calligraphy and dropped in on a class where he learnt about typefaces and the beauty of typography. Totally useless one may think, but it helped him develop his design sensibilities which became a major product differentiator for Apple.

Here’s why it’s a good idea to pursue a career you are passionate about:

1. When we speak about something we feel passionately about, people will sit up and listen as we tend to sound more reliable and authoritative to them (clients/ customers).
2. What is a tedious chore to others, fits uniquely with our interests and doesn’t feel like work at all.
3. It may make you the next Steve Jobs. (Note: This one isn’t a 100% gurantee!)

Sadly, this doesn’t happen. Passion buckles under the societal pressure of being ‘practical’ and ‘impractical’ childhood dreams are shelved. We land up doing a degree which will ensure employment,or at least it did ten or twenty years ago.

Employment areas like sponges have a saturation point. There comes a time when a particular area of employment, always oh so safe in the past, becomes far less secure and starts dripping back fresh, less gifted, graduates into the murky world of unemployment.

So how about taking the plunge and doing what you want to do and are passionate about? Keep an open mind and take that photography course, do that fine arts programme, or that acting degree.

However, ensure you know what your chosen career path involves. Be sure it’s a passion and not just a fad. Passion will help you fight to excel in that area, no matter how challenging and how hard. Fads will fade.

Passion will help you stick it out and find an invaluable use for that apparently useless degree/course.