The single most important constituent of professional success
If there’s one word that captures the essence of professional life*, it’s this one: cluttered.
TLDR: The most important constituent of professional success is to somehow avoid being a cynic despite all the setbacks you’ll inevitably face.
I remember reading somewhere that most of us think that we’re busy when, in fact, we are merely disorganized.
It was the mid of December 2018 then…
In my case, I was actively disorganized. I cannot emphasize that enough. I was not just “unorganized”, so to say: every ounce of my being was rallying against taking any action at personal or professional improvement. I’ve had many lows ever since completing high school in 2008 but this rut was a different beast altogether... I was 27, pushing 28, and despite being qualified enough to take a start, this overpowering sense of reluctance held me back from even trying. At that point, it had to change. Something had to.
Hopefully, this has served as adequate context for the period before I enrolled for a professional development and career preparation program: Amal Academy. The program was titled the Amal Academy Career-prep Fellowship (or the Fellowship) and we, the students, were the career-prep fellows.
The one thing that set the Fellowship apart was this positivity that defined the learning environment. This might have felt forced in many a place but was an oddly comforting presence throughout the session.
The point of this blog, at least initially, was to write about the single most important thing the Fellowship had taught me (I know the title says otherwise but they’re both the same thing). I’ll move on to that now.
It’s April 2019 now…
What was the most important lesson learned?
I could type entire paragraphs on each of the contents of the Fellowship and the takeaways from each of them. But since this article is supposed to cover the single most important one, that is what I’ll share here. Don’t get me wrong, there was so much to learn and I had a hard time picking just one thing out of all the invaluable things we learned along the way.
You start your professional life being motivated with objectives in mind, but continuous failure saps your will to go on. Career plans often do not unfold as planned. For the more ambitious, setbacks are often harder than they would otherwise be. When your career starts to grind you out over years on end, even the most spirited lose hope. The result is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness that bars you from making plans because you’re afraid of taking risk and lack grit.
If I had to choose the one single thing that made the experience indispensable, it would be the positivity gradually developed over the curse of the Fellowship. The resulting self belief spurred me into action and, in a way, tricked me into thinking of the fellowship as a new start. The career counseling session that capped the Fellowship just added the finishing touches to that concept: that it is okay to fail and start again. That its okay to set challenging objectives even if you’ve failed in the past.
It was made possible by positivity that our instructors worked so hard to foster with their encouragement and inclusivity. You, despite your limitations, were not a lost cause, but were, instead, the object of the Fellowship. That encouragement and innate self belief was the defining feature of the program.
Admittedly, I’m getting carried away here. If i had to sum it up as a single thing, it would be about reinstating the need to not be a cynic in the face of repeated setbacks.
Maybe I couldn’t phrase that message in a way that’d be more catchy, memorable or quotable but this is the essence of professional excellence. Being consistent and persevering despite failure. But more importantly, not letting failure get to you in a way that it defines your outlook on life and bars you from starting over.
There were so many ways in which we were encouraged to spur into action… Urging us to keep a blog detailing progress routinely, asking people for feedback, knowing your strengths and sticking by them: all little ways to keep you engaged and small steps that’d help anyone start over again, if it came to that.
Why do I think it’s important?
So many times, cynicism is what defines our default state of mind.
We’re geared to put ourselves down after every setback. The best laid plans going awry so often is a humbling experience… That’s the way it is for many post high school in the late teens and the early twenties. For most of us who cannot persevere through, we scale back our ambition, unwittingly settle for mediocrity and chaos ensues. The temptation to give up midway or to settle for less than the standards you’ve initially set out for yourself is overwhelming. It is in that nadir (some call it the quarter life crisis) that we are most in need of encouragement that might insulate us against despair.
It provides you with something to fall back on in the worst times of persistently nagging self-doubt.
The positivity that the sense of the self generates empowers you to push through your worst days (weeks, months, years, who knows?) and to find support in your circle and beyond. It’s what enables you to tap into that reserve of self belief and pushes you to go that extra mile. Without it, every roadblock is a dead end and you’ve to start from scratch. A mental image of who you are allows you to recuperate from (inevitable) personal and professional failure, and to move on. It makes your struggle something organic, something you relate to and not just something you have to out yourself through to earn a living or to prove a point.
The idea of the self is what underlies some of the principles that we were explicitly taught in the Fellowship and allows their successful application. Those of being organised, setting smart goals… It all feeds into the idea of self-development. Self-development through lifelong learning being one of the founding features of Amal Academy and the Fellowship.
How do I apply this lesson beyond the Fellowship?
I’ll try reminding myself why I started and what I am aiming at. I’m very clear about what my objectives are and will use them to inspire confidence during the worst of times. I’ll use blogging, finding support and feedback from friends, and a journal as the tools for much-needed introspection. I’ll keep working on that mental image of the state I want to be at, accompanied by the self-belief that its possible.
