Project 365: Day 110 — Raising the bar

Complacence always worries me. I’ve seen people get complacent and then take a bad knock. There’s no constant upgrading of skills, no constant desire to learn. Being a curious person, I’m usually one to ask questions.

I haven’t written about something that happened a few years ago around this time. On 24th August 2011, I made the decision of switching careers. It could never have happened without the support of a few loved ones. It led to a lot of bitterness in my relationship with my family, it paved the way for a lot of previously unaddressed issues coming up, and it isn’t something my folks have fully accepted either (the bitterness not the career change). Yet, I think it is far from the worst decision I have made. I made a series of decisions thereafter that were totally off from my usual decision-making pattern.

Over time, I learnt to be surer of myself, I realised that, like my former self, I didn’t know where some of my decisions would lead me, and I still don’t! The point is, to keep going, keep learning from one’s wins and losses. Complacence and risk-taking are always going to be at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Without risks, one cannot hope to constantly improve and without improvement, one will languish and eventually become redundant. I shudder at the idea of becoming redundant.

A lot has changed in five years. I am a lot more confident. I wouldn’t have had the courage to take another risk had the first one — when I made the switch — been a disaster. That I topped the class I took the next year was fluke, and I still believe it was. But even in saying that, I know that I was better than most of my classmates in a lot of ways. I have never been a frontbencher in class, but that year, I was one. I excelled in each of my subjects and till date, I can commend myself on having managed to impress and still be in touch with about half of my professors, a feat no one else in my class has managed. I’m not boasting, but it is extremely reassuring when things come easy to you than when you see yourself struggling to accomplish something and it’s not something you even want to accomplish.

Five years down, I don’t want to stop. I want to now learn French in the next five years. I want to learn a musical instrument (though I’m yet to set a timeline for that). I want to explore other professional avenues than the one I’m currently pursuing. There are so many things one needs to be thankful about. One of the things I’m extremely thankful about is the constant need to learn something new, even if it is something small. It keeps me hungry and fuels my urge to raise the bar in order to accomplish my goals.

For unless I raise the bar, I won’t push myself. Unless I raise the bar, I won’t be happy. :) Cheers to setting and striving to achieve new goals!

Thanks for reading!