10 days to corporate life – lessons to self

To start with, I have to say that this blog saw some kick ass activity in the last few weeks. I haven’t been posting regularly, so potentially a serial killer is studying me before he makes a move. That aside, I am keen to update my non-existent readers that I lost another 2 kilos – and I am sitting comfortably at 74kgs, as I write this. This again took me 45 days. And man, it was hard. Imagine losing weight in the last few weeks of your MBA.

There’s another thing on my mind these days: my life post the MBA. In exactly 10 days, I’m looking to join my job – and get into a certain routine of doing things. Time constraints will reappear and the art of prioritizing and multitasking will have to be honed.

Clearly (as you know it already) – this is not my first shot at a job. So, I somewhat have an idea of what it takes, and what it shouldn’t take. Being able to do the job well is a key goal, and I am totally looking to achieve it. However, I don’t want to make the same mistakes I made in the previous stint, so I’m thinking hard on how I’m going to run my life hereafter. Basically, I’m looking to list down what I should be focused at so that in case I lose myself once again in the vagaries of life, I can re-visit this blog post to remind myself, what I’m out there to achieve and how.

So here it goes:

#1 Dietary Discipline and Fitness: Well, you probably saw it coming. I’m come to believe strongly in the power of good health. Being fit is important for me. It enhances my self-confidence. It improves my productivity. To many, the word ‘discipline’ is almost irritating; as if it’s the synonym for uncool. I agree with them. It’s the boring way of doing things. You will have to compromise on the fun aspect. But for me, the latent gratification of seeing goal oriented results is much more satisfying than the short term doses on sporadic fun (at least on most days). And honestly, one can strike a balance. It’s not that I have to stop eating or drinking, all I have to do is being conscious of how much of these I’m having, and then see how much I can afford to, given my fitness goals. If you’re reading this, and are not convinced, then watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rbVQNTzCh8. Actually discipline goes beyond fitness. It’s about managing your sleep well, paying your bills on time, reading the newspaper everyday, not missing your breakfast, avoiding binge watching. These little things improve your way of life, in a much more important way than you can imagine.

#2 – Focus on Knowledge: This has been a goal in the previous jobs too. And it worked for me big time. My life shifted directions ever since I latched to the habit of reading newspapers. It makes you a much more aware person. It also makes you much more sociable; suddenly, you just have so much to talk about. There are obviously no concrete goals on how much I’m planning to read, but clearly I’m looking to keep myself up to date with domestic and world events, particularly in business. This would mean being regular with the newspaper, and a few Indian and world magazines.

#3 – Traveling: This one’s a little shaky, because I’m yet to figure out how much my job will require me to travel. In any case, two vacations a year should always be possible. I still have to figure out the details, but luxurious, exotic locations are what I’m after. What I really like about this goal, is that is mingles well with the dietary discipline one. I’m really, really looking forward to completing a few treks.      

#4 – Parents: I’m 27 years old, and I don’t think I’ve yet been able to do anything substantial for my parents. While my family understands that they and I have a different operating frequency, I feel, in my selfish interest, that being able to do something for them will bring some personal gratification. From something as simple as planning a family dinner every month, to buying little things for the house will do the job.

#5 – Get a house first: This I think, is a baniya thing. Of all things I want to buy with my money, a good house is right on the top of my list. With so many loans lurking over my head, to achieve this goal looks a little distant, but nevertheless it’s on the radar. Having one’s own house is the best way to improve one’s standard of living. Isn’t that what we’re all trying to achieve? – Improving our standard of living I mean.

This is an unending list, and I will keep adding on to it from time to time. It’s indeed a hard list to keep up with but I’m going to see how it goes in the next few months. I also hope I’m able to blog more often.

Ho ho ho!

I’m going to start with the usual – so much has changed, since the last time I blogged.

Tersely put, this is a recap so that I can maintain a mental diary of the chronology of important life events. Mind it that the events that I’m going to talk about are going to guide everything in my life: my career progression, my relationship with my parents, my marriage.  

I stepped foot in ISB on the 18^th April 2015. On 5^th December, I got a job offer from a top notch consulting firm, with a fairly plush pay package. Yay! I never thought I would manage so much. I have had such muted expectations from myself that it seems that my luck must be at its highest point that day. Anyways, now that I have the job, I’m just going to pretend that I deserved it.

I got the job in December, and I was done with my placement season. And therefore, I had a lot of time on my hands thereafter. But I basically didn’t do much besides partying, gaining 5 kilos, and screwing up my sixth term. Well worth it, I’d say. But eventually, I was hit by an epiphany about myself: nothing depresses me more in life than to not have a goal to pursue. If there’s no goal, there’s no feeling of accomplishment – there’s no adrenaline rush, there’s nothing to feel bogged down about, and nothing to pick myself up for, like the typical Hindi film hero.

I also realized that I don’t like revealing my goals explicitly to others. I’m a secret achiever, who tries to achieve what he has to, in a rather discrete, non-revealing way. When the goal is achieved, I may just come back to my room, close the door, and say – ‘Yay’ to myself, with a fist clenched, and a sheepish smile on my face. And that would be the end of it, till of course, I give myself something new to chew on.

These days, I have a couple of things that keep my mental bandwidth preoccupied. Good health, is one. I used to be 72 kilos, and still think that I’m not the fittest. Today, I weigh 76. It’s plainly disappointing to think how I let this happen. Anyways, I lost 4 kilos in the last 45 days, and slowly fitting back into the clothes that I had long abandoned. I’m treading a path of dietary discipline, and its making me a happier person. I’m not letting myself be till I get ‘Fit as Fuck’ (FaF) – it’s my personal verbiage.

If you’ve read my blog earlier, you would know that hardly a post goes without mentioning an update on my relationship angle. Since you see no mention, clearly it’s on the backburner. I was told that relationships don’t survive MBAs – definitely not two of them, and most certainly not simultaneously. My relationship survived alright; but it lost a  few of its senses. Pity.