A B C of Survival

A day will come when all of us will retire. A retirement from an assignment. In professions like most of the salaried class comes to an end at age of 60 or probably 58. I am going to be 26 years in another 3 to 4 months. The difference 58-24 = 34 years is what I have, still to work out for my survival as a professional. What do I need? Answer is simple - SKILLS.

What should I do for these 34 years? Should I continue or should I change my profession? Should I plan for a change or should I wait for a change? Do you get same questions in your mind? What to do? If yes, you are a pure confused idiot like me.

In our life, we get at least one chance per year to change our life. If money is what we need then it can be earned in many ways but it is not only money which is needed for survival. It is a hope which you need to live and grow. Money is just a helping tool to reach a destination , not the destination but, still it is vital and very important if you have responsibilities on your shoulder as a son, as a brother, as a sister or as a father or mother. The cost of living is the reason for cash flow but, cost of living should not be paid on cost of life. The importance of money is vital but only gathering money is not important. It is 20% of your life, the rest 80% is your life minus money. Then, how much should you earn? According to me, I will propose a simple solution for this;
1. Think of how much you need now. Suppose, a guys needs (approx)
10000 - food
10000 - rent
10000 - saving
10000 - others misc
Thus, he should earn 40000 per month. If he earns less than this he should get this figure as soon as possible. The aim should be earning net 40000 per month or 4.8 lakhs per annum. No compromise.
2. Once you have reached this mark, think on how much would you need after 5 years.
20000- food
20000- rent
30000 -saving
20000 - others misc
Thus, you need 90000 per month. thus start working for next five years to reach this figure. Now work it out. See options how to get to this figure. You have five years to get this figure. Try to work out a plan and go for it. Do this kind of planning every five years or three years and you would know how much you need.

Since, by this time you would have already figured out how much you need then, what is next? Once you know you can earn and have a plan for execution for next five years, plan for a family. Family? yes, a family which can provide you a backup support. The question comes --"Do I need a family for my survival ?" Answer is "YES". Plan for your marriage. A guy should get married before the half of the age of retirement. Thus, it comes around on or before 29.

Then? Once you are married it's time to give some share of your plans to the lady of your life, get you wife on discussion table and get your plan which you made before marriage approved. If she advises something else include it or discuss it. Done. Now both of you know what you both need to do for next five or three years. Therefore, you have now 4 hands and 2 heads to accomplish your goal. Now, give the planning commission file to your wife to make any number of amendments as per her vision and get the approval of your parents. Get your plan approved from your father and mother (include in-laws, if she insists). And you are set. :) It is not necessary to get the whole file approved. You can keep the confidential matters out of it. But that should be home ministry's decision and let her do what she want with the planning file. You got it approved by her now its her responsibility to get it approved by cabinet, not yours.

Keep one thing in mind, by the time you are a bachelor, you life is only yours. Once, you are a family man, your life is for your family. Then what about you? Oh! your future is already in that file. Remember? the one which you made before starting a family and got it approved after marriage also. If you got my point, it is simple. You planned everything for your life including everyone's who are part of your life. The main thing which plays and pays is your plans and their execution.

Although, you have already understood A and B of life which you planned . The C is for compromise. That's A B and C of Survival. In simple terms, A is After marriage. B is Before marriage. C stands Compromises you make.

Release : Classic View

Nov16, 2009. The day would be marked as a new day in my life. Things are not only going to change but they would go for a toss. The outcome will have an impact on my life and surely is going to set a course for a brand new beginning. Although, I never thought that I would get released so soon but it seemed to be well planned. It would be too early to comment on it as there are still 2 days to Nov15, my release day. I thought that I would pen my thoughts for these days.

The office politics and drama continues. Let's have a look how it goes. I would request you to just have a look and not believe it as the things for granted. It can be specific to me only. So here it goes...

I was asked 3 months ago " What would you like to do? - technical work or managerial work ? Hopefully, it was my first trap. I left the decision to my manager as I was not sure and planned fr this question. Hopefully, It was my first mistake. My manager said "You should not only come into my role as I have recommended your name in front of others as a person leading this team but you should start leading from the front. Also, it is necessary that you come into my shoes so that I go up in hierarchy too." Till here --no issues and well said. I was delegated most of managerial work and thus it was decided that I am going on a managerial path. Two months ago, I heard "you should be promoted next promotion cycle as you are most suitable candidate. You should start leading team and take up tasks proactively."One month ago, I heard "I don't know if you would be promoted or not but definitely going to get a good hike." Although, I could see that statements were changing every fifteen days. Hopefully, it was an alarm which I ignored. Hopefully, this was my second mistake. Things do change but not as fast as the plans of my managers. You can easily guess the reason for so many changes in their plans as there are around 13 managers to manage 50 resources. Anyways, it is quite clear that they are fighting their battle for their own existence according to famous Darwin's statement " Survival for the fittest." I told my manager "May be I will not get anything - no promotion and no hikes because it is hard to trust management" but she said "You wait and watch." My project manager was trying to keep me hopeful. My manager is outcome of older policies of my company which keeps you always hopeful.

Finally, when my name never appeared in the list for promotion, I was told that you are getting released from the account. A strong sense of betrayal left a bad taste in my mouth. I had only one choice and that was "To React". But I had only one thought in my mind " people who can not stand on their statements are not trustworthy and it is always best to leave the company of such people and it was purely my mistake that I did not do it in first place. I went for this choice of mine and now I have to pay the price." I showed no reactions and will try to leave my place without making any noise. But should I? The taste of a betrayal will be always be in your mouth. It depends on your digestive system how fast you can digest it. But it is always good if you digest it fast and come up with a smiling face. That's how life goes and goes on. I did the same. I learn two things from this incident. In professional world " I am a victim and only I can help my self."

I have no hard personal feeling for anybody for my condition as it is going to be fine and it goes like this only. I was replaceable and thus was replaced. That's the hard truth. Now, I must find a place for me as soon as possible. This is the way things goes and will go. "Beggars are not choosers" and the other way is also true "Choosers are not beggars." Let's see what is there for me in future but right now things are gloomy.:). It all depends on the choices you make.