Career pathways: Excel in what you do, be creative and honest- and make a difference.

Many Young people come to me asking for success formula for career advancement. The first thing to realize is that there is no such formula. Every person is unique and every person will have to discover his/her pathways. But few things help.

There is no 'short-cut' to success in any field. It takes at least a decade of committed work and continuous learning to have an excellent level of domain knowledge in any field. Don't worry too much about your first salary- provided you know where you will be going in the next ten years

The most important point is to develop a clear perspective about life itself.
Why do you live?
What is the purpose of life itself?
Life is often shorter than we think. None of us are indispensable in the world.
So a sense of clarity about life can be a life-changing experience.
What are the options a person can do in a limited time space of forty years of productive/creative work?( in a history of two hundred or three hundred years- forty years is such small span of time). Once there is a clarity of perspective and purpose, it is easy to move forward.

What matters is not where do you start. What matters is where do you want to go and what do you want to do with your life. When you are twenty , you may think you can conquer the world. But when you are in fifties, your world view will change. But those who can see the next twenty years ahead when they are in their twenties are those who make big difference in their lives and in the larger world.

I have never planned a career. But by the time I was twenty five, I knew where was I going. And I did choose to go the pathways I discovered for myself. I was never bothered about success or failure. But whatever I did, I did with full passion and commitment with a sense of integrity and imagination. I did keep learning and tried to excel in a particular field at a particular time. And kept learning new things with excitement. Experimented with life and choices with the wonder and excitement of a child. And tried to make a difference wherever I lived ( organisations/countries/ cities). And did everything with full passion and full commitment- without fear. It is often the fearless mind that help us to be free enough to be creative. Most of the people are afraid of themselves and afraid of others. It is the fear and anxiety that often hamper your freedom to be creative and passionate in whatever you do.

Most of those who succeed in a given field or career are those with a clear perspective and with a positive, learning and patient attitude. Perseverance matters.
Those who are in so much of hurry to succeed or get in to the rat race may crash by the time they reach forty. Many of them get burned out so badly.
Life is a marathon and not a sprint. So the best career counseling is to get learn the art of living with a sense of love and passion to be creative and responsible in whatever you do.
Anything you do with half-heart may end up make you drift- and drifters are often those with less clarity about their own lives​ and then many of them become frustrated and bitter- and end up finding fault of others- or blaming all others for their lack of performance.

Excel in whatever field you choose to do. And give your creative best with passion- and prove your leadership capability in a chosen area. Don't follow a career. Let the career follow you. Don't follow money. Make money follow you. Don't follow fame- let the fame follow you in your chosen field.
Once people are able to develop a vision, a sense of mission in life and work with sheer passion, no one can stop them from succeeding. It is sheer hard-work with lots of dedication over a period of time that help you to excel. Imagination helps. But imagination along with hard work and determination that actually make you excel in a given field.
It is good to work with any organisation as long as you enjoy the work. When when the work begins​ to drain you off or not exciting enough, you should have the skill-set, heart-set- and mindset to move forward rather, than getting stuck in a job that you don't like.

But when the whole purpose of life is to 'achieve' one career goal, many often forget the aesthetics of life itself. Live life with a sense of beauty and also with vision to share your​ gifts and also care for others. Life can never be complete unless we learn to share the gift of life itself.

This is what I always tell my young friends. Be yourself. Be honest to yourself. Be good. Never harm anyone in life or work. Be helpful to others whenever there is an opportunity Never stop learning. Never take up a job to impress someone or to prove to someone else. Prove to yourself.
Enjoy life and be patient with life and learn to live every moment and be sincere in whatever you do- and of course make a difference wherever you are.
If you make a creative difference- through hard work, positive attitude and passion- no one can stop you from succeeding. And you will make a difference with your life and work too.
Because when work becomes a creative expression of life, you are no longer working; you are living life in a creative way with a sense of beauty in whatever you do. That is what makes life beautiful.