LOVE YOUR JOB, OR LEAVE IT!
A bomb ripped through a Honda civic killing two people. Hardly a breaking news in the present circumstances, though the fact that it happened in D.H.A, one of the posh areas of Karachi did raise a few eyebrows. But the news of the day was that Ramiz Hasan Raja had resigned as CEO of Pakistan Cricket Board. In spite of the fact that almost everyone believes this was a sacking disguised as resignation to save face; I would go along with the official version, largely because it makes sense. Ramiz was criticized viciously from all quarters, including the Pakistani public; the most ferocious of them all, for the humiliating test and one-day series defeat at the hands of the Indians on our own soil. He became the bane of every Pakistani, and any decision he made from then on would have been regarded with suspicion. So let the job go in favour of commentating for Ten Sports. On the face of it, it looks like a bad decision, leaving a position of immense power and privilege for a mere commentary job. If I were him, I would have done exactly the same thing. I saw on TV a Pakistan-India match in Sharjah where Geoffrey Boycott was commentating. Suddenly the camera zoomed in on him eating a pizza. He looked like he was having the time of his life. That moment is etched on to my mind; a man enjoying his work. If you ponder over it, a commentator is the one person (as far as cricket is concerned) who enjoys the sports the most. He has no worries, particularly if he does not belong to one of the countries playing, and there’s complete freedom of expression these days, so there’s no one holding a sword over his head. He literally get away with murder. On the other hand, a cricket administrator has all the tensions in the world, and when the team loses it is he who gets to get the blame even more so than the captain or coach who are the real culprits. No wonder he chose commentary. And it does look like he’s enjoying commentating going by his tone, choice of words and the fluency of his language, which wasn’t the case back in 99’ World Cup final when Pakistan was being thrashed by Australia and Ramiz looked like he himself was being thrashed by his fellow commentators. He’s come a long way since then. But why are talking about Ramiz or cricket and commentary at all? What’s the point?
The point I want to drive at is; what makes a man do his job diligently? What’s the difference between a winner and loser? The answer is simple: it’s his interest in his job. The more interest he has in his job, the more successful he will be at it. Sometimes the interest isn’t there naturally, but people through sheer motivation are able to achieve that level of interest which gets them doing. The motivation can be induced by any number of reason; love of money, power or anything else, but the love factor is there all along. Sometimes people choose a profession simply because it themselves instead of indirect love of some other material gain. These are the people that make history. You can pick up any profession and you’ll find that all the people in its hall of fame were in love with it.
That’s how crucial it is to choose a career you feel you can love whole heartedly. When I was standing at the crossroad of choosing a career, which was pre-9/11, every other Pakistani was jumping on to the IT bandwagon. Leave aptitude aside, these people didn’t even know if they were interested in it or not. Some of them had not touched a keyboard ever in their life and were ready to dive into this pit. Their motto: show me the money! It was hard even for me to ignore all this commotion. It was December 1999, I had given the Karachi University B.S(Computer Science) aptitude and had bagged the fifth position among a total 2,000 entrants. I had also managed to get accepted in the NED Mechanical Engineering Department at the same time. My dilemma; I didn’t love either of the professions, or if I did, I didn’t know at the time. I applied for Mechanical Engineering because I had always been fascinated by cars and planes since childhood; dissecting my toys feverishly just to make sense of how the heck they worked. But then this is a common trait of every little boy. So can you base your career on this childhood fantasy? I had my doubts. Why Computer Science? Well, that’s where the gold rush was at that time. But since I didn’t own a computer at that time, and was dying to get one, I wasn’t sure my enthusiasm was either for this field or just for owning a PC. In the end I went with my gut instincts, supplemented by a bit of advice from my teachers and parents. I didn’t do that well at engineering as I would have liked, but even then I have no regrets about opting for this field. And not particularly because the software industry has been still reeling from the after-effects of 9/11, but because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about how the entire world depends on this field, rightly named as the ‘Mother of Engineering’. Friends of mine still call me a fool for what they considered to be a golden opportunity i.e. the B.S. program at KU. What can I say? Everyone has to lead his own life, and you can’t base your life’s decisions on someone else’s perception of what is good or bad, for it’s you who has to face the consequences of your actions. Might as well make your own decisions, so if things don’t turn out right, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of being bold enough to make and stand up for your decision.
Coming back to the topic at hand, how important it is to love your job? Well, consider this. Once you enter the ‘job stage’ of your life, you’re going to spend a hell of a time of your life on it. So if you don’t love your job or worse; hate it, then your life is wasted away buddy. You only get one shot at living, and the only way to live it up to the max is spend it doing something you love. Your job or profession may look rotten to others, if you feel this is it for you, go for it. You’ll be surprised how far you can make it. Consider Muhammad Ali (whose autobiography I happen to be reading these days), he underwent swollen ribs, broken jaws, puffy eyes and God knows what physical agony during his career as a boxer. But he loved it, and not only that kept him going, but excel in his trade so much so to be unanimously acclaimed as the greatest of all time. That’s the sort of enthusiasm I’m talking about. No matter how much you love your profession, the first job is always going to be the toughest, and its this enthusiasm which is going to keep you afloat in that tumultuous time.
I still remember when I was starting out as a freelance writer (for the second time in my life). The very first assignment that I got was to review the movie The Hours. Talk about tough luck. That movie is as complex as they get. Needless to say, it got the butterflies in my tummy playing around. To my own credit, I did not procrastinate much. Just went out and rented the movie, saw it, immediately jotted down the first impression while they were afresh. Then went online to do some background check on the movie. In short, I was able to put together the first draft of the review on the same day as I got the assignment. Taking early action is always the best policy. Since then I’ve been able to tackle reviews of all kinds, and the reason I’ve been able to do that has been my enthusiasm rather than any ability. I had some rough seas steer past but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and that’s the attitude you’ve got to have to sail through life. As Colin Powell said:
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."
When I first started as an engineering student in NED mechanical department. I faced the toughest six months of my life. I felt I had made the wrong decision, and that I should have chosen software engineering. Fortunately, common sense prevailed. But it was not before I did my internship at Pakistan International Airlines(P.I.A), or more specifically, at the Jinnah Terminal; that I really got into this field mentally. It was an overwhelming experience, and all the while I was there, I was besieged by awe and wonder by these mechanical birds. I had flown a zillion times in them before then, but never before had I looked at them with such admiration. It was then that I realized without this field, we would still be in the Stone Age. Not even computer science would have been possible without it. Remember, the very first computer was merely a mechanical machine invented by Charles Babbage in the late 19th century. So yeah, mechanical engineers rule!
Having earlier confessed to my not having any innate infatuation with the mechanical field, I can’t advertise to the prospective employers, “I’m the Greatest” ala Muhammad Ali, or even feebly pretend to sneak into the mechanical hall of fame. However, the world is abundant in exceptions, so you never know, I may be that exception that disproves the rule. In short, grab me before anyone else makes a beeline for me and gets hold of all that gold I’m worth (maybe).
The point I want to drive at is; what makes a man do his job diligently? What’s the difference between a winner and loser? The answer is simple: it’s his interest in his job. The more interest he has in his job, the more successful he will be at it. Sometimes the interest isn’t there naturally, but people through sheer motivation are able to achieve that level of interest which gets them doing. The motivation can be induced by any number of reason; love of money, power or anything else, but the love factor is there all along. Sometimes people choose a profession simply because it themselves instead of indirect love of some other material gain. These are the people that make history. You can pick up any profession and you’ll find that all the people in its hall of fame were in love with it.
That’s how crucial it is to choose a career you feel you can love whole heartedly. When I was standing at the crossroad of choosing a career, which was pre-9/11, every other Pakistani was jumping on to the IT bandwagon. Leave aptitude aside, these people didn’t even know if they were interested in it or not. Some of them had not touched a keyboard ever in their life and were ready to dive into this pit. Their motto: show me the money! It was hard even for me to ignore all this commotion. It was December 1999, I had given the Karachi University B.S(Computer Science) aptitude and had bagged the fifth position among a total 2,000 entrants. I had also managed to get accepted in the NED Mechanical Engineering Department at the same time. My dilemma; I didn’t love either of the professions, or if I did, I didn’t know at the time. I applied for Mechanical Engineering because I had always been fascinated by cars and planes since childhood; dissecting my toys feverishly just to make sense of how the heck they worked. But then this is a common trait of every little boy. So can you base your career on this childhood fantasy? I had my doubts. Why Computer Science? Well, that’s where the gold rush was at that time. But since I didn’t own a computer at that time, and was dying to get one, I wasn’t sure my enthusiasm was either for this field or just for owning a PC. In the end I went with my gut instincts, supplemented by a bit of advice from my teachers and parents. I didn’t do that well at engineering as I would have liked, but even then I have no regrets about opting for this field. And not particularly because the software industry has been still reeling from the after-effects of 9/11, but because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about how the entire world depends on this field, rightly named as the ‘Mother of Engineering’. Friends of mine still call me a fool for what they considered to be a golden opportunity i.e. the B.S. program at KU. What can I say? Everyone has to lead his own life, and you can’t base your life’s decisions on someone else’s perception of what is good or bad, for it’s you who has to face the consequences of your actions. Might as well make your own decisions, so if things don’t turn out right, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of being bold enough to make and stand up for your decision.
Coming back to the topic at hand, how important it is to love your job? Well, consider this. Once you enter the ‘job stage’ of your life, you’re going to spend a hell of a time of your life on it. So if you don’t love your job or worse; hate it, then your life is wasted away buddy. You only get one shot at living, and the only way to live it up to the max is spend it doing something you love. Your job or profession may look rotten to others, if you feel this is it for you, go for it. You’ll be surprised how far you can make it. Consider Muhammad Ali (whose autobiography I happen to be reading these days), he underwent swollen ribs, broken jaws, puffy eyes and God knows what physical agony during his career as a boxer. But he loved it, and not only that kept him going, but excel in his trade so much so to be unanimously acclaimed as the greatest of all time. That’s the sort of enthusiasm I’m talking about. No matter how much you love your profession, the first job is always going to be the toughest, and its this enthusiasm which is going to keep you afloat in that tumultuous time.
I still remember when I was starting out as a freelance writer (for the second time in my life). The very first assignment that I got was to review the movie The Hours. Talk about tough luck. That movie is as complex as they get. Needless to say, it got the butterflies in my tummy playing around. To my own credit, I did not procrastinate much. Just went out and rented the movie, saw it, immediately jotted down the first impression while they were afresh. Then went online to do some background check on the movie. In short, I was able to put together the first draft of the review on the same day as I got the assignment. Taking early action is always the best policy. Since then I’ve been able to tackle reviews of all kinds, and the reason I’ve been able to do that has been my enthusiasm rather than any ability. I had some rough seas steer past but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and that’s the attitude you’ve got to have to sail through life. As Colin Powell said:
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."
When I first started as an engineering student in NED mechanical department. I faced the toughest six months of my life. I felt I had made the wrong decision, and that I should have chosen software engineering. Fortunately, common sense prevailed. But it was not before I did my internship at Pakistan International Airlines(P.I.A), or more specifically, at the Jinnah Terminal; that I really got into this field mentally. It was an overwhelming experience, and all the while I was there, I was besieged by awe and wonder by these mechanical birds. I had flown a zillion times in them before then, but never before had I looked at them with such admiration. It was then that I realized without this field, we would still be in the Stone Age. Not even computer science would have been possible without it. Remember, the very first computer was merely a mechanical machine invented by Charles Babbage in the late 19th century. So yeah, mechanical engineers rule!
Having earlier confessed to my not having any innate infatuation with the mechanical field, I can’t advertise to the prospective employers, “I’m the Greatest” ala Muhammad Ali, or even feebly pretend to sneak into the mechanical hall of fame. However, the world is abundant in exceptions, so you never know, I may be that exception that disproves the rule. In short, grab me before anyone else makes a beeline for me and gets hold of all that gold I’m worth (maybe).
posted by Saqib at
2:42 PM
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