Wake up at 8 AM. Check your phone with crusty eyes. Do morning chores. Fire up the laptop and work...work...work. Drop PC screen at 9 PM. Check phone until 10 PM. Eat. Binge-watch on youtube. Drop-dead on the mattress by 2 AM. My daily schedule was not much different than many of you. The question is - What changed?
Moment of self-reflection
Working from home, under severe work pressures, a set of questions suddenly popped up in my mind as a "require system update" notification pops up on the phone -
Why am I doing this?
Am I happy?
What impact does my work have on society?
However simple these questions seem, they are the most difficult to answer. The answers change with the mood - Got a raise; I'm happy, and I love my job. Boss gave a hard time; It's just not my cup of tea and I should move on. Think how frequently you get such thoughts, and how many times have you let this feeling slide.
In his book, 'Thinking Fast and Slow,' author Daniel Kahneman mentioned that we have two basic ways of processing our thoughts, which Kahneman calls System 1 and System 2. System 1 is our intuition. System 2 is our more logical, deliberate way of processing thoughts and thinking things through.
For once, I opted to go with system 2 and thought this through. And you guessed my answers right: I was not sure why was I working. I was not really happy. My work had no impact on society the way I wanted.
Finding "the purpose"
Most of us are never really taught how to choose a career that aligns with our sense of purpose. It may sound too cheesy, but it took me 26 revolutions around the sun to identify "the purpose."
Imagine yourself as a kid. You are presented with a hundred different candy options, and you need to select just one. At that tender age and that level of maturity, how do you come up with a rationale to select one?
The "purpose" question is similar but only harder. One can refer to different models such as ikigai, Good to Great, The Element, etc. to identify their sense of purpose. I'll encourage you to read the article "How to Finally Find Your Purpose: 5 Top Methods" which helped me.
The author says that all these models boil down to one basic test: you need to have a high level of skills and expertise in whatever you do (your skills – the blue circle). You need to derive satisfaction and a sense of purpose or meaning from doing it (your emotions – the red circle). And you need to make sure this work is a real opportunity, namely work the world needs and is happy to pay for (the world's needs – the yellow circle.)
For me, the blue circle represents – Marketing/Consulting; the red circle represents – ENABLE those in need and help to make the world a better place for the present and the future generations; the yellow circle represents – Engrain sustainability in the processes and in people's mindset to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.
After multiple discussions with sustainability SMEs and a ton of research, I was clear that working towards helping businesses minimize their carbon emissions and fast-track their road to sustainability is my mission. But what sector and role? The sustainability & ESG field is very diverse and has a comprehensive career landscape.
Narrowing down the scope
While thinking through the options such as Corporate Sustainability/CSR, Consulting, Investing, Clean Energy, Marketing, Non-profit, Entrepreneurship / VC, and Supply Chain, I followed the below process:
Impact:
What kind of impact do I want to have? What issue do I want to work on?
Technology is evolving. Businesses can easily oversee the latest trends and miss opportunities that allow them not only to take sustainable steps but also to improve business performance. I want to help businesses keep up the pace with sustainability technologies.
Sector:
What kind of organization do I want to work for?
Preferably a sustainability consulting organization irrespective of org size, or a product/services organization whose mission is to solve sustainability equation for their clients more than earning big profits.
Industry:
What industry do you want to focus on?
While the end goal is to become industry-agnostic, energy and supply chain industries are interesting and perhaps low-hanging fruits for sustainable technology transformation.
Skills:
What are your transferable skills?
Marketing, Content Writing, Storytelling, Consulting, People Skills, mechanical engineering, etc.
Role:
What kind of work do you want to do in the organization?
Considering the transferable skills, I would prefer to enable an organization to influence brands on sustainability initiatives. However, my long-term goal is to do consulting, and over time, I will work to fill the knowledge and experience gaps.
Taking the first step
The purpose of writing this blog is twofold -
Anyone reading this blog should easily be able to copy the thought process and apply it.
In her book, "The Secret," author Rhonda Byrne says that "The law of manifestation starts with writing on a piece of paper." And that's what I'm doing writing this blog.
If you ask me what has changed, I'd say nothing much. I was hustling then and I'm hustling now. But I'm positive that all my efforts are in the right direction. As Rocky Balboa said in the movie "Rocky IV" and I have the below poster pinned to my study table –
So, I'll keep moving forward.
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