What’s your idea of a successful adult life?
The answer to this question can be as varied as the number of people it is asked to.
Let’s talk about common prevalent steps one takes for building a career.
A degree from a reputed college, probably a good enough position at a firm of your liking,
opportunity to move forward…
Our today’s post is based on this last premise that opportunity to move ahead in professional life is one of the biggest motivators for all to do well.Rishabh an MBA from IIM A, has been working as a Director Finance at Morgan Stanley for past 7 years. This 40 year old now desperately wants to move up the corporate ladder.
For most people the brands that he carry- IIM-A grad and Director at MS, already make him a successful person. But having lived this life for 7 years Rishabh feels he is becoming a failure for not being able to move forward. Talking to people bears no fruit as they fail to understand why he must be discontent at all! They dismiss him by saying he’s only looking at things not present rather than enjoying how far he’s come, making him even more frustrated.
He is not able to focus on job at hand. He remains annoyed with everyone around him which is draining him out and making him extremely unpopular.
Should he forget his aspirations and lead a content life?
Should he throw away his burning desire?
With the rising turmoil in mind Rishabh meets our expert. Our expert asked him to do a simple exercise. He asked Rishabh to list down all the things that a good VP should have (senior than director).
He was then asked to rate himself against all those points. In just few minutes Rishabh got a clear picture where he needs to work, to move towards a higher position.
Our expert encouraged Rishabh to take up small assignments and trainings to hone the skills required to be a successful VP. After few weeks of sessions and applications of these skills in office, he was asked to reassess himself and no surprises, he was much more confident and assessed himself better.
He kept working towards perfecting those skills and started becoming more valuable in office. Once he was confident that he is moving in the right direction, he approached senior management and put forth his aspirations. And as a result was considered for a promotion.
Experts always opine that changing one’s focus from negative despondency to that of a problem solver, gives a purpose and direction in life.
Note: This story based on real life cases handled by Clinical Psychologist Jini K Gopinath. We have changed the names to maintain annonymity.
