Questioner: I worked as a software developer for three and a half years, but then I moved to soft-skills training due to job dissatisfaction. Then I left that as well, and worked in sales for three to four years. I was always interested in the field I was changing my career towards, but even after enjoying sales for a while, I did not feel fulfilled.
My aim has always been to work for a bigger cause and help people on a larger scale, especially in the field of mental health. I have experienced high energy levels and enthusiasm whenever I have worked for a cause, whether that involved writing a story, a poem, or coaching students. How can I maintain and channelize this energy properly?
Acharya Prashant: My advice is already contained in your question: do not get into anything small. If working for big causes is what you like, if you want to solve the crucial problems of mental health, or meet the major challenges facing humanity today, then that is exactly what you should do.
Few are there who seek a bigger sky, whose eyes look at a faraway horizon. The least such people can do for themselves is that they should not confine themselves into the patterns of a narrow life. You already tried out three, four things, as you have mentioned; they did not last long with you. That is not necessarily a bad thing to happen. If you find that small things are not pleasing you to a great extent, it merely means that you have already tried your hand at multiple things; besides giving you an initial feeling of optimism, they have not really succeeded in providing you with anything that lasts.
So, it is time to step out. Step out of your known areas, your comfort zone, and the type of easily available jobs. It would be challenging, obviously. Easy jobs are easy to find. In that which would fulfill you, it might require a lot of effort to be searched, but it is worth it. Do not compromise. I just hope that you haven’t created financial or familial liabilities or responsibilities upon yourself; otherwise, it becomes a burden to carry. Those who are to fight important and critical battles cannot fight with burdens on their back.
So, you have to keep yourself as free and as available to your core work as possible. Do not let your energies be dissipated. Do not let your attention be lost. It is not at all a bad thing if things are not working out for you in the conventional sectors of the economy. So, go ahead and try out the things that are bigger, the things that are calling you. Do not be disappointed if the entire process takes long. If you meet with upsets in the beginning—and the process of beginning itself might take many years, so you should be prepared for a rich and long haul.
Drop expectations. The right work is its own reward; nothing more should be expected from it. Feel grateful if you are able to do the right work. Do not ask how much you are getting from it, how much you are earning from it. If you will set all those things as conditions or criteria, then you will find that staying in the right work becomes difficult for you. So, leap into it, and leap into it for the sake of the work, and be prepared to pay the price. Often it is not easy, so do not be surprised if you meet difficulties. Smile that those difficulties are there.
