#StartANewLife
It is always a very hard challenge to step out of our comfort zones. No matter how many times we have talked about or how many quotes we have mentioned on this site about stepping out of our comfort zone and no matter how romantic it sounds, it is always very challenging to step out from a life we are used to and to start something new, something fresh and something we are not at all comfortable doing.
The story dates back about two years, I was eagerly waiting for my IAS exam results and I was kinda sure I had done well since it was my second interview and I had a good feeling. Of late I have begun to doubt my good feelings, but anyway, the optimism was high and I was somehow overconfident that it would happen. Naturally enough it didn’t and I did feel crushed, I had no idea where to go from there and what to do with my life. I talked to friends, relatives and people I knew, they could feel for me, and sympathize with me but unfortunately not many could help me take the next step.
The challenge was new, I had to take a new step. For years I had started believing that my destiny was set here in this field and I had not even thought about venturing elsewhere. Going back to the previous job was a NO-NO. Even with all this, I did not want to take a retrograde step even if it sounded very difficult, somehow wanted to maintain my cockiness and proceed with my life and my own stupid choices.
It was the time I met a friend, my namesake who was doing Walking Tours in my hometown. I was excited with the idea – a great opportunity for me to meet new people, interact with them and learn from them, be a part of lives of other people as well. That sounded really nice and I took it up. My job was very simple – to occupy the stage as a walking tour lead for two hours and entertain my guests, keep their attention on me and make sure that they had a great time. Honestly, I thought it would be very easy – I mean how difficult is it to talk about your hometown to strangers.
Well problems are always bigger than they appear sometimes right? I realized it took a whole shift in my personality. I had to change the way I look at things. I was never good at people skills, was more of an introvert which meant I had to step out and be someone who I was not used to being. Next was communication – although I was trained in written communication when it came to oral communication and informal social situation, I always knew I was kind of a mess. I had to get over that for a change which I really liked cos I could see that I was growing, I was stepping out of my comfort zone which really meant something to me.
All along I never realized what it was going to do for me in the future. My idea was pretty simple – what is happening now, how can I make the best of it. And slowly with time, I started taking up newer responsibilities and the company I joined has now grown into a sizeable team and we have had recognitions all over the world. I even had the honor of meeting UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan and a treasured autobiography of his – a signed copy. I have even had the honor of being on NDTV and also on almost every national daily. It feels nice to see how things have changed over the years, a sense of pride and a sense of achievement.
All along, I never knew it would come this far and I would be this happy doing what I was doing. But I guess that is about life – as this website says – LookUp, there is always some optimism or some hope in the deepest challenges we face. But I guess all of it is for a reason. If not anything else, it is for a wonderful story for the grandkids or even sharing a personal story on a platform like this :).
Well, thanks to Housing for evoking this memory. Here you go with more information about them in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FXdCjk505w
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Great Vinay….hats off….frankly I never knew you had attempted UPSC…2 Times interview stage great man….looking at your knowledge and skills it seems it was your bad luck.that.u didn’t make it to UPSC….but the way you have come out of it is really inspirational…
The way you inspire by your writing is great….infact I have got this habit of saving your emails….n read them when I feel down…
Thank u very much n keep writing….
Thank you Mayuresh. Well if I look back now, it all seems like a story and strangely enough I am very content with it. I thoroughly enjoyed the preparation process and had a great time with it and I did enjoy the bit at entrepreneurship as well. it kinda opened up my thoughts to how wide life and its opportunities can be. Now on the quest to pursue them. it sure is fun to see so many things and I am so glad to be connecting with you people along the way. You guys make sure that the energy flow is so consistent :)..
I can relate to this uneasiness of communicating orally with unknown people. Great to know that you overcame those difficulties. It’s really a great achievement meeting personalities like Mr. Kofi Annan. I think I read your post here about the memorable incident. :-) Keep up the good work Vinay… (y)
He he.. it sure was fun doing that Maniparna. All along I kept thinking if this meant something to me and the moment I realized it did, I just went ahead with it, didnt think too much.. So it was a good lesson to learn and I am really happy that I did.. Life has certainly gotten more exciting.