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Spice of life: Invest in yourself to sail through ups and downs
Economic, financial, and social ecosystems are constantly undergoing an evolution, embrace this change, and evolve your learning to fit into this dynamic
Invest in yourself. I heard my father repeat this phrase often enough through my childhood, hoping it would get ingrained into my system. I fervently wish I had paid more heed to his words. Put them more into action, rather than dismissing them as a boring sermon.
As an adult, raising my own brood, inadvertently, I find them rolling their eyes each time I broach the subject. Nevertheless, we mothers are a breed that does not believe in curtailing the advice we share with our offsprings, so here goes.
Invest in a life skill, a sport, the art of communication and most importantly invest in training yourself to deal with shifting circumstances. No matter what your job profile or social situation is, there is always a chance that it will change, or the rug will get pulled from under your feet (at least once in your working years, if not more), leaving you flapping in uncharted waters for a bit. But, the one factor you can always rely on is the skill-set that you have acquired, nurtured, and mastered through hours of hard, and sometimes mundane, effort. It will stay with you and give you the much-required rudder to steer your boat back on course. To achieve and retain success in personal and professional space, you, have be your best investment.
If there is one thing being an adult reinforces, it is the shelf life of every situation. Circumstances will change, for better or worse, but they will change. This is where your investment in a skill comes in handy. Economic, financial, and social ecosystems are constantly undergoing an evolution, embrace this change, and evolve your learning to fit into this dynamic.
A specific word of advice: Develop the habit to read. A book is a companion like no other, a teacher without limits and hones our social skills to set us apart.
Sports teaches us discipline, teamwork, honesty, and humility like no other social interaction. We learn to lose with dignity and coordinate with peers, regardless of our personal feelings towards them, to achieve a desired result. Participating in competitive sports is an important lesson in cultivating the spirit of sportsmanship, play to win, but victory is never to be at the cost of morality or dignity. After a loss, it takes a steel resolve to shake hands with your opponent, when what you really want to do is fling your racquet and stamp your feet and scream, “Life is not fair.”
Reaching out to people is a skill that is an intrinsic part of effective communication. It is not that tough, all you have to do is listen, definitely tell your story, but also listen to the narrative from another’s point of view. Each situation, tale or disagreement has two sides, give each a fair hearing. It is not important to always be the most important person in the room, communication, like respect, is a two-way street, it involves a lot of back and forth with an open mind. Remember to rein in the urge, to be that person who has to have the last word, or you’ll end up with no one to talk to.
a.jasveen@gmail.com
The writer runs an agritourism project in Hoshiarpur
