Milestone!

18th March 2009. It was just another day at office, yet it was special. Becuase it marked a milestone in my career so far. On that Wednesday, I completed 5 years in my first job!

This milestone has come in probably difficult, but interesting times. The world economy is striving hard to recover from the "slump of this century", and it is going to be a very slow recovery. At the same time, at 27, life's reached a juncture where changes are likely to happen thick and fast! Considering all this, when I look back at these 5 years there is a sense of pride, of achievement, of gratitude. And then there is this feeling that I have not even scratched the surface of what life has in store for me, there is lot more I am going to achieve.

How have I done in these last five years, as a professional and more importantly, as a person? I think I have done quite well. I say that because I have made lots of mistakes in this tenure on both professional and personal fronts, but have not succumbed to them. Rather, I feel I have acknowledged each one of them and tried my best to build on things I have learnt through them. According to me, a person's success is directly proportional to the mistakes he has made and the failures he has overcome. This one from Michael Jordan perfectly sums up my definition of success: I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Failure is deceptive. If you focus on the failure, it can make you feel that you are doomed. Instead if you focus on the lesson attached to the failure, it can prepare you to get through a bigger one. You've done well if you feel prepared for the failures to come.