If I Get A Second Chance

Given a chance to turn the clock back, what corrections would have been made?  After pondering I believe there are essentially two phases if driven in the right direction would have made a difference.

Academic phase: Being an average student and studying were never a priority.  Until class 5th unless my mother took my studies would never initiate, rather would wait for an opportunity to avoid studies.  

From class, 6th was on my own and had a half-hearted approach, a backbencher to avoid the radar of the teachers.  Managed to push from one class to another but mediocrity lead to my failure in class 9th.  This failure awakened me and turned this failure to bounce back with such a velocity momentum which was till completion 10th.  

Yes, this failure was a bounce back and not a transformation that was proved when ducked in 12th twice and struggled to clear 12th.  The reason for taking the science stream was that most kids in the colony chose another stream.  It was very clear that you need a good percentage to get admission to any engineering college.  Like my brother, wanted to study in the former USSR, he landed there because he had not scored an excellent percentage to get admission to an Indian Engineering college.  This was a trigger for me not to go full-fledged and ensure that I also go out.  If had given my best there would have been a choice to go abroad or remain in India.  As the saying goes, if you aim for the Moon you will at least reach the sky. The ability to become an engineer was there in me but after failing twice in 12th I surrendered this was the beginning of my confidence going low.  

After crossing the hurdle of 12th with great difficulty switched to the Arts stream.  During my graduation time is when India was going through a transition from a controlled economy to an open industrial policy.  Not very sure if this is the reason for getting interested in Economics, my final year chose all 6 subjects were Economics. Wanted to pursue MBA from the best institution IIM,  XLRI... joined an institute that prepares students for CAT.  Here also approach was half-hearted, this needed real dedication.  Here met a couple of students who were utilizing their time by practicing while traveling.  Even if I had not cleared CAT, putting right effort and keeping in touch with them would have been a great help to me in the future.

Career phase: Before graduation, had already bagged a job as a medical representative and moved on within months even before I could understand how this industry works.  Stepped into the media sales world, Indian Express Business Publication Division, where my sole focus was to showcase a number of experiences without investing in how the intricacies of the media industry.  

After getting a break from CyberMedia India's leading IT Publication, stepped into a professional organization where HR policies were in line with any IT organization.  Unlike previous organizations, exposure was with a larger profile of multinational and large Indian IT companies.   Slipped into my comfort zone and missed the opportunity to move into 3 upcoming industries, dotcom, BPO, and Electronics Media. A break in any of these might have accelerated my growth. Being in my comfort zone could have skilled me either through Part MBA from a good institute or taking an IT course 

Moving on, landed in a young research organization based in Bahrain, here like my pharma stint did not go in-depth which would have helped me build a network in PSUs, Government, and private turnkey projects which might have come in handy somewhere.  

The next break was the biggest break both in terms of package and organization, ICICI Bank, got settled here but decided to go start my own venture and had two assignments in my hand.  If I had implemented either of two things would have made a difference. Should have moved to a division where I got a core knowledge of banking which would have helped to move competition banks or while on my own should have stuck to a few projects and scaled up slowly.

Panicked and was back in CyberMedia but things had drastically changed from leading publication it slipped badly they were not able to pay salaries on time. Was in a leadership role, and this was the time to move on but emotions overruled rationals and focused on reviving the organization.  They moved me to their services division where the salary was not a problem but again didn't update my skills in digital marketing. When a new business was being bagged, decided to move one, here timing was wrong, and didn't have the patience to get a break in any digital media agency and landed up in traditional media.

Would like to admit to not having the ability to crack IIT or IIM, but if given my best would have definitely become an engineer, this would have given me the confidence to pursue post-graduation from a decent institute.  This lack of confidence carried in my career and continued to lead a mediocre career this way and got used to the hand-to-mouth situation.  If I get a second chance would imbibe a habit of being focused and giving my best in whatever I do which would help to  pursue things at the right time leading to multiple opportunities to choose from.

Unfortunately, you cannot turn the clock back but in most of our life, we would have a similar story. The objective of penning down is probably for those who are early or in the middle of academics or careers may my journey be indicator to take corrective measures.