What will you do from tomorrow if you got to know this morning that today was your last day at work? Have you ever asked yourself this question.
Sadly, a couple of weeks ago I had to be part of a discussion to break the news to an employee that it was going to be his last day at work. He was shell shocked. He had been with the organization for more than a decade. This place had become a second home. The number of people he knew here due to his decade old stint easily exceeded the number of people he ever knew outside of work in his 4 decades of existence.
He told me, “Swami, I don’t know what I’m going to do from tomorrow”.
“It had become a daily ritual to take the morning bus, chat with friends, work here, lunch and tea breaks with colleagues/friends known for years, take the evening bus. I don’t know what I’ll do from now on until I find something. I was so engrossed that I didn’t learn a new skill or even create a profile or even build networks outside who can help me to find something”.
I felt sad for that man. But he’s not the only one. So many of us are so engrossed in our daily routine that we forget that this cycle needs to be broken. There is a whole wide world outside. New people to be met. New networks to be created. New skills to be learned. New professions to be tried. New cultures to be embraced. And it is important to realize the impermanence of our being at any place. We take it for granted, and sometimes we are taken for granted.
Evolution meant we keep moving. From current habits to better habits, from status quo to newer things. So we know we can do it. And the only thing that stops us from doing anything new is our acceptance of Status Quo which inevitably becomes our comfort zone. Real growth happens beyond the comfort zone. I have experienced it.
Ask yourself this question “What will you do from tomorrow if you got to know this morning that today was your last day at work?”. And then sit in solitude to internalize this question and then try to answer it.
If ever you felt you are stuck in the Status Quo bubble or are in your comfort zone, this might help:
Check when did you last learn a new thing
When did you last change a habit
Keep your profile updated – keep reviewing every year to see if you are progressing
Meet new people. Build networks
Stop behaving as if we are here forever
Comments