Letter on career decision #2
To Khushi,
Tomorrow’s gonna be a tough day and I wish you the best. I suggest not to be too harsh on yourself incase you don’t have the conversation at office tomorrow. There’s day after tomorrow and there’s next week too. Once you are sure in the mind that you want to do it, it’s only a matter of days that the reality catches up. So don’t fret about how to have the perfect conversation for quitting. I can assure you that you’ll feel a weight being lifted once you say the line.
It was 8th Sept 2018, a crowd had assembled at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, to witness the then 20 year old Japanese player, Naomi Osaka take on the legend Serena Williams. This was the first time most of the World heard her name. What happened in the match was an excellent display of character and grit from Naomi, as she defeated Williams in 6-2, 6-4 straight sets. Albeit controversy, she won her first grand slam and reached top 10 in ranking.
Let’s look a little bit about Naomi’s childhood. Naomi had been practicing Tennis since 2006, when she was 9 year old. She turned professional in 2013 (7 years later). In 2016, she advanced to the round of 32 at three grand slams in the same year. In 4:20 PM, on Sept 8th 2018, 12 years since she started practicing, she stood on the grass court facing Serena Williams. One hour and nineteen minutes later, the game was over.
But why am I telling you about Naomi Osaka? Because in 2021, French Open, Naomi withdrew from the tournament citing reasons of mental health. She also announced that she wouldn’t participate in Wimbledon that year.
Although she didn’t quit Tennis forever, taking a break from major tournaments could be a career-long regret for players. I found her story really courageous. To prioritize herself and her mental health, while being at the peak of the game. What must had she felt that time? Wouldn’t she be worried if she will be able to come back and play at the same competitive level? She was 15 years into her tennis career by then. Think about her for a moment.
And I found you placed very similarly in this juncture of your life. Years of college and job have gone into Law and now you are unsure of whether you want to do it any further. Will it all be a waste? Will you make anything out of your life?
I have a lot to say and even more to console, but let’s talk about what exactly do we mean as a waste of time? Let’s say you never come back to law, was the years spent in NLU and Indus a waste of time? You wouldn’t have seen for yourself how much hard can you work. You wouldn’t have met Shraddha and Varsha and countless other friends you met along the years. You wouldn’t have thrown cool parties, taken so many trips and ate at fancy restaurants (which I believe was partly motivated by rebellion towards your day job).
I’ve worked 3 years in 2 companies before Tailored AI. I consider both of them a waste of time. Instead I would have been in the US working at some company after finishing my masters. That was my plan in college. But I don’t know if I would have been better off. I did earn money in one job which made me realise how less I like earning money. I learnt how small companies work at the other and how not to run it when I open my own company. Sure had I jumped into a startup right out of college, it could have turned out better, or worse too.
Maybe that’s the problem with obedient, ambitious kids. They are too hard working to know what is the best for them. In process of working for externally placed achievements they forget to prioritize their own feelings. This set of kids are worst placed to experience real life. Because they are confused for the first time in their life because they have to make hard decisions, and making decisions wasn’t their strong suit. Working hard on someone else’s decisions was.
A major reason of unhappiness I see in my friends and myself is a lack of control they feel about their life. That they don’t know how life will turn out, and primarily that it will turn out catastrophically bad. I don’t think that’s the case. It would turn out averagely good for this cohort.
That’s okay. Chill out. Life will turn out good for you.
Naomi in one of her interview said -- “You’re stressing me out, and I am too young to be stressed out like this”. You should use this line sometimes. You’ve just turned 25. It’s okay. Plenty of time ahead. Give yourself 5 years until you commit to a career.
Ending with a rather funny line I like to quote but I’m too different to follow
If you are not wasting your twenties, you are wasting your twenties