Many people don’t know that I started off my career some 24 years ago at the age of 18 as a receptionist in a local hospital with a salary of Rs. 900/- per month without any perks. Alongside that job, I continued my formal education. As I moved forward in my career, I started realizing that life was tougher than expected and there were a number of things that I was not taught in school.
I was lucky to meet some very inspiring teachers and mentors, who taught me do’s and don’ts of life. A lot of things I share in my regular training workshops; however, today I would like to share with you five important life lessons I learnt from visionaries I met in my life. I hope it will benefit you as well.
- Don’t be fooled by the ‘get rich fast’ mentality
Have you noticed that ‘the get rich quick’ mentality is rampant on the internet, and it’s getting worse with every next day? There is a vicious cycle that just seems to continue itself and I’m not sure which came first, the people selling ‘get rich quick’ or the people looking for it. It seems as though there are opportunity seekers out there who are asking to be scammed.
I recently met a wise businessman who said to me: “Why should it be easy to get rich? The world is more competitive than ever, and even with the availability of internet and social media, there is no easy way for everybody to get rich? Allah (swt) has not made this world like this. If you want to be successful financially, in relationships, in health and even making Allah (swt) pleased with you – you have to envision and work hard. There is no formula for getting quick success in Allah’s (swt) design.”
I totally agree with this, after meeting thousands of people across the world from all walks of life.
2. Find your edge over others
I receive emails and messages from hundreds of people requesting help in finding job. I wish I can help all of them, but unfortunately I can’t!
One of the significant mistakes most people make is to play in a competitive game in a field where they have no advantages – possibly a disadvantage – instead of focusing on a field, where they can have a clear advantage. For example, a lot of young graduates come to me with a simple degree in IT or business management. I ask them: what advantage do you have in such a competitive world? Because of not having a long term clear vision, people usually jump over the easiest available option. This is a very poor choice!
In the world with ever increasing competition, just degrees and certifications will not take you far. In addition to your technical competence, you need to have knowledge, skills and abilities that most people ignore. A mentor of mine told me fifteen years ago that I should learn all of those skills that other people ignore; that I should not worry about short term benefits and keep my eyes on long term vision instead. It was such a profound truth that I can recognize today, looking back at it, Alhumdulillah.
- Build your life around your strengths
Allah (swt) has blessed you with amazing talents and qualities, so you just have to figure out where your talents lie. You’ll have to use your advantages. But if you try to succeed in what you are not good at, you’re going to have a very lousy career. I can almost guarantee it. To do otherwise, you’d have to buy a winning lottery ticket or get very lucky somewhere else.
Many of my workshop attendees know that my education was in accounting and finance, but I only pursued the career in accounting for one year, when I realized that neither I have any advantage here nor it is my strength. As soon as I realized, I quit and made a career shift. Initially, it was a tough decision, but it proven to be the right decision later on. All this was thanks to my mentors. Do you have the right mentors, to whom you always go for advice?
- Don’t be afraid of making mistakes
I don’t want you to think that you have any special ways of learning or behaving, which will enable you to avoid mistakes. I just want to say that you can learn to make fewer mistakes than other people – and how to fix your mistakes faster when you do make them. The best way to learn is from mistakes of others and again you have to go to your teachers and mentors, who can save you from making lot of mistakes and help you fix when you do make them.
- Learning 24/7/365
In my whole life, I have not known any wise people who didn’t read all the time – zero. So, if you are serious about being successful in this Dunya and Akhirah, you have to learn and you have to learn all the time, starting from strengthening your ideological foundations to gaining expertise in your area of strength, as well as learning about managing relationships and how to improve financially.
The way forward
As you can see, these five ideas are not complex concepts; however, putting them into action in your life will be the challenge that only you can solve.
In a world of unlimited choices, you and I stand at a door of unlimited opportunities. On the flip side is a world, where you can stay frozen and never accomplish much at all.
You might need to make a small change. Or maybe you need to rethink your whole career, business and life to make a leap to something new. This depends upon your diagnosis of your current situation.
But before you do, start by making these three changes to your DMRs (Discretionary Mental Routines):
1. Leave your over-optimism at the door (trench a lot of the self help books; only read under the supervision of the right mentors).
2. Leave your certainty at the door. In his book “Man Alone with Himself”, Friedrich Nietzsche writes: “Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”
3. Leave your miscalculated fear at the door, because people usually are afraid of all the wrong things.
Now through deep thinking and reflection over the wisdom of the Quran and Sunnah, reading right books, and learning from mentors, move forward in a new mode – one of true experimentation and flexibility.
You have to be quick to adjust, when you see that things are not going in the direction of your vision, and slow to let go, when you are on the right path but patience is indispensable.
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