Having an Unfocused Career is Not a Bad Thing

chillibreeze writer — Arthi Chandrashekar

I really didn’t think of career planning as complex when I grew up. It depended on what you were good at by the time you reached Class 10, or how you did in the exams that year. If you were good at Math or Science, you had a choice: you would become an engineer or a doctor. If you were good at only Math, you would get into economics or commerce. If you were good at neither Math nor Science, you got into the Arts. I really didn’t give it too much thought at that stage. Condemned with some basic aptitude in math and science, I had to do the inevitable. I had to pick between a B.E, a B.Sc. or a MBBS. I didn’t care for the sight of blood. So, I took the other option. Once in college, I realized that the quizzes, debates, elocution contests, writing essays, drama and doing the entire literary and extra curricular thing interested me more than integrated circuits.

My career, so far, hasn’t been a steady upward curve that HR guys like to portray. It is more of an all-over-the place splotch of things ranging from working for a BPO to writing and doing a few non-profit-type things. And I look forward to a lot of variety in the years to come too. Not exactly what my parents had in mind for me but, with the exception of a few parental ulcers, it’s still turning out all right. I hope it will in the years to come too. And I’m not alone. I have a doctor friend who’s a successful journalist otherwise, and another manager who’s a creative director in a major ad agency and some others, in rather unconventional happy ways of life. Heck, even our president was a scientist.

I like what Fionna Harrold said about work –
“ Whatever you are doing, if you want to do something different, that need not be just a dream- it is possible and what’s more, you can do something you really enjoy as a job so you never need to ‘work’ again!” Recognizing your passion is the first most difficult step towards that goal. Yes, it is great to be a highly focused do-no-wrong person, but it’s also okay to try a lot of things. Figure out what makes you happy, even if it means taking a few falls. Focus isn’t bad, but it’s way overrated. In the long run, a steady upward career graph may not always be the right answer. We need good focused people but I believe we need passion for the job a lot more.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...

—About our writer:

Arthi says, "Passion is the energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do. So, I try to be ME a lot in everythin I do ! ...Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so good."

Having an Unfocused Career is Not a Bad Thing

>> Read more articles written by Chillibreeze writers: