This essay has been triggered mainly because I've been meeting up with several young people across streams and industry of late, and the attitudes they displace is far from encouraging. People all over the world are watching us Indians, with envy, because we have the largest population in the world within the age group of 23-39 years, which means in a few years from now we will have the most talented, the most dynamic managers the world can boast off. I only hope this will happen, but when I see the way our countrymen in this age group, I just have a sneaky feeling whether we will fritter away the advantage, because the lure for money is large and is looming precariously over the heads of these young people. We should not be bought over by money, comfort and luxury. It is time we strengthened our moral fiber, and learn to lead a life that is simple, yet powerful. We shouldn't "ape" the west, instead root to our culture and show to the world, yes money is important for living an honorable life, but it isn't everything. Please read this and spread thism essage as far and wide as you can.

Is Your Life's Purpose For Sale?

Meet Jogaiah. He's a middle-aged railway gateman in Safilguda, a suburb of Secunderabad. While the gate was closed I ambled across to ask him how tedious his job is and what does he think of his job. Jogaiah said he loves the role he has filled for the last 12 years. The job isn't too difficult, yes but he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Any small mistake he makes can become national or international news, which is a shame to him. The job suits his purpose. He said: "If I can help someone start their day off right in the few seconds when they are passing through the gate a little quicker, I feel I have made a difference in the day and life of another person. They need not have to rush, they can negotiate the traffic with a little more patience. Same thing when they are returning back home, they can go a little more relaxed.

Meet Malliah. He's a veteran MCH street sweeper who works in Regiment Bazar, Secunderabad,  through the night clearing away the previous day's debris. I ran into Malliah one morning after my run in park. Malliah said: "Nothing makes me happier than making sure no one has to step on garbage when they start out their day on my street." He has been sweeping the same part of the city for 30 years. He say's, " we should keep our environs clean. The explosive population brings inmore garbage and more diseases along with it. I'm doing my bit to save people from falling sick, who knows some of it can be fatal, and who knows, it might make me or any one of my family memebers a vicitim. I'm doing my bit." 

Meet Manjunath. He is a supplier at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Secunderabad. This is his take on the changes he made in his vocational path: "Serving others makes me feel like I am contributing to something worthwhile. I should greet customers with a smile, tell them slowly what's on the menu, and execute the order with care so that nothing spills over from the cups to the plate, and make the ordered item clumsy to look at. If I see there are two people and only one cup of coffee is ordered, I take with me and leave an empty cup. I pat him on his back, he feels good and says he is now 63 and has completed his golden jubilee in Taj Mahal Hotel doing much the same work for well over 40 years now. "If I am able to make someone's day I feel happy," concludes Manjunath with a beaming smile.

Jogiah, Malliah, and Manjunath each go to work every day knowing they will make a difference to someone. They are grateful to be able to do so. There are many so-called high achievers earning six-figure salaries that cannot make that claim.

Why is living with purpose critical whether in the beginning or one's career or mid-life?

In mid-life, many people find themselves suddenly questioning everything: careers, lifestyles, and priorities. Nothing is spared from this examination, although few will discuss their fears. Often it takes a personal crisis, a layoff, a death, or a divorce to move people from introspection to action. When these events occur, they open up a small window of opportunity to challenge everything and consider a new course.

Inner questioning is critical in mid-life. If a person hopes to achieve greater meaning and self-fulfillment, things are never easy. It requires courage and a leap of faith. I speak from experience. A few years ago, I came home from my six-figure job and announced to my family that I was quitting. I no longer found meaning and fulfillment in what I was doing. That was my first leap of faith.

How do you find and live with purpose?

Finding the meaning of life is not self-indulgent or cliché. It is the essence of why we are here. If there is no meaning, then what is the point of existence?

In order to create a path toward meaning, in our jobs and in our lives, we need to begin with an evaluation process that challenges...

1. Fill in the blank: "The purpose of my life is ____________."
   Keep saying it until you find an answer. Then write it down.  
2. Make an honest self-assessment of your current state. Exclude external input or validation. Are you driven? A procrastinator? Happy? Sad? Energetic? Lethargic? Generous? Selfish? Adventurous? Conservative? Avaracious? Etc.  
3. Define the experiences you need now to feel fully alive. Then, develop a plan to have those experiences. Do you want to travel around the world before you turn 50? Have you always wanted to sing in front of a large audience? Have you always wanted to study to become an artist ? Have you always wanted to run a marathon? Etc.  
4. Define exactly what you re passionate about and where you want to make a contribution. Is it music? Teaching? Sports? Photography? Cooking? Academics? Etc.  
5. Define what is most important to you. Then, set short- and long-term goals that are aligned with these priorities. Without a clear path, goals are mere daydreams. Set up a process to monitor your progress.  
6. Define the new experiences that you must have to add a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment to your life. Do you need to start cooking more? Traveling? Taking classes? Skydiving? Etc.  
7. Define your beliefs about yourself. Then, change the ones that are no longer useful. Do you believe you are deserving of doing what you love? Or do you believe that work is not meant to be fun and meaningful?

Dr. James Hollis, a scholar of psychologist Carl Jung and a writer, said that as we grow older, both meaning and purpose become equal. Both are needed to thrive. Also, Jung wrote that early in life, meaning is derived through preparation for living. In later years, meaning is derived through an examination of the inner self.

What are the results of living with purpose?

Victor Frankl, a Nazi death camp survivor, believed that the urge of human beings to search for meaning is inborn.

Researcher Martin Bolt said that having meaning and a defined purpose in a person s life makes it possible to accept one s own mortality with less fear of death and a greater sense of life's plans and their meaning.

Adults with purpose can experience:

• A greater sense of integrity and authenticity;
• An experience of being more alive;
• An increased feeling of contribution;
• Stronger health and psychological well being;
• A life that is more congruent;
• An acceptance of their own mortality and, as a result, less fear of death and a greater sense of their life plans and their meaning;
• A feeling of greater control over their lives and a feeling that their life matters;
• An increased sense of self-esteem and happiness.

Is this enough incentive for you?

You can discover and live a more purposeful life now. Don't simply surrender to a world that will continue to rent your skills to suit its purposes. A greater second half is possible if you take action  TODAY and now!  What will today be like?  Will it be a dreary attempt to survive the slings and arrows of a hostile world, bent on your ultimate destruction in a most cruel and unforgiving fashion?  Or will today be a triumphant demonstration of the joy and fortitude of the human spirit at one with itself and with all it encounters? Today will be what you plan it to be, what you insist it will be and what you make it, regardless of what the world has in store for you.

Remember Malliah, Jogaiah, and Manjunath! They are very ordinary happy and contented people who make a mighty difference to the others on a daily basis? And in a country like ours, we have a lot many people who are just as happy and contended.

Those hardship days…come back to memory again

The Chief who was at the helm ruled the company like a Director.

A self-made man, he proclaims having started his life building the company from a single room, a table, chair and a typewriter, with Rs.250/- in his pocket.

This self-made man had a vicious streak and an ego that matched his grossly inflated pay cheque. When I first started with him, he sounded polite, affable and down to earth. But soon, when the word started spreading about my abilities, my accomplishments, my achievements he suspected I was too ambitious and started growing cold, often communicating with me through tense words in group discussion or meetings and would never let go an opportunity to insult me, humiliate me or make personal remarks about me or implicate me on something invisible.

Most of them would avoid him but would never tell him that he was a ‘cold’ and a ‘cunning fox’, because of the fact that he was really a guy with power in his hands. Could get anyone in at anytime and get one out any time. The real power in him might have given rise to his feeling that as I rose in management positions; I’d probably make him look bad. Or may be he saw too much of him in me – and didn’t like what he saw.

I have to admit, however, I carried my own weaknesses. Foremost was a hair-trigger temper.

If something went wrong at the wrong time, a rage brewed within me that I simply couldn’t control.

I had no idea where it came from but it was there. And it wasn’t a business asset – I also admit that though I think Iam a fundamentally decent person, I could be rough around the edges when it came to the art of managing people. Like I said, I had the qualifications, and was a learner through experience but received no leadership training, and operated on what little instinct I had been granted with. I often found that those in my team and some others, who worked closely with me, shared my work ethic and commitment to excellence, which let to a lot of disappointments often leading to frustration. Yes, I would yell at people. Yes, I took on far more responsibilities than my ability to complete them. Yes, I should have spent more time building relationships, bending down low and cultivating loyalties, I’d have been ‘God knows how far high’. But, thanks anyway, I had more fires to put out and never seemed to have had enough time for the things that needed improving. I guess I was like the mariner who spent all his time bailing water out of his boat rather than taking time to fix the hole in it, short sighted at its best.

And so the day came, a absolute, bolt from the blue. I was fixed by things that I wasn’t a part of though I had signed some documents. Things were filled up behind my back, and had no other option but to plead ignorance. All of it was falling on deaf ears and the response being given was "you even act very well." I gave up seeing it was futile, and felt very bitter for having been cheated by people who took all the help from me and betrayed my trust.

I left before being fired, left without telling anyone. I really don’t know what were the stories spelt out after my sudden exit, but the next four months that followed were truly the most darkest months of my life.

Thank God I had my wife, kids and my family around me supporting me in every way possible. All of them did their best to lift my spirits and encouraged me to pick up the pieces of once my fast tracked career: but those months of idleness and running around from pillar to port showed me that our self-esteem is not linked to our jobs. "Nothing can defeat you unless you defeat yourself". I really badly needed this opportunity not only to lift me out of the hole but also to bring me into light after the darkness that had enveloped me.

I needed a reason to wake up every morning. I needed to reconnect to that sense of passion and purpose.

It took me a while and after some initial hiccups life began to flow and it looked as if the train of life was on its track. No major gains, nothing major happening but life went on as I waited for creating opportunities. Despite all obstacles I kept my spirits high, created opportunities one after the other and kept chugging along till this day it seems like a dream.

Life goes on, but now after weathering some of the worst storms in my life, enabling a lot of them, touch their shores too, I still sail with the passion and joy as if to say that I’ve been created for a ‘purpose’ and so I shall not leave this planet till the day that ordained ‘purpose’, meant by the Almighty for me, is met.

I’ll leave a mark, I’ll leave several impressions and will remain in the hearts of all those who knew me, and am sure they will all shed a tear for me.