How Have You Made An Impact
It was famously said that “The only limit to your
impact is your imagination and commitment“. Life often throws amazing curve balls which test the very fabric of your being and what you stand for. I experienced one such failure during my engineering placements.
I was lucky enough to get shortlisted by many of the dream companies that visited my campus. However, despite the shortlists I was not able to convert those interviews and was losing out in the final rounds of all the companies. I called these moments “My so near yet so far away moments”.
This phase of my life was spread across 4 intense months having multiple academic exams, placement exams and very long nights with lots of preparation. I was low on energy but did not want to trouble any of my friends because they were all very anxious as well. So, I would often paste a smile on my face and try to pretend as if I was fine and confident to face everything.
However, I was not fine at all and I was having a tough time dealing with motivation and the path towards which my life was heading. Coming from a middle-class family, there was a fear of facing my parents and making them feel that they had somehow made some mistakes.
I was confident about my abilities but was unsure about my circumstances. I watched a lot of motivational YouTube videos and read a lot of books during this period. However, one book that helped me through this phase was “Life is what you make it”. The book is a deeply moving and inspiring account of the power of faith and how determination can overcome even what destiny throws at you.
I kept my faith and kept trying to make things work. I managed to get five offers in the end. It was such an exhilarating feeling to get my first offer. I ended up joining an organization which set me up in a really good path where I got some solid opportunities to learn and prove my abilities. This was something I did not expect to happen.
In hindsight, I feel those rejections were very important because they taught me so many lessons about perseverance and patience. Sometimes slow incremental progress is better because despite its slowness it is growth nonetheless. This journey also made me realize that I would want to take up a managerial path to my success.
Thus, it is rightfully said that "Leadership lies at the heart of knowing what you stand for".