Hurdles
Hurdles are inevitable on your journey towards a goal. Not even the protagonists in fairy tales have been spared from such challenges, maybe a dreary dragon or an evil monster on their way.
Now, the question comes to, what to do with these hurdles? For starters, one possibility is to treat these as a roadblock and give up. But does giving up adds value to your life in any way?
No, right?
Well, how about if you consider the challenges as yet a new opportunity?
Opportunity is a very positive word, isn’t it? The word instantly awakens our instincts to go and grab the opportunity. Opportunities are arena to perform.
Can treating challenges as opportunities and giving your best shot add value to your life?
Definitely!
Considering odds against you as yet another opportunity comes with practice. When I look back today, I can’t think of any big ‘challenge’ in my life, probably because I didn’t perceive those situations as odds. But I definitely remember a time when I was really low.
It was Oct 2018 last week. I decided to take my last mock test before I shift to revision mode for CAT. I thought I was decently prepared by then and was scoring early 90 percentile by then. Full of confidence, I went to the test center and attempted the test. I was happy with my performance. Next day, scorecard was released and I scored merely 78 percentile. I was shocked. It was the high time and as per my plans, I should have been scoring 95 percentile by this time. I felt pretty low and my friends tried to cheer up my mood but it was of no help. I was stressed and had second questions about appearing in CAT 2018.
I came back home and searched for “A day at BSchool” on Youtube. I came across videos by the top institutes and an inner voice came instantly “How can I leave this life?” I decided to give in all my efforts to CAT preparation and covering my weak points. I charted out my plan of action to deal with it alongside my tests, assignments and end-term exams due in November.
I gave in my best efforts and today I am here, writing this article in my MDI hostel room. A proud ManDevIan.
How did I develop such mindset of dealing with situations? Probably from my father and the way he dealt with challenges in his life.
This reminds me of an important milestone where ABG added value to my life.
What does ABG mean to me?
My first earning and a smile full of proud on my father’s face. J
July 2017, 18 years old me completed his summer internship and received a pay cheque of Rs.5000. I was on cloud nine that day, after all this was my life’s first earning. I got that cheque made in the name of my father as a mark of respect for him and handed it over to him with immense proud. The next day, my father transferred the amount back into my account and messaged me: Congratulations. it’s your first earning, judiciously decide how you want to use it. I decided to invest the amount in mutual funds. I started searching for alternatives on a popular website and narrowed down to Birla Sunlife small and midcap growth fund.
Why?
It was because of the trust associated with the name Aditya Birla Group and also because of the performance of the fund in past.
I continue to hold the mutual fund till date and would probably continue doing so for a long time. For me, the fund is not about the money or performance, it’s something much beyond.
It is about the hard work that I put into my internship.
It is about the joy on my father’s face when he saw me wisely moving towards the path of savings.
It is about the bliss of my first earning!
