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Talking Shop: (K)Notting (C)Hill

I watched this immortal movie for the nth time yesterday, only to bemoan all that I have not done in this life. What a total waste of what could have been

Talking Shop: (K)Notting (C)Hill
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“I know where I’m going

and I know the truth, and

I don’t have to be what

you want me to be. I’m

free to be what I want.”

Muhammad Ali

Our very own boxing giant Cassius Clay seems to know what he was saying, but did he? Me, I could have been an engineer, building the greatest of infrastructural marvels around the planet. A doctor, curing impervious diseases and sickness, helping the ailing... Or better still a soldier, ruthlessly pushing back rampaging enemies and running them asunder, hot on their heels. Or best of all a rail engine-man, trundling my juggernaut down the tracks and hurtling smiling millions to their destinations at break-neck speed. Even better, I could have been a blooming bus driver, driving on fog-filled and misty highways down winding hill roads, perennially on a paid holiday.

Instead, I became what I am today. What a waste. This sends chills down my back and spine, especially since I am pretty much done with life now. That makes me wonder; if I am such an abject failure and filled with remorse, what of the rest of the 8 billion 'praanis' in the world? What do they feel about their personal status and how is their mental wellness? Here we go, getting a look-see into what we wanted to be and what we eventually turned into.

We started with Notting Hill and stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, citing an immortal movie where a starlet falls in love with a travel bookstore-owner—that alone has kept my testosterone going for years, since there was hope for me still. But is there? Nah! Let’s find out what the rest of the country and the globe believes and foresees.

Why this thought?

Well, the thought was triggered by an animated debate last week with a few friends over a drink; with two in the gang cribbing about their existing job, how much they hated it and how they would give an arm and a leg to do something else with their professional lives. That set me wondering—if this be the same with two at a table of four, what of the rest of the 8-billion-odd people on the planet?

Some quick research on the Internet threw up answers that astounded me. A study conducted by the journal Social Forces revealed that just 6 per cent of adults end up in the careers they wanted when they were kids. Researchers zeroed in on interviews with 3,000-odd people who’d been answering annual questionnaires since childhood. One of those questions asked about career aspirations, so researchers were able to compare respondents’ childhood answers with the actual jobs they held in early adulthood. Most didn’t end up doing the jobs they’d dreamed about as children.

So why do 94 per cent of people end up in jobs they hate, or at least didn’t fancy as youngsters? A possible answer is that as children, most are attracted to a handful of future career options—such as doctor, scientist, police officer or soldier, the typical stereotypes that are anointed as real-life heroes in comics, cartoons and growing-up story books. Another reason could be that in a fast-changing world, many of today’s new-age jobs did not exist, such as software engineers, bloggers, crossfit trainers, cloud computing specialists and so on.

The COVID-19 effect

As part of ‘The Davos Agenda’, the World Economic Forum (WEF) also presented a report on the findings of a LinkedIn study, which details how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our attitudes to work, with people looking for a new job dramatically changing their priorities. Rather than salaries or future growth prospects, it is work-life balance which is the biggest priority for candidates now. Also, the desire for flexible work arrangements has grown by more than 12 per cent since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, with workplace culture growing as a priority for those looking for new jobs.

Clearly, the global talent market has never changed this much, this quickly. WEF also explained how employees are now thinking differently about career planning, asking themselves fundamental questions about the jobs they do, where they work and why. Some call this the ‘Great Reshuffle’; a time when everyone is rethinking everything.

COVID-19 and the resultant lockdowns which led to the ‘Work from Home’ culture has also apparently made us prefer our home couches over office chairs and cubicles. The desire for flexible working arrangements has been the fastest-growing priority, rising in double-digit percentile terms between April 2020 and June 2021, peaking just as many companies were preparing to return to in-office or hybrid working. This suggests that many of us now value the opportunity to work from home, at least some of the time. The world has become a lazier place, it would seem, as we would rather do something we are not too happy with from the comfort of our homes, than sitting in a swanky office environment pursuing our dream vocations. Chew on that!

So what do we want?

Forbes also recently came up with a list of the things that people really want, along with quotes on why they want them. So here are things that seem to be missing from the lives of people, which they desperately want more of—some elusive ingredients and experiences to make life sweeter, according to individual tastes and desires.

People want Happiness (“I do not know what I want to do”); Money (“Not having enough money or time to accomplish the things I want to do”); Freedom (“Having the freedom to find my true purpose, or being lit up by the day-to-day at work”); Peace (“Lack of clarity about who I am and my purpose”); Joy (“How to find the right role or position for me now that will bring joy in my work”); Balance (“Balancing my need/desire for flexibility while making enough money and having the benefits I want”); Fulfilment (“Utilizing my potential in the best possible way, for myself and for others”); & Confidence (“Feeling like I have something to offer now, rather than feeling constantly as if I’m not ready and need more training”).

At the end of the job and “what we need” dialogue, what we can conclude is that an awful lot of people worldwide are not really happy with their lives and the content that surrounds their existence. That would suggest that it is a tough world out there, with challenges that many are just not equipped to face. But it is equally true that it is only through facing these challenges that we can remain true to ourselves, leverage our gifts and foster our self-esteem and passion for life and work.

Without getting more philosophical and dishing out more unsolicited ‘gyaan’, let me move on to a quote to liven up the new week for you. “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you,” Nathaniel Hawthorne once said. How very true—so let’s sit back, relax and enjoy this flight of life.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal

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