13 lessons learnt from 20 years of my career - Still learning, Just Starting

In the new world of AI agents, AI workers, Co-working robots ,it is going to be pros and cons on how the future workplace will be , we must be the good judge to co-work, augment in the new world of work in the next decade , the GPT age. where Automation, Autonomous and Augmentation rules the world

This is a Summary of 20 years of corporate career as requested by my followers ,the mix of achievements, observation, mistakes, learning . Every individuals career motivation, approach is different, these are just my personal experiences and not related to any specific work environment or individuals.

1) Super Balance: There is no superhero or super zero in career , balance is key on average you can go thru 10-20 % of your career with job setbacks, job loss, lack of promotion , lack of attention, wrong career move, decision, take accountability, pass thru the bad times persistently and move on. Also every start up journey is a turmoil and fun before it reaches a stage of balance , we only watch success stories , go thru how every successful business had a balance and unknowns in the beginning stage and how they balanced the same and keep midway and learn to adapt to the new world of AI.

2) Hobby : Develop a second passion which can help you in most difficult part of your 25-35 years of overall career span, they might look secondary when you are on doing good ,vacation , promotion , party, international travel, likes , if you can develop a monetized hobby like finance market, education, consulting, arts etc, , they just become your assets in difficult time and also post retirement to keep you more confident and also identify the classical three letter - "Who Am I"

3) Health : Do not compromise your health , as nobody can help if you miss this precious element, balance your health early stage or you cannot enjoy what you earned, you can only spend what your body supports. Meditate and be thankful and peaceful for what you have and keep the mind chatter low, will 100 million make you happy if you lose your health ?

4) Network : Keep in touch with friends, bosses and networks who are your natural or default setting whom you can discuss your challenge and also support and want to have a coffee for nothing, Move away from social media if possible which might create a false sense of hope or success , use the social media only for networking.

5) Karma : Help yourself and people when you are doing good , the karmic wave will turn around in difficult times , have found when you are at peak you get blinded and also be surrounded by speculative and manipulative people, identify friends or people or team who looks beyond your title, charisma or position and be there with you at all times like your family. Also your peak or saturation in career depends on something beyond our free will , so accept what comes to you after your 600 % effort. Practice the habit of giving in a small way.

6) Success : There will be no control of how much you will grow , but you have control of putting the effort required for growing steadily and power of NOW , dream big but also connect to reality , do not compare yourself with anybody. Best practices are good until it works for you.

7) Be the Change : Work in company which matters for you or move on gracefully, do not serve organization or managers which do not respect your talent or does not allow you to grow to your potential. At the same time see what you can do extra mile to the organization or team which has made you successful as person and be thankful to them. Re-Joining them back might be one of the best decision

8) Learn like child : Re-learn , Re-Skill , Up-Skill your knowledge , adapt continuous learning, keep sharpening your axe, this keeps you competitive , recruiters or leaders are not concerned of your age/background, but worried about what you can deliver on table. Learn AI Tools, generative AI and look at how you can increase your productivity working with machines and agents

9) Grow : Designation, Salary , right amount of Money matters , do not get it wrong , do not get carried away by what so many people are telling in social media . look at yourself , we are boundary less and part of the universe and can make maximum of holistic growth inclusively as we work . , nobody can predict the future , people can make videos after they are successful, history are written backwards.

10) Family : Keep your family and yourself happy , else there is no purpose in working , enjoy moments than timing it for year. Pay attention to simple people around you who are no- nonsense genuine people- your parents, spouse, children and your mentors and gurus and always be thankful to them in good times.

11) Adversities : Life is cruel , accept rejection, so expect the unexpected , prepare when you are doing good - how to invest better, what if i lose my job, what if make a big mistake in a project, What are the new skills to learn , this will put us to track and surrender to supreme power , all challenges are temporary. As Charlie Chaplin quotes Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles so just keep moving do not stand still , time changes in your favor. Also get to enjoy the office politics , as where human exists you are going to find them.

12.Financial Independence : Manage finance well and aim at becoming financial independent by 40 (small or big depends on your life style), this would help focus on what you love, reduce liabilities. Invest wisely in a portfolio(real estate, hobbies, equity, pension, commodities)you start earning in a small way and believe in power of compounding .Invest first and spend second. Get Passive as soon as possible to enjoy the moments in life

13). Core Talent, you might waver around multiple roles, designation but there will be only one or two areas you can work naturally , on my journey of several awards, recognition, travel, what remains at the end of 20 years is what you are good at , all the rest look superficial, so ask now what will you do when you do not have to work for money or any materialistic or fame , that is the answer you will default at the end of career , this is the hard truth. we all work for companies where the founders knew what their core talent was and the timings and karma was right.

Life is limited , 70-80 years with average 35 years on work, so balance this well , all of us will have to face retirement and mortality one day , so start working on what matters for you in parallel, and create some enjoyable memories which makes you smile and makes you happy internally, all challenges are outside , you can remove the noise if you do not bend to the distraction. The power is within you , not outside.

Happy working in the new world of work , where we have team members which include human, agents and robots . Keep learning