Do you want to be just a line under the name on a business card?

There are two sets of people in this world. The first one know they want to do something of their own. They have a clear goal in mind that they want to start a business or work in life on their own terms. They are the budding entrepreneurs. And, then there is this second creed who are passionate about doing a job. Working for someone else and grow in their career.

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At the end of college the first set of individuals, who know their passion is in business, start working towards their goals. While the former ones get a job, start their career and live a stagnant life. Until one fine day when they realize they are stuck at it. They are not moving ahead. They are living in a vicious 9-5 circle. They have become nothing more than just the title depicted on their business card.

Meet Andy, Sam and Alexander

They are great friends and all work with different organizations. All have different ethnicities. But you know the one thing that connects them all? It’s the fact that their personalities have become synonymous with what their job titles.

‘Meet Andy - the manager who works more than 50 hours per week on an average. Sometimes even up to 60 hours’

‘Here’s Sam - the designer who spends more time reviewing things than the time she spends with her family?’

‘And, there comes Alexander - the coder who was last seen out of his workstation during Christmas.’

They had a clear purpose when they started their job. All had their dreams. But they lost purpose of why they are doing the job after some time. Changing workstyles, remote work culture, constantly evolving team structure. Frequent changes in client requirements, meetings and lot more. All that has made it impossible for them to spare some time for their personal life.

No longer is Andy the manager whose teams used to love working with him. Neither is Sam the designer who wanted to create designs that were meaningful. And, nor is Alexander the passionate coder who wanted to create something that actually solved something for people. They all have become just the usual manager, designer and coder like thousands others. But that’s not what they intended to become when they wanted to start their career.

Now, the question is which one would you want to be? Would you become that passionate person who has a fixed goal or the one who has just become a job title? I’m sure the answer from majority of you would be the first one.

To achieve that there are some simple tips that can help. Let me share them with you first -

Find purpose of our work-life

Everything in life has a purpose. So does your job. It is you who has to define it. If you really wanted to work for something and you are in that job, then great. But if you have still not been able to identify that purpose, then dig deep.

Does your job give you mental satisfaction? If not, then think of something that does. And, start taking slow steps towards achieving that. Maybe you want to travel the world? Or, maybe you want to write? Or perhaps you like managing people. But, are stick with a 9-5 sales job. There can be many cases.

There are lots of opportunities out there. You Just figure out which one is yours and start taking steps towards reaching it. It might take some time to get there, but at least you will be doing an effort to follow your dreams. Rather than being stuck at a job where you don’t want to be.

Don’t take your eyes off the bigger picture

You cannot become the BIG SHOT you always wanted to be in just one day. It’s a step by step process. And, perhaps the job you are doing right now was the first step you intended to take for the same. But, did you evolve after that? Or, did you take the second step after this job?

If not, then what’s the purpose of working here? You need to realize that job is just a part of life, not your life. It’s the first step you took to get a step closer towards the bigger thing. That’s what it’s purpose is. You have to keep going until you are in a condition to follow your dreams.

Always keep that bigger picture in mind. And you will never again feel stuck in a job or a profession.

Thank the job you have

Being grateful is something that will help you enjoy your work. No matter you like your job or not, you must always be thankful for it. If it was not for that job, you would not have been in a situation to work towards your dreams. It gives you a sense of positivity.

In a way it gives you a purpose to keep going until you reach to a situation where you can take the first step towards your goals, no matter what they are. How many of you knew that Einstein was a patent clerk when he started publishing some of the work in Physics that changed the mankind. But, thanks to the job he had Einstein was able to make ends meet and carry out his work.

Who knows you could be the next Einstein. Or, maybe even bigger than him. And Einstein is just one of the many examples of influencers who kept their focus on the bigger picture while having to work their way through different jobs.

Over the past few weeks Andy, Sam and Alexander have followed these three steps. Today they are more focussed at work. And happy doing what they were doing earlier. The only difference is they have now realized the bigger picture. They know where they want to be and have started working towards that goal.

I hope you can start your journey towards that goal you had in mind when you started your career too, after reading this post. Remember if you are passionate about something, just keep taking steps towards achieving that one passion.

Don’t get stagnant. Or, else you will become just a title on the business card.

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Vartika Kashyap is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

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