Hope you are taking care of your health too !!

A?pyrrhic victory?is a victory that comes at a great cost, perhaps making the ordeal to win not worth it. It relates to Pyrrhus, a king of Epirus who defeated the Romans in 279 BCE but lost many of his troops.

Today, we have consciously or unconsciously been involved in a rat race on the career front, We aim to move onto the next orbit of salaries, designations and power equations, be it in the naukri world or the even more dicey world of entrepreneurs. ( Yes, no matter how glamorous the term 'startup' sounds, its a lonely journey, full of pot-holes and you can very well place your bets on what would be the odds of success versus failure...more of it some other day)

Every youngster I speak to aspires to be a part of the Investment Banking and Private Equity teams, earning crazy salaries - the long 16 hours notwithstanding.

The MBBs (Mckinseys, Bains and BCGs) of the world capture the imagination of every youngster - and are more than eager to pay the price for being a part of the process - endless outstation travel and long hours is just one of the them. Imagine, as a 24 year old youngster, having to face the sky-high expectations of a client who has been promised the moon by the firm - that you as a Junior Associate, billing INR 10,000/hour ,will help them figure out the panacea for success.

In the Big 4 firm, by doing work well, you can grow only upto Manager/Senior Manager level - beyond that technical knowledge becomes secondary - how much "dhanda" you are bringing becomes more important - you might be simply be able to lick boot and get business from clients , thereby becoming the important guy in the hierarchy

The story goes on and on in vocations across different formats - the dynamics of Banking will be different from a Manufacturing Setup, that of a KPO different from that of a PSU - challenges are everywhere - be it Marketing, Finance, HR or Supply Chain

Each appraisal season brings its own triggers for negative emotions - why was I not promoted , why was he favoured by the management, bonuses, ratings, sword of transfers.

The underlying factor is that each job becomes stressful beyond a point.

And social media where everyone is busy flaunting is adding to the woes

I am not advocating that you opt out of the race and become a Yogi. Nor does living the life of a non-ambitious clerk in a sarkari office, insulate you from the stress ( under-achievement can also be stressful)

However, if as a Director of this MNC at age of 39, you are taking pills for anxiety, blood pressure, sugar or thyroid - it becomes such an ironical thing.

Being on the 40 under 40 on the magazine cover as well as the Doctor's appointment list, will certainly evoke mixed reactions only. You will be confused whether to be happy or sad.

You kept running on the treadmill for this bank balance, only to relinquish it all to the medical profession.

So, my only limited submission here is that please take care of your health - you must have a clear cut aswer to what you are doing to keep fit, be it yoga, jogging, walking etc. What are you doing to de-stress yourself at the end of each day, before you sleep. How are you avoiding binging high calorie food in the midst of long MS Team calls.

Very fast growth followed by a heart attack at age of 45 is really not worth it.

Travelling in a Mercedes and feeling completely miserable is also not worth it

You would better not be part of the dirty politics and retire 2 levels down. You must have clear visibility that you will live beyond 60, enjoy life taking care of your grandkids -

And do not get overtly attached to your jobs - they are a part of life and not life itself

I hope this makes sense to you. Hope you are not chasing a pyrrhic victory