Quitting the security of the corporate world...

I’ve often been asked over the years about how I quit my corporate life and became a healer. Most people think that it must have taken a lot of courage or I had some kind of exemplary passion for healing. Truth is it was a much simpler and I attribute it to divine grace and simply taking one step at a time.??

I have quite a varied background. I am an electronics and communication engineer, telecom MBA, started off as a software test engineer, did IT Professional services, pre-sales, sales and became the India head of a small business unit of Yahoo and then VMware (Zimbra). So I experienced the full spectrum in a span of 8 Years. Sometimes I feel that my life fast forwarded into seeing the full spectrum so that I don’t dream about it or get distracted with wanting that, when I get on the real path life had in store for me. This journey of self discovery and supporting fellow travelers.?

Anyways back to how I chose to quit, well since our startup was bought by a tech giant, and I held a pretty senior position, I had stock options :-). By 2011, I was in a position where I felt I was doing less and earning more and that was somehow not satisfying, and the sales work that I was doing was not giving me any sense of accomplishment. One day I was watching the Steve Jobs Stanford commencement address of 2005, few things hit me real hard.

You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle."

This is a message I would love everyone to hear. It's an important part of choosing happiness for yourself

I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something

This taught me that changing and realigning to happiness is necessary and should be a conscious process.

Well I had tears in my eyes when I heard that, and I knew I needed to change something. I went home and shared what had happened with my wife, and again had tears in my eyes. She didn’t object even once. She just asked me to think it over and plan it so the family is managed.

Two years of working with GD had brought us both to this point, where I could think of doing this and she could stand in support. I was 31 years old, had a 5 year old daughter and was planning to quit a job that most would only dream of having.

Another example of the immense grace is that both my parents also stood by my decision. It’s not like I was getting depressed, or getting sick and stressed, and they did it under duress. It was just what I wanted, and they were ok with my choice however ridiculous it seemed they supported me whole heartedly.

The day I quit, my boss had called from the US to inform me that my package was going to increase further. I thanked him for all the support and told him that I wanted to quit. I sold what stock options had vested, left 2 years of stocks on the table (valued over a crore in 2011) and walked off.?

The plan was not to become a healer, it was just to take 9 months or a year break and get back into the startup space. With that kind of a thought process, and about a year’s salary in the account from the sale of stock options it didn’t require courage. All it required was the clarity to value yourself over money, which 2 years of working with GD had brought.

Every astrologer I met after that for years, told me it was the worst decision I made and I would suffer a lot, and wouldn't get a job again easily. Apparently I had entered into a 7.5 year Saturn cycle. GD told me Saturn is the greatest master, it’s here only to teach and like any good teacher, as long as you learn your lessons, you’ll be rewarded.?

By the end of 2011 I knew that there was no going back. It just didn’t make sense any more. That’s when GD suggested the idea of merging technology and healing, the 2 things I loved and starting up something of my own. Me and my wife had to work a lot on ourselves and all the imagined worst case scenarios. Financially, societal status wise, image wise, identity wise a lot was going to change. Moreover it was going to be an investment of 12.5 Lakhs into a healing device. There was a lot of fear and uncertainty but GD stood there with us, helping us clear the emotions as they arose as well as investing half the money needed. Frankly without his having shown the faith in me there was no way I could have done it. So once again there was immense grace.?

There were times that can be classified generally as a little difficult. For a few years I was earning less than the Income tax I paid the last year of my corporate career, I had to take a loan from my parents once. All through those so called difficult years too, there was always grace and support, there was never a need for any lifestyle change, through some reason or the other everything was always taken care of. My daughter always went to the best schools, we lived in a pretty upscale colony and still went on vacations. It was one of the greatest growth periods in both mine and my wife’s lives. A Golden period of sorts.?

So you see, there was no great courage or exemplary follow your passion kind of thing. Just lots of Grace, some clarity of thought and most importantly taking one step at a time.?