Twenty-four-hour workday

Twenty-four-hour workday

There is a heated debate on Linkedin if young people need to work 18-hour day or not. I will give some edge cases to bring clarity to this debate and then end my article with some concluding thoughts.

Case One: In 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide (employee) Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first humans to climb peak of Sagarmatha. Clearly Norgay was the more skilled one and hence he was the guide. However, without his employer, the Ninth British Expedition to Everest, and the resources provided by the Expedition, he could not have, most likely, carved his name in the history books.

Now, consider the journey from base camp to the top of Sagarmatha. It’s not a 9 to 5 duty. In that journey, eating is a challenge, sleeping is challenge, walking is a challenge, emptying one’s bowels is excruciatingly painful.??When one has audacious goals, even sleeping and bowl movement is work!!!! Think about it.

Case Two: Case of the stray dogs in typical Indian colony. Their work is defined as showing up when some animal lover throws food at them and being nice to their benefactor. For them merely showing up and being nice is defined as work.

Case Three: Think of the epic battle of Pavan Khind in Maratha history. The job that Baji Prabhu Deshpande took upon himself was to stay alive and stop the invading Abyssinian army till he gets signal that his King, Shivaji, has reached safely at his planned hideout. He defined his job as not dying till he gets the signal !!!

So, one can define one’s jobs and one’s purpose of life the way one deems right. We are masters of our destiny. The way you define your job, even sleeping can become a task, or just being showing up can become main job description or not dying before hearing a signal can become a KRA.?

Once one makes that meta choice, the debate around 8-hours of sleep, or 9 to 5 job or two days of weekends becomes meaningless.?

Finally, it is important to understand there is more to job than the money and promotion, and nowadays ESOPs that you get back. It’s the enrichment of your own being. In Sanskrit, the long-term engagement is called Tapasya, literally the one which comes from energy. In Tapasya, you direct your energy towards certain things for long time and in return the universe directs its energy back to you, giving you additional physical, intellectual and mental facilities (Gita 17:14, 17:15, 17:16).??In modern pop culture, Tapasya is called the 10,000-hour rule as popularized by Malcom Gladwell in his book Outlier.?

M Damodaran

Chairperson at Excellence Enablers Private Limited and Director on Boards of some listed entities

2 年

Excellent insights into the meaning of work and the meaning of life. My takeaway is " To each his own".

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Shailesh Dhuri的更多文章

  • Tame the Storm

    Tame the Storm

    Sept 2017 was a difficult month for our family. First, we heard news that my then 43-year-old sister was pregnant for…

    15 条评论
  • What I am personally doing to ensure that there is no repeat of Suez Canal Chock-point?

    What I am personally doing to ensure that there is no repeat of Suez Canal Chock-point?

    Last few days the eyes of commercial and economic world had been fixed on the blockage of Suez Canal, and its impact on…

    6 条评论
  • Will AI hamper creativity?

    Will AI hamper creativity?

    How will AI boost creativity? Creativity is always stimulated by a dose of technology. Think of painting.

    2 条评论
  • Hedgehog v/s Fox Thinking - how to handle the pandemic.

    Hedgehog v/s Fox Thinking - how to handle the pandemic.

    Hedgehog v/s Fox Thinking - how to handle the pandemic. It is not hedgehog v/s fox but both hedgehog and fox.

    6 条评论
  • Happy 72nd Republic Day

    Happy 72nd Republic Day

    As we gear up to celebrate the Republic Day on 26th January, all Indians are feeling proud and happy about the…

    2 条评论
  • Combining The Ultraviolet Catastrophe and The Innovators Dilemma: Learnings for Monetary Policy

    Combining The Ultraviolet Catastrophe and The Innovators Dilemma: Learnings for Monetary Policy

    In the late 19th century, the world of physics faced an existential crisis which is now known as the ultraviolet…

    6 条评论
  • Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence

    Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence

    Absence of Evidence Whether you believe in God or not, depends on whether you believe in its existence or not. And the…

    5 条评论
  • AI IN CONTEXT OF LIFE

    AI IN CONTEXT OF LIFE

    Recently, I was discussing with a friend, who had a view, that AI has limited applicability, as in most cases we do not…

    2 条评论
  • Understanding the symbolism of lights

    Understanding the symbolism of lights

    Diwali symbolizes the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. Lord Krishna slew…

    7 条评论
  • Introduction to Machine Learning

    Introduction to Machine Learning

    Imagine you are with a toddler and you are teaching her how to hold a pen. She will hold it and then drop it.

    3 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了