Your Role And The Challenges That You Face In Your Day To Day Routine:
After spending 14 years in the corporate world, I decided to
launch my own start up last year. Setting up your own business from scratch
gives you an incomparable high, but it's equally challenging to ensure all the
parts move as per your expectations. Getting people to follow processes to the
'T' has been our number one challenge in this operations-heavy setup, but
effective communication, ongoing training and motivation has worked wonders in
dealing with this.
Driving Passion And Managing To Follow Your Dreams Along With Your
Professional Life:
They say, if you make your hobby your profession, you don't have
to work a day in your lifetime. Since travelling has been a passion for me for
as long as I can remember, I actively sought profiles that would allow me to
travel for work, right from my management trainee days. Over a period, whenever
I would visit a new country or a new city, which was pretty often, I would try
and schedule my meetings for a Friday or a Monday so that I could spend the
weekend to explore. I also made sure I made use of all the long weekends and
travelled to explore a new destination. Back in 2017, I took a 3 month
sabbatical and backpacked to see the world. I booked a one way ticket to New
York and planned each day as it came. Since my job didn't need me to be chained
to a desk, I was able to keep up with my professional commitments even when I
would be travelling. When the time came to venture into a start up, I chose to
pursue a venture which was not only close to my heart, but which also gave me
the option to be able to work from anywhere in the world. I strongly believe
that life is meant to be lived to the fullest and we shouldn't let go of our
passions just because we need to earn a living. Never letting life take a
backseat, I have been to 57 countries across 6 continents and hope to be able
to continue following my dreams.
About Traveling:
Travelling for me is about discovering cultures, people and
myself. As a kid, my parents used to make sure we explore a new destination
every summer holidays and I guess I was bitten by the wander bug at an early
age. Now, I mostly travel solo, because it not only lets me make new friends in
the remotest parts of the world, but it also helps me introspect and understand
myself better. Its travelling that has helped me develop my interest further in
reading (I read 50+ books every year), food (I have explored at least 100 new
dishes that my friends and family hadn't heard of), meditation (a big stress
buster), learning languages (I am currently learning my third foreign language)
and minimalism (I can even travel for 3 months with a 7 kg backpack). I try to
take at least one trip every month, and sometimes I am gone for months
together.
Advice For Others:
I'd say we all should try to make time every single day to do
something we love. It's easy to fall into a rut making money and forget
why we are living in the first place, but making time for yourself, even if
it's just a little to begin with, is the key to having something to look
forward to even after you're retired :)