During my MBA, a college classmate visited us in Philadelphia. He seemed happily settled in the US, doing a conventional tech job at a bank, drawing a $90k salary.
His was a predictable job, with no growth prospects. Every year, his salary would go up by a few percentage points.
Worried that his career was stagnating, I asked him, ‘Do you plan to do an MBA?’
He said ‘No.’
Then I asked what he intended to do next. He said, ‘Nothing. I am happy.’
I was perplexed. How can someone just be happy? Don’t they have to achieve more?
But he enjoyed his life – he had a nice social circle, watched the local football games, and had no stress.
However, what he saw as a happy life, I saw as stagnation. How could you not aim bigger and higher? How could you not be restless?
But here was my friend, belying all my expectations.
Today, a decade and a half later, I think I understand my friend better. While I am still just as restless, I realize that no one approach to life is superior to another.
You can choose to be perpetually hungry and ambitious – or not. That is your free choice and nobody gets to define it for you.
Don’t live someone else’s life – live your own. Happy or unhappy, at least you will live on your own terms 🙂
– Rajan