Live in Reality

यो ध्रुवाणि परित्यज्य अध्रुवं परिसेवते
ध्रुवाणि तस्य नश्यन्ति अध्रुवं नष्टमेव हि

Was interacting with a person recently. He is frustrated in life. There is no progress in life.

I asked him, 'What are you doing?'
'I am preparing for an exam, a course which can get me a job in the accounts or finance of corporates. It will take me three years, but this is the only way I can progress in life.'

'What is your educational background?'
'There were compulsions in the family. I could not complete my graduation.'
'What is your age?'
'Thirty-eight.'
'What have you been doing so far?'
'I was in sales. Selling various things. For eighteen years. But how much can a sales job get you? Thirty thousand, forty thousand. I have huge liabilities. No house of my own. Only after I stabilize in my career I can settle in life. If I complete this course I can easily earn one and a half lacs a month.'

'Are you married?'
'I am in a relationship. But she is married. She is not happy in her marriage. She will get a divorce and then we will get married.'

So, it is not just career. He is in a dream world in every aspect of his life.

It is about such people that the shloka talks about.

Those who neglect what is in hand, what is available, and chase what is just a dream — they end up losing what is already there with them. And the other, the dream they are chasing, that is already lost. Because it is not there for real.

Be realistic with life. Accept reality.

This man — already in his late thirties, not academically inclined. Obviously, he is a dropout. Family compulsion is an excuse. He has never been the academic kind. And now at 38, he is not a graduate. He wants to pursue something that can enable him to become VP Finance of a corporate.

Okay, let us presume for once that with determination, he even qualifies. What about experience? A VP Finance around his age is a CA or an MBA (Finance) with about 15 years of relevant experience. What about that?

And he is expecting to start earning 1.5 lacs a month once he completes this course. Absolute dream world.

And then, what about his marketing career? Once this thing got into his head, he doesn’t do that anymore.

'What can you do with thirty, forty thousand a month? You will not reach anywhere in life.'

He has killed his marketing career also. Chasing a dream, he has destroyed his existing career.

Doesn’t he realize how the HR of a corporate would look at him? Not a graduate. Now, this course at thirty-eight. I don’t know what this course is — somebody must be taking him for a ride. Otherwise, how is it possible? No experience. Whatever he is good at — that is marketing — he abandons that.

What is the impression he is creating?

Live in reality. Live in the real world. Understand both your scope and limitations — more your limitations.

Motivational talks and lectures will not help you to face reality. Your reality is something you alone face, and only you can be its judge. Nobody else.

Motivational talkers would say so many things — pointing at Ambani, Warren Buffet. When they show you one or two examples who are successful, they are not telling you about the thousands and thousands who chased unrealistic dreams and spoiled their lives.

You should understand your limitations — physical, mental, intellectual, educational, your working habits, your financial capacity.

Starting a business after mortgaging your house is easy, but where will the constant need for working capital come from? Have you planned properly, or leaving everything to fate?

Seen a case recently. He was heading a company — someone else's company. Did it very well. Entrepreneurial bug bit him. Started something in the same field. Pledged everything. Raised 3 or 4 crores. But the market turned dull. He doesn’t have money to sustain the business through rough weather.

50 or 60 lacs are needed to run the show every month. Where will the money come from?

Very bad planning. Very poor planning. Another case of living in the world of fantasy.

Always live in reality. Only resources that are readily available with you — or those that can be obtained for sure — are the ones that are available to you. You should do your planning keeping only these in mind.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi