No Easy Way Out

Have you ever seen Marathon runners in a race, who go through crazy training routines and hard work for many years, but for what? Just that one day where they want to give it all. Their aim is not to finish first but to finish the race for themselves so they can be proud of that moment. And I feel that’s a beautiful way to live life.

I feel the only reason one will go through all this hard work is because they really care about that goal and they are willing to do anything for it.

This belief comes from me being a 24 year old graduate in the Marketing field and I have joined my family business which was my intended career that I chose for myself since the beginning, as I have grown around Entrepreneurs such as my Grandfather,Dad and my uncle who are running this family business of fruit processing today. But I found myself asking this question: how willing am I to really take this business to the next level? That’s when destiny showed herself…….

Let me share something interesting. I recently got a wonderful opportunity of interning in a foreign country with a renowned construction business in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The Internship opportunity came out of nowhere and I feel that’s what made it so exciting.I still remember the moment when I just came out of a nasty dentist appointment and I get this surprising call that I have been invited for the internship and the date I am supposed to report. I was a bit shocked and stood there for a minute just trying to soak in whatever happened and then I had this feeling of thankfulness that I received such an amazing experience. So, basically I was interning as a financial assistant and site inspector for their ongoing projects. What this means is that I had to visit each ongoing site for supervision and track the progress and expenses that happened  there. 

 I think anyone would feel a little nervous about doing something like this, but to my surprise I didn’t even have a speck of nervousness on me and I feel the reason for that was because this internship was something I wanted to do for a very long time.  I know for sure that this will be completely out of my comfort zone and for those who don’t know “Living life out of my Comfort Zone is one of the principles I have embraced which I intend to follow”. 

A few days in the internship when I finally settled in and got familiar with the working I soon became more aware about the challenges ahead.

This reminds me of a moment where I had to give a brief of an ongoing project to a very well established customer who might be a potential buyer for that project. As daunting as it sounds I managed to do a good job and not just back out of it. The client seemed to be very well informed in the real estate business and the quality of questions that he was asking was also a little difficult to answer. But the client felt satisfied with all the information and assured me that he would reach out again for confirmation. I realized that just having that focus towards doing whatever task that’s there with dedication and trust really made everything workout.

I feel because of this mindset every challenge,every difficult situation and experiences felt so much easier and fun because I was willing to do anything for that.

Soon after I returned back from my internship all charged up and feeling confident I was lucky enough to be assigned to a big project in my family business that was trusted upon me to take a lead for it and collect all the data for decision making. It required a lot of attention and observation on one of our confectionery lines where I had to study the root cause of why we are dispensing extra pieces of jellies in a particular packaging. This study was important because if I succeed in finding the root cause I will be helping the company save a considerable amount of savings for that given financial year. I was absolutely thrilled to work on such a project as it would teach me so many things like working through excel sheets, interacting with line operators, documenting data and analyzing it for meaningful decision making. I am very glad to share that I have been doing very well so far and 

 the feeling is truly indescribable. Its like this strong energy within me that instantly diverts my entire thoughts and feelings towards that one purpose I want to accomplish.

Its this feeling of responsibility and ownership that I want to take for that task and I feel that’s the secret ingredient to making it all so special.

After accomplishing that project, I was fully charged up like a soldier going for war, just in my case I was just positively charged to work and get stuff done in my business. The reason I was so motivated was all because of me taking that first step in my internship, getting out of my comfort zone and having that sense of responsibility and ownership for my own business and how it all matters to me on a personal level. The first week since I got back has been one of the busiest weeks of my life because I just stretched myself out in all operations of my family business and seriously took concern in every operation that was taking place. And man ! It was all so  complicated and challenging !I was working with numbers in Finance,in Marketing with all the sales tactics, I mean I had to literally remind myself to take a break for a few minutes just to take a breather. This was the first time that I truly felt so connected and synced with all that’s happening and the desire to do more. It was the first time I realized my full true potential and how much growth and progress is actually left to work on.  The projects and roles that I have taken up are progressing at such a faster rate these days, all because I realized how much I actually want to do and accomplish and now I just want to see how much further I am willing to take things forward. A year back from now I was just a person that just graduated and I wasn’t pretty much sure how my career will take on after this but seeing now I feel really proud of all the work I have been doing and how much it actually means to me.

After reflecting so much I realized that as long as I have ownership of whatever I intend to do I really start caring about it and think of ways to accomplish them however I can. This feeling wasn’t something that just suddenly emerged but it was nurtured and it slowly became a whole.

 I have this feeling of confidence that whatever I am doing, be it my Family business or my personal life , I feel I am on the right path heading towards a particular direction. I feel after experiencing the internship and all the projects in my family business I just realized how far I have actually come and all the Ups and downs with it.