This is a letter from a 34 year old ‘Anxious Me’ to the 20 year old inexperienced ‘Me’ who is about to step into a new world.

Dear Anil,

As you venture into final year of your engineering you see people around you discussing about life beyond graduation and giving various entrance exams/interviews to pursue their future course of action.

But it’s evident that you have no clue what your plans are beyond engineering. The only reason you took up computer science engineering in the first place is because that was the trend going around. You had no clue what you wanted to do so you went with the flow. I know that you are nowhere close to being remotely interested in taking up an IT job.

I also know that your low self-esteem is preventing you from taking any further course of action. Your desire to see yourself earning money and having freedom isn’t taking shape which is making you anxious. Watching people around you pursue their plans is making you depressed.

But here is what I ought to tell you. There are two key things that you need to know and slowly start to implement.

1.Look within to understand your Strengths:

It’s good to know that you are sure your future doesn’t lie in IT sector. I also know that you do not like undertaking random desk jobs as you find them uninspiring.

This is something you might not realize but the way I see it, you are inclined towards creativity.  As an introvert you dislike being in the forefront of things but still want to do something that inspires you and other people.

Understand your strengths AND passion. Do research on various paths that you can choose to start your professional Journey based on your strengths AND passion. Don’t be depressed or confined to believing that there are only few things that you have to opt from or the only career paths that exist are the ones that people around you are undertaking. Your interests might open up a professional path that you previously felt didn’t exist.

Also don’t look at things purely from a career perspective. Identify what brings you joy and do things that you like. This will enhance your personality and boost your self-esteem.

One major reason you fear interacting with people is because you sense a lack of self-identity. The day you start identifying and pursuing your interests is the day you will start to interact confidently with people and more importantly you will learn to live.

2. Understand the significance of Patience:

Whatever path you choose going forward, the one core factor that simply cannot be ignored is PATIENCE. Remember that life is a marathon and not a small race where you want to rush to the finish line.

Early 20’s is an age where people are in a hurry. In a hurry to achieve something, in a hurry to earn and spend on things they love and enjoy life the way they visualized.

In this process people make mistakes. Making mistakes is not the problem but doing so without understanding the consequences is.

20’s is about building foundation to your dream and giving shape to your vision. Go ask people around you, who are 5-10 years elder, about their journey and the role patience plays in their life. It should give you lot of answers and stories.

So start exploring your interests and passion and give them a meaning and direction. Am confident that going forward you will be a successful individual in your own unique style. Remember that only you will get to decide what’s right or wrong for you and people’s opinion about you is just, an opinion.

Good luck with your journey and stay fearless.

Best Regards, Anil