Chasing serendipity: embracing the unexpected in a planned world
A holiday planned to the hour ended with us enjoying ourselves only after we dropped the plan. I use that trip to look at how the same urge to control everything shows up in how people invest and build careers.
Originally published on Medium.
and how it might shape your perception towards everything
I was scrolling through the photos from my trip to Dubai in November with my wife. It was our anniversary. While I was ecstatic looking back on my time there, I remembered the preparation both of us had done for the vacation.
And to be honest, it was maddening.
I mean, we were trying to plan for each hour in Dubai, so as to cover everything.
The first day would be us hunting down every possible visitable place near the Dubai Mall, which in itself was huge to explore each nook and corner of.
The second day was filled with the Dolphinarium, Desert Safari, Snow City and us trying out the famous food joint pointed out by a famous food YouTuber.
By the end of the third day, we were exhausted to our bones and decided to simply follow what came ahead of us, not trying to check every box on the list.
That’s when we were truly relaxed and happy, not burning ourselves out when we wanted to simply have fun.
But, is that not what we always do in life?
We try to be in control of what lies ahead of us. To get rid of any uncertainty possible. We think that if we know what lies ahead of us, we will plan for the best possible outcome.
You don’t need to look far to search for examples. A vast number of people in my inner circles invest only in Fixed Deposits even if it does not beat inflation, irrespective of how far their goals are. The factor that drives them is that it’s fixed in returns, however low it might be.
We love to be in control of our lives.
Does it really take you to the best possible place you want to be, in life, investments or career?
I am not saying that we should all just have no plans and just do wherever the world wants us to go.
But I do feel that if you introduce a tinge of educated uncertainty to your plans, it can lead to some paths that you would have never thought of visiting in the first place.
I had a similar experience last year, when I stumbled upon a community of Software Engineers called Taro started by two awesome Staff Engineers from Meta. I was a bit hesitant initially but eventually decided to take the leap of faith after I saw some amazing advice on YouTube from one of the founders. It had an impact on how I approached my life at work, trying to become the best version of myself.
This was followed by me randomly attending a session with a career coach within Taro, who guided me towards another community of people looking to create something called a “Small Bet” in their spare time.
Within that community, I stumbled upon some resources that catalysed my journey of starting to write online, which is why you are reading this article right now.
When I think of all of this in retrospect, I can only think how serendipitous it was for me to join Taro and eventually land upon something I had always wanted to do. I covered my love for writing in another blog post around a year back.
Embrace the uncertainty and randomness, taking an “educated leap of faith”
If the downsides are far outweighed by the upsides even in 10% of the chances, I would always take the plunge.
You never know, what might be the next thing of beauty in your life you may cross paths with.
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Originally published on Medium.