Once 15, you have to prepare for IIT-JEE. If your parents live under a rock, don't worry, FIIT- JEE ads will find them! If you didn't start at 15, you are "late"!
If you make it to IIT, but didn't make it to FAANG or the BCG, Mckinsey of the world, you are "late" since you are already behind the MBA application "race"!
You are 23, even if you started earning, but didn't start GMAT/CAT preparation, you are "late" again because your classmates are already having Harvard Business School and IIM offers.
Now if you manage to graduate from a top MBA, but didn't get a feature in Forbes 30U30 list, you are "late" to start a promising "unicorn" startup.
You are always "LATE"!
I lived my 20s life exactly like this.
Went to St. Stephen's at 18 (was "late" for IIT). Went to work for boutique consulting (was "late" to try for BCG). Went for ISB MBA at 26 (was late for a "Stanford" MBA"). Was felicitated with an award at 29 (who cares because I'm late for Forbes).
And what have I achieved out of it?
-I was diagnosed with migraine at an age of 21 since I struggled with Imposter Syndrome,
-I became obese by the time I was 26,
-I faced a massive quarter-life crisis at 24.
The thing is most career goals are a trap.
There will always be something next when you achieve the next short-term goal. Hence, best professional goals are those that you create for yourself and not what society has popularized!
Today, I sleep 7 hours daily, go for a 1-hour walk, weight lift 30 minutes every day, spend time with my family and run my own social impact boutique venture. It's a way big celebration point for me than any previous ones the world had defined for me!
Your career is not a sprint. It is a marathon.
And, you need to create personal goals that you will run 40 years for!
If you are interested in learning about GGI's MBA Scholar program, you can learn here.
Author- Shatakshi Sharma, Co-founder Global Governance Initiative & GTI, Ex- BCG, Advisor; Tony Blair Institute
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