Make Mistakes:

Before you read the essay, I request you to reflect on the title "Make Mistakes." I have carefully chosen the title so that it explains the gist of what I wish to enlighten. I will share a part of my life in the last 10 months to bring you to the lesson learned.

I married arguably the best woman in this world in july 2006. At that time, I had the comfort of my own home, a very well-settled life, and a well-paid and appreciated job. After two months into the matrimonial life, I decided to experiment with my career, and therefore my life.

I left my dream-employer Cadence/India to join Barclays Capital/Singapore. I was happy with Cadence, but after 3 years with Cadence, I was realizing some degree of complacency. And I thought that that was the time when I needed to "do something" with my career.

About 8 months in Barclays Capital and Singapore, my career and our (my and my wife's) lives have not shaped up as per our expectations. Not that they have been bad, but they haven't been great either. The silver lining in these 8 months has been some revelations. In retrospection, I don't think I made a mistake per se, primarily because such complex decisions of life are never mistakes.

Now, I will take you to the lesson.

I have resolutely believed in "doing" things, in "taking decisions" in life. Even not taking a decision in life is a decision in itself, and trust me, that is the worst decision. When we don't decide on our lives, someone else or something else does, and that may not be to our advantage. We all are in a business, and that is the business of life. On daily basis, we have to take decisions, some of which may be termed as mistakes.

However, unless we make a mistake, we cannot prepare ourselves for better, or rather more-informed decisions. I associate the term "mistake" with follies that we keep making every day, like not realizing that the pan is hot, before picking it up. When it comes to deciding on important aspects of life, we cannot make a "mistake". This is because we decide based on what all we know, and unless we take "wrong" decisions, we cannot learn to take "better" or more-informed decisions.

The point that I take home is to "take decisions" and maybe in that course, "make mistakes." We all have just one life, and we cannot let it run through our fingers by not taking decisions, and by not making mistakes.

Happy Making Mistakes!