—
We’re all stories at the end that have a beginning quite unstable. Similar was my situation. The need for the time was such that I had to start working sooner than usual. This is how it is almost all around the world – it’s just that every story has a unique perspective to it.
Coming from a background that was financially stable, I did not have to undergo the pressure of bringing in bread & butter however; I always wanted to do something where my parents and family could feel the pride. Hence, I left all the comfort at the age of 18 where 90% of the boys are roaming around the city, hanging out with friends.
“Success doesn’t come to you walking; you should make a move towards it”
I was compelled to think of my broader role in the family. The credit for this courage goes to my late father who believed in me beyond my capacity. I had made it a practice of thinking big every morning so I could see a better tomorrow. Following my take on life, I hopped into “professional” life even before I was allowed to. One of my family members requested a relative of mine to get me trained with him in the company he was working for – a little odd but I started off as a salesman and loader. I kept wondering if that’s what I wanted to do in my life? Certainly not, my aims were definitely bigger. But as I was 18 and did not have any educational degree so I knew I could not expect any white collar job.
Unusually enough, my family wasn’t really aware of the exact job I was carrying on my shoulders – they knew I was working for a cooking oil company but not the exact nature of my job. Being a salesman, life is tough but you get to explore so much in life because the world runs when things sell.
As part of the sales team for this company, I almost visited half of all grocery stores, big and small, in Karachi. From unloading boxes of oil to filling out sales sheet, from observing how sales are managed to even alteration of numbers, if you know what I mean, everything had an influence on my learning.
From the above, I would like to point out one thing that almost was a significant turn in my career. There are people who can judge you on what you are wearing and what you are doing so as salesman people think you barely have any worth! Their way of talking is disrespectful but I somehow managed and never lost my temper on anyone since my aim was much bigger than this.
I wasn’t respected by the surrounding workforce during my first job, well of course, nobody was educated enough. However, I remained a staunch follower of my family values and worked endlessly in order to learn, explore and progress in life. This bore fruit for me and I was promoted from a loader & salesman to an auditor in the accounts & finance department, only because I had gained the honest trust of the management. NOW! This was something very motivational for me at that age.
“The only thing that will make you successful is the belief you have in yourself”
One fine day, while going to work, I was met by an accident that made a shift in my career. My mother found out I was working in a local oil company and used a motorbike to commute. Next day, I was homebound. Financially, I was stable enough to support my education so I was back to studies for some time when I joined a software house as a data-entry officer.
This was my entry into the technological world, where I had come to stay. I had found better colleagues who were basically digital marketing executives while I used to manage inventories on different websites. The keen observer that I was, took a dive into what interested me – S.E.O (or Search Engine Optimization) as they call it. Quite fascinating as it was, rapidly got my attention and ironically, I “googled” the basics of it.
I started digging deeper into digital and quite rapidly, was able to pick up things from my seniors. This continued effort led me to become one of the senior digital marketing analyst in the department.
“Time is priceless; you are responsible for your time. Earn it or kill it, your choice”
Even though an institution can add phenomenal value to one’s lake of knowledge, I always believed one can expand it into seas and oceans just by the eagerness to learn & curiosity to explore. That’s exactly what I did and what I did better was to pass on my learnings to whomever I could. That helped me attain the level of a speaker enabling me to speak at various academic sessions.
I’m running my own business and working with Octalogo and Perfecent and so many other businesses that helps other business to go beyond the limit. Building on, I moved to providing digital marketing consultancies to big and small businesses. I’m preparing myself to create leader, so they can make future leaders which helps generations to live their lives at its fullest.
I believe the body has limitations, the mind does not. We focus so much on what goes on for the neck down and we forget that it all starts from our mind. I firmly believed that everybody on this planet has a gift. It’s your job to figure out what that gift is. Keep striving keep working don’t let up. Things don’t come easy you gotta find it whatever it is.
—
◊♦◊
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.
—
Photo Credit: Getty Images