Waking Up to Resonance and Renewal

Is that a wake-up call

There were many events in my life that served as a wakeup call. One that stands out is when I and my family moved from India to Canada a couple of months ago. It was an overwhelming experience for all of us. We quickly realized how polite Canadians were in general. They’ll probably hold the door for you if they see you coming behind them. Canada has a diversified culture and you can almost find someone from your community.

First and foremost Canada is a multicultural country. Coming from a third world countries where people aren’t as polite it was a wakeup call for me and made me realize how cultures vary in different parts of the world. For instance, I was lost in the middle of the city one evening when I was new here. Someone saw me getting confused and came forward to help me. I was really amazed by how polite this person was. I was finally able to reach home safely because of the help offered.

In general, Canadians are a mostly friendly, unpretentious people who value honesty, sensitivity, empathy and humility in their relationships with friends and strangers, as well as respect for the privacy and individualism of others. For the most part, Canadians are quite literal about time and schedules. If someone says to “come at 3:00” he usually expects his guest to be there at 3:00. Lateness of more than 15 minutes is considered rude, and an apology or explanation will be expected. Likewise, earliness of more than 15 minutes is usually considered presumptuous and may cause an awkward surprise for a host who is not yet ready.

Canadians meeting for the first time usually shake hands to introduce themselves, and may shake hands before departing, as well. Short hugs are becoming more common for closer friends, particularly women. These Canadian only things gave me a wakeup call and I decided to adopt this culture myself because of its true diversified nature and politeness. My new home began to feel like a real home sooner than I thought.

Your moral core

Moral values shape the character of people. Different people have different opinions with regards to moral values and their importance in their lives. Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices. Individual’s morals may derive from society and government, religion, or self. When moral values derive from society and government they, of necessity, may change as the laws and morals of the society change. I value Accomplishments, Forgiveness, Independence and Cheerfulness the most.

The feeling of accomplishing something is very dear to me from my childhood. First it was studies – getting good grades then it was work – putting efforts for promotions, so on and so forth. When you reach your goals you feel satisfied. Apart from academic and career centric accomplishments you can also have personal accomplishments like planning a trip or a friend’s wedding etc. Forgiveness is also one of those things that shape you as a person. ‘To err is human; to forgive, divine. ’ A quotation probably more famous than the man who first said it. Though it can feel very comforting or powerfully releasing to be forgiven, make no mistake: we do not forgive for the other person; we forgive for ourselves!

Independence is a core value. It’s the sense of freedom one experiences in making decisions etc. Cheerfulness brings positivity to life and removes the pessimism. These are certain core values of utter importance to me and I firmly believe they have what it takes to change your mind in a positive way.

Rhythms is my career(s)

• Started Working as Software Developer 2018
• Changed Organization Promoted to Senior Systems Engineer 2017
• Same Organization – Seniority offered Started Working as Systems Engineer 2015
• First job after Graduation Graduation from University 2015
• University after School Graduation from High School 2011.

The above chart shows the career rhythm. I feel like my career is keeping up with my expectations so far. There is of course room for improvement. I plan to target leadership roles in the future as that’s the next level i. e. leading a team of Developers.

Ideally I should be getting a wakeup call if I don’t make a leader in the next 2 years of my career. Because someone with 5 years of experience is expected to lead a team or else he is compelled to think whether he is incompetent.

I’ve had smooth transitions over the course of my career. After graduating from high school in 2011, I was able to join University the same year which I feel was a big win for me. There are many career coaches out there who give sound advice. But I was grateful not needing one as I pursued my interests diligently.

Rhythms in my life

I was born in the year 1994 in the heart of a desert in a North African country Libya. My father was a Professor at a University in Libya. I started my kindergarten in Libya and by the time I completed the 2 years we returned to India in 1999 where I started primary school. Years passed and I graduated from high school in 2011. I was fortunate to be able to start at University the same year and completed in 2015. I was offered a position as a Systems Engineer at Infosys. I readily accepted the offer. My performance was taken into consideration in 2017 and I was promoted to Senior Systems Engineer position. I got married by the end of the year. I happened to move to Canada in 2017. After a couple of months of job search I found a job as a Software Developer. I am reasonably happy by the state of things so far.