mba Archives - Hope With Anirban

Desires: Do What You Genuinely Want

The author writes how parents, society, and Instagram had imposed their desires on him, but he followed what he genuinely wanted in life.

I have desires-

I should read books on politics.
I should go to the gym.
I should learn Taekwondo.
I should read novels.
I should cook every meal myself.
I should do stock trading.
I should start a business.
I should run every day.
I should write poems.
I should write songs.
I should become a DJ.
I should become a singer.
I should learn singing…

MY Desires

These are some of the desires that are amplified when I use Instagram.

I’m not saying these are wrong.

I’m just saying that these aren’t MY desires.

These are other people’s desires.

And if I do what other people want, I’ll stay unhappy all my life.

The problem is that it’s not something that is imposed on me by other people.

I seem to compare myself with these people on Instagram who are doing these things.

And my mind, like most people, also wants those things.

But it’s important to do what I genuinely want.

Not follow others.

I need to be aware when I am thinking some desire is mine, while it’s not.

On one hand, it’s not okay to follow desires that are not my own.

On the other hand, it can be okay sometimes to have desires that are good for me- like going to the gym.

So yeah, in life we tend to follow others, but what we should strive to do is be our own leaders and not follow others.

Story Time

When I was in class 11, I was studying physics, chemistry, maths… But I wanted something else in life.

I wanted to start a business. I wanted to be creative.

So in 2019 I decided to study philosophy. And then business administration.

And now I have a Master of Business Administration(MBA) degree.

If I had stuck to science subjects, which my parents and society wanted me to study, I wouldn’t feel happy.

I would feel stuck and depressed.

So yeah, do what you genuinely want, not what others expect of you.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

College Memories: Pleasant And Negative

The author writes about his regular college memories and how they are influencing his mind in both pleasant and negative ways.

I’ve gone to regular college but I quit.

Due to my anxiety, I quit regular college and got admitted to another college in online mode.

The memories of the regular college were both pleasant and negative.

Sometimes they haunt me.

College Memories: What Was Possible

They remind me of what was possible. Of what I could have accomplished.

I did avoid regular college and I got admitted to online college.

But I don’t regret my decision. It was what was appropriate for that situation.

There’s no other alternative I could have gone for given what I knew back then.

There’s a stigma around online and distance education in India and also around the world.

And that may kind of hurt my career.

But it’s in the past.

I don’t want it to turn into a bad memory.

Nor do I want it to poison my soul. Because it is exactly that.

It’s going to make me negative and have regrets which I don’t want.

So I’ll stop thinking about it. I’ll focus on the present and future. Not the past.

Right now I am an MBA post-graduate. And I have completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s.

Conclusion

I need to focus on how to move forward, not look back and have regrets.

Thanks for reading this line! It means a lot.

Finishing What I Started: The Way To Great Accomplishments

In this post I write why I am finishing what I started every time I start a task. It’s about values and principles.

Finishing What I Started: My Story

When I was almost at the end of my Bachelor’s of Business Administration(BBA) degree, I was getting distracted by a thought which would stop me from finishing what I started.

The thought was that I could pursue BA Philosophy Honors again, which was my passion, by taking the National Institute of Open Schooling exam for class 12th, to improve my math marks, and then applying to the Common University Entrance Test (Undergraduate).

But I decided that finishing what I started (BBA) was more important than all the opportunities in the world.

It was about my principles and values.

So I decided to first complete my BBA degree and I did.

Finishing what I started was important because it helped me learn commitment and the ability to stick to what I put my bets on.

I think a better opportunity isn’t as important as finishing what I started.

In fact, opportunities will come and go, and better opportunities will come again, but if I live my life with regrets and a history of incomplete commitments, I don’t think I can feel truly confident in my life.

“Persistence is firmly sticking to something for a prolonged period of time, even as you encounter things that try to unstick you.”
Peter Hollins, Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline

So I completed my BBA and started studying for my MBA.

When I was doing MBA, I again got distracted by better opportunities like BA Philosophy Honors, BCA Data Analytics, etc.

I was also feeling a fear of failure.

But I, with the help of my parents and sister, was able to complete my MBA.

Conclusion

It is this habit of sticking to and finishing what I started that helped me in every step of my life.

I am grateful for this value of mine and for my family’s support.

And I feel proud to say that I am an MBA Post-graduate now.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

How I Turned My Failure Into Success

The author writes about how he failed in high school and still managed to complete his MBA years later in spite of other people’s negative remarks.

When I was in class 11 in high school, I failed and was detained for one year.

I was asked to change schools and study in class 11 again.

It was a failure for me. And I felt very bad about myself at that time.

I felt like I was not enough and that I was somehow flawed and not normal.

I remember a few remarks from my relatives about me failing one year and it stuck with me.

Whenever I wanted to feel good about myself, those remarks about failing one year would haunt me.

“How can I be a successful person knowing that I failed a test in class 11?”

“I am a failure because I failed in my studies.”

All kinds of negative self-talk started in my mind since then.

But fast forward 10 years, I have completed my MBA in Data Science.

I have completed a post-graduate degree.

And I am proud of myself.

I have persisted and not given up.

I have worked and I have achieved my version of success no matter the size.

My failure in class 11 set me up for success by making me more ambitious.

After I failed in class 11 I wanted to show my relatives that I can do much bigger things.

If they want to make me a black sheep of the family, I’ll show that I can be different in a great way.

That I can be different from them by getting an MBA degree and someday starting my own business.

And I know the importance of forgiveness and that it’s normal for those remarks by relatives.

I do forgive them for what they said, and I also know that the fire inside me for greater dreams has been lit up and there’s no stopping now.

I am grateful for my failure in class 11 and my relatives’ remarks. Because they were fuel for my successes.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

I wish I could study and work more every day

What do you wish you could do more every day?

Study and Work

I wish I could study and work more every day.

I study and work on projects sometimes related to my MBA Data Science degree.

But I get tired and get mood swings.

I bet everyone gets these mood swings when sitting down to study.

But they study regardless of their mood.

I need to work on my “study regardless of their mood” aspect.

Relation to mental health

My bipolar disorder is also responsible for my difficulties in studying long hours.

It’s not like I don’t want to study and work. It’s just that I can’t.

Writing helps me tremendously to cope with the frustration of being unable to study.

But I guess I need to draw a line between what I can do and what I expect myself to achieve.

Satisfaction

What I can do is – study for 2 hours.
What I expect myself to achieve is – study 4-5 hours.
What I can do is – go out with family, friends, relatives, etc. and sometimes alone to the barber’s saloon.
What I expect myself to achieve is –
- to travel from my town to the city by bus, or
- take a public transportation facility,
- to talk to strangers,
- to make friends,
- to go to regular/offline university, etc.
What I can do is – be satisfied and work hard for uplifting genuine values like honesty, integrity, generosity, etc.
What I expect myself to achieve is – to achieve external success that has no meaning expect earning more money.

What I can do and what I expect myself to do are two different things. They are not the same things.

Conclusion

Sure I can aim to study more but I need to be satisfied with what I have.

I can try to study and work for 3 hours next time. Or may 2.5 hours.

Because my circumstances are different.

Wanting more isn’t always necessary because we don’t need to compare ourselves with others.

I need to take it slow.

I’m glad you’re reading this line. Thanks a lot!

Dropping Engineering To Pursuing MBA: Finding Peace Within

I know that the world is not easy to live in. But it is worth the struggle.

When I had just dropped out of engineering college in 2018, I didn’t know what I wanted. I just got admitted to a philosophy honors degree program at a local college.

But as easy as it was to quit engineering, it was not at all easy to withstand the shock of philosophy being taken away by a technical issue in the college’s admission system after a few months.

I had quit engineering and started studying philosophy. Everything was going well. But before our first semester exams, the college authorities told me that they couldn’t allow me to sit for my philosophy honors exams because my university’s criteria for philosophy weren’t met.

Later, they offered me other subjects. I took the offer with English honors. But I didn’t like the subject, and I struggled.

Even after quitting engineering and getting English honors, I was struggling.

Life always seems to make you struggle until you find peace within yourself.

So I was forced to admit myself in an online bachelor of business degree(BBA), which I completed, and I am currently pursuing an online master of business administration(MBA).

What people know is that I completed my BBA. But they don’t know how I found peace within myself to be able to complete it.

More about that in another blog post. But a quick introduction to that would be when I was pursuing the online BBA, I was also thinking about pursuing a philosophy degree from other universities. But I stopped thinking about those distractions and focused on my present reality.

With this, I would like to thank my mom, dad, sister, and my friends. And I would also like to thank you for reading this blog post.

What did you learn from this blog post?