Dear Younger Me, Be Real, Be Unapologetically YOU!

Dear younger me,

You are filled with dreams, enthusiasm and excitement and why not! After aceing an exam like Chartered Accountancy, where the final pass % is a mere 4-5% and to top up is the wonderful work exposure you have gained. What else to ask for!

As you step into the next phase of life of building a career and a family, there may be a lot of learning and unlearning to do.

Be unapologetically you

Good, bad or whatever shade. Be yourself!

This is the phase when you want to paint a wonderful picture of yourself to the outside world because your opportunities are based on other people’s perception of you.

However, projection of a false reality will only make things tough for you. Remember you are setting the standards that the society expects of you. So, be real, be YOU!

Evolution to a better version will always happen based on life circumstances.

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You should be your top priority

As women, we are taught from day 1 the virtue of sacrifice so much, that it has become our second nature. We unintentionally or sometimes expressly push ourselves down the priority list. But something I learnt very recently in life and that has held me good stead from then, is to prioritise myself.

Remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup!

Talent will find a way

Remember what Sr. Christine Rebello said in your undergrad farewell? “Women are like water. They bring life and vitality wherever they go!”

25 years and many life experiences later, every time I think of these words, I marvel at the wisdom in them. I have taken multiple career breaks, heard recruiters tell me umpteen times that I don’t fit into the preferred candidature, wondered as to whether I can ever get back to work, and felt desperately and frustratingly lagging compared to my colleagues.

However, life has always shown me a path. Just like a stream that gushes through rocks and changes paths when required but ultimately finds the way to the ocean, hold on to your dreams and life will show you a way!

Today as a practicing Chartered Accountant, when I am in the role of an employer, I feel there is only one thing that matters in building your career – ‘your attitude’. All the knowledge in the world without right attitude is nothing.

So, if you are on a career break in the future and reading this again,…Enjoy your break and put your worry of the future to rest.

And if you are back from a break but struggling to cope…take a deep breath and hang on! One day at a time. That is all that matters!

Trust me when I say, the road ahead (to where I stand) is unimaginably beautiful.

Love

Your future self

This August, we have working women writing a deeply personal letter to their younger selves – from the time they were teenagers or college students or young adults just stepping out into a career, and later too when they came up against problems – telling them that they should embrace their #freedomtodream and how this will take them on their journey to get to where they now find themselves.

If you are a working woman and want to write a similar letter to your younger self, log in to your author dashboard or register here as an author, and upload your piece with #FreedomToDream or #FreedomToBeMe in the title. We’d love to hear from you.

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