Any mention of good wine is usually associated with a celebration or ceremony. From State dinners to corporate conferences and from Wedding toasts to an office Christmas party, wine lends a certain elegance and warmth to the occasion. It has been so for hundreds of years and no wonder that good wines are carefully fermented and aged.
Let’s look at some similarities between this aging process of a good wine and the aging process of a person’s successful career:
The Process of Wine Aging
Most wine lovers know how the process of aging wine works, especially red wine, soon after grapes are picked and crushed. They are then usually put into barrels made of oak and sugar and acids, among other things, are added to the mixture. Placed in a dark area in cool temperatures, these barrels help the process of aging. Finally, after a period of, say, a couple of years or more, the red wine gets a full flavored bold taste.
So what’s red wine got to do with a good career?
The simple answer is this aging process and the patience of a wine maker that has always struck me as being very similar to what we need for a career to flourish.
All great careers are made with patience (lots of it)
Making a great career is a perpetual exercise where you consistently update yourself with the latest in your chosen career path. Just like wine aging, if you give your career proper conditions, then a bold flavor is added to your career that the world calls a success story. We can add good education, training and commitment to career goals that become ingredients like sugar, tannin and acids for wine.
The equivalent of an oak barrel for career making is a productive and progressive environment where one can periodically make a reality check and add on to one’s laurels, if any. Add to it patience and time and you are always ready for a celebration- with a glass of red wine of your choice of course.
I have observed three kinds of scenarios where a person makes his career choices:
1. Pro Active Parents’ Guidance
When pro active parents take a lot upon themselves to decide what their children would do for a living when they grow up. This decision almost entirely is governed by the mental make up of the parents and their world experience. Many a children have settled successfully in such cases but I still think that it takes away from the children a potential choice of their own that they could have made after greater individual exposure.
2. Parents and Kids Confer and Agree
Another set of pro active parents encourages children to find an area of interest where they will feel comfortable and fulfilled if they go that way career wise. Such young people are exposed to various choices out there and are able to pick out a suitable career. The only thing parents stand on firm are that these youngsters must decide on something after careful considerations. This makes for an informed decision and I very much like this approach.
3. On One’s Own
Every one is not so lucky to have doting elders, so some of us have to make our own decisions. It is here that choices and consequences of those choices become critical. Faced with this situation, some just let destiny play a part and wait for anything to fall into their lap believing they would make something out of something. This can prove to be a losing proposition in the long run as we can never turn back time to change wrong decisions. However, with good environmental influence like school, teachers and peers, one may realize the importance of choosing a career niche and then make a success out of it.
Whichever of the above course has brought you to your present career choice, one thing is certain. Slowly adding to and enhancing a singular career choice makes for a satisfying and paying working life. Even if you have to make a career change in life – not uncommon – the same principles apply all over for your new career. Plus, you can avoid any mistakes you made the first time around.
CHEERS!!!
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