Never Wrestle With Pigs, You Both Get Dirty And The Pig Likes It

I came across this intersting story on whatsapp...

An elephant took a bath in a river and was walking on the road. When it neared a bridge, it saw a pig fully soaked in mud coming from the opposite direction. The elephant quietly moved to one side, allowed the dirty pig to pass and then continued its onward journey.

The unclean pig later spoke to its friends in arrogance, “See how big I am; even the elephant was afraid of me and moved to one side to let me pass”.

On hearing this, some elephants questioned their friend, the reason for its action. Was it out of fear?

The elephant smiled and replied, “I could have easily crushed the pig under my leg, but I was clean and the pig was very dirty. By crushing it, my leg will become dirty and I wanted to avoid it. Hence, I moved aside.”

*This story reveals*

Realized souls will avoid contact with negativity not out of fear, but out of desire to keep away from impurity though they are strong enough to destroy the impurity.

You need not react to every opinion, every comment, or every situation.Choose your battles wisely... Not everything deserves your time and attention

Now compare this with the day to day situation you face at your workplace. Think about those people who...

• Taunt you for working hard
• Make fun of you or criticize you in public
• Think you get lucky everytime
• Write nasty emails to you for no reason at all
• Are plain jealous just because you are successful
• Only care for visibility and nothing else
• Talk behing your back but not in your face
• Hold grudges and seek revenge

These are the people who divert your attention from your work. If you react or respond to them you lose focus of your work. Hence when you meet such people, do exactly what the elephant did to the Pig. Don't wrestle with them. Choose your battles wisely. Not everything deserves your time and attention. Ignore and move on.

Hope you were able to make a connect. Before we sign off here is another inspirational video, you will definitely want to watch it if you are more than 16 years old...

How Much Do Amazon Flipkart Software Engineers Earn In India After 4-5 Years?

I first posted this as an answer on Quora, here is the link How-much-do-Amazon-Flipkart-software-engineers-earn-in-India-after-4-5-years. I am posting it here for the benefit of those who have not read it on Quora ...

First hand information received from someone working at Amazon India:

Fresher's 12 lakhs fixed + 3 lakhs stocks and 3 lakhs joining bonus

Senior SDE 22 lakhs fixed

SDE -iii 35 lakhs fixed + stocks

And so on an so forth each level has 10 lakhs delta

So principle SDEs get fixed of 60 lakhs + stocks

In addition here are some numbers from Glassdoor. This is not exactly for 4–5 years of experience but in general the various levels mentioned will give you a good idea.

Amazon

And

Flipkart

I hope this helps. I also know someone with 2+ years of experience and a MS from US who was offered $125K per annum from Amazon at Seattle. So yeah if you are trying to compare your salary of a service based software/ IT company to that of a product based software company then you know the answer now.

If you are looking for some tips on salary negotiation, read 5 Secrets Of Salary Negotiations

Focus On Your Next Career Move Not On Your Next Salary Hike

Most software professionals focus on the next salary hike they can get from a potential job switch or from an upcoming appraisal cycle. Due to this mindset of moving from one salary increment to another they miss the point of focusing on their career progression. There are other challenges as well. The software engineer title appears to be misleading at times. All that glitters is not gold, here are some bitter truths about Software Engineers:

1. The job title may be Software engineer but you may not engineer any software at all.
2. Some software engineers don’t write any code they just solve support tickets.
3. Some software engineers don’t know what to do after they have become so called “Senior software engineer”.
4. Some don’t realize that they need to reskill and upskill to become a “Lead or a manager”. They just want to become one without putting any effort.
5. Some of them use this logic for getting salary increment per year: Salary should be more than or equal to the total number of years of experience. That is, if I have 11 years of experience then I should get 11 Lakhs per annum. Huge misconception.
6. When there is a lay off situation most folks tend to blame the company and not look within themselves for areas of improvement.

Before we make an attempt to find a root cause or a solution to this situation of software engineers let us take a look at the history:

Offshoring of IT business started to grow in the late 1980s and 1990s. A lot of professionals from other industry/ domains jumped into software industry by learning Cobol and DB2, those were the days of mainframe computing. Few of them got a jolt in the layoffs of 2001–2002 when the dot com bubble burst occured. Some of them reskilled and survived, others went back to their original industry.

Few years later with the surge in ERP software a lot of professionals with experience in finance, manufacturing, retail etc. switched career into sofware industry by learning packaged software like Oracle Apps and SAP.

But now when the IT industry is 30+ years old a lot of IT professionals get stuck in their careers because they are challenged and pushed by a much brighter younger generation(who can provide the same service at a lower cost).

Imagine a 12 year experienced professional with above average software development and design skills but with no inclination towards people, process and project management. A software engineer with 6 to 8 years of experience can deliver the same work and output as compared to a 12 years of experienced professional. For the employer it makes business sense to get the work done by professional with 6 to 8 years of experience and hence the professionals with 10–15 years of experience get stuck.

Where do these people go?

While some of them are able to climb the ladder of success in management roles, others have to take a detour. Some of these professionals migrate to jobs overseas, few switch into training and education and few into research. For details you may want to read Anand Vaishampayan's answer to Why don't I see senior citizen in IT sector in India, even though one gets paid handsome salary in it ?

What is the solution or alternate?

Yes, some folks do take a decision to work at a low salary and survive and few others keep changing or upgrading their skills to stay relevant. Fundamental issue is the lack of focus in planning and making the right career moves. Just focusing on the next salary hike does not help in the longer cause. The scenario may be different in Non IT sectors but in IT the tough time for professionals with 10–15 years of experience has just begun. Its time for them to focus on Charles Darwin theory: It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Reference good reads:

I Need A Career Change At 35 Or 40 But Don't Know What To Do

Phase Your Career Before It Phases You Out

You may also like to read this to find out some futuristic perspective…What Will Have A Bigger Impact On The IT Industry: Digitization Or Donald Trump?

No Matter How Good You Are, You Can Always Be Replaced

Have you ever heard these quotes?

Everyone's job is important, but no one is indispensable.

No one is indispensable. Even Me.

If you think you are indispensable, think again, because you might be wrong. Few years ago, IT giants used to layoff workforce based on poor performance and at times due to the pressure of global economic crisis. But now with the rapid advances in technology low level jobs might be under threat from software programs called BOTs. These BOTs are powered by artificial intelligence and have the ability to self-learn. Yes, digitization is the new normal in Indian IT Services Industry.

Your employer runs a business and every business needs to be profitable. You might be doing a great job for your organization but in the rapidly changing context it is better to get yourself a reality check. Here are some tough questions that you should ask yourself:

1. Is your job going to be relevant in the next 5 years or is it candidate for automation or digitization?

2. Will your skill or knowledge continue to contribute towards making your employer's business profitable?

3. Can a professional with n-1 or n-2 level of work experience do the same job that you are doing today?

4. In future, is there a probability that the customer may not pay as much money as they are paying today to get the work done?

5. When was the last time you learned a new skill or a new process or a new technology? Are you getting outdated?

Your honest answer to these questions will tell you the exact situation of your job/ career. Your answer to these questions may be a call for action for you because no matter how good you are, you can always be replaced due to circumstances and changes that you don't control. Here are some of the actions that you should take immediately...

1. Identify and work out a Plan B for your future. This Plan B can be an alternate skill that you will learn or an alternate part-time business that you will run in parallel to your job.

2. Save enough funds for the difficult times. At least have 6 months of salary in your bank account to face any adverse situation in case you lose your job.

3. Predict the future of your industry. Read relevant articles published by top research companies to understand where the industry is headed and what are the potential job/ career opportunities of the future. Forecast your learning and training needs and be prepared to reskill yourself.

To summarize, with changing times one needs to be prepared to do more and at the same time do something which is futuristic and acts as a differentiator. Sitting comfortably with the same job for years and years may mean that you are flirting with danger. It is time to not only think outside the box but also it is high time to act outside the box.

Amazing video on how your CTC is configured....

My Boss Changes The Subject As Soon As I Mention The Term - Career Path, What Should I Do?

Success is failure turned inside out. If you're afraid to fail, you'll never succeed.

- Dorothy Herman

Timothy was feeling as if he was in a silver cage. The office appeared to be so nice. The environment and culture was great but somehow Tim felt his wings were cut short. He had been working with this company for 11 years and while he loved everything he did at work he wasn't sure if it was right for him to hang around anymore.

Have you ever been in the same situation as Tim? Have you ever felt unsure of your job? Have you ever got worried about the future prospects? If answer to any of these questions is yes, read on...

In this article we will share some signs that will help you know whether your boss or company takes you seriously, whether they value your work and if they have any future plan for your career growth.

Sign#1 - Ask your boss or the HR manager about your Career Path and note their response. Does the HR manager or your boss change the topic as soon as you mention the term 'Career Path'? If they do not provide a definitive answer and clear direction then it is a clear sign that you are not being considered for a bigger role.

Sign#2 - Look for internal job postings in your own company and express your interest when you see one. Does your boss allow you to apply for an IJP? Does the HR approve? And when you apply for these IJP's are you able to get through the selection process? If you are not able to get through due to any of the reasons given above then it's a sign that you are stuck at your current role.

Sign#3 - Has your boss helped you plan a backup who can take up your role when required? If your boss always gives you some reason or another for not creating a backup then it means that your boss is not confident that you are ready to take up a bigger role. It is a clear sign that you will not be able to grow.

Sign#4 - You receive a salary hike once in a year but other than that you do not receive any recognition or appreciation of your work. This is a clear indicator that your organization does NOT value your work enough. It is also a sign that you may need to move on.

Sign #5 - You put additional or extended hours at work to meet the tight deadlines but the organization doesn't respond in the same gesture. You don't get enough flexibility and opportunities to learn, reskill, upskill are limited. This may be an indicator that the company doesn't have any plans for your growth as a professional.

It is also important to note if your boss gives you enough time on a day to day basis. You should also note if your boss has too many direct reportees and whether he/ she provides you get enough attention. If your boss is not spending enough time with you then it may mean that either he is very confident of your performance or he may not consider you important enough to spend time on you. This is where the five signs mentioned above may help you decide whether it's time to hang on or let go. When you note that these signs are becoming a reality then you need to take some necessary steps which will help you move on. Here are some of those key steps...

Step#1 - Check your market value by floating your CV and do appear for some interviews.

Step#2 - Build your professional connections outside your company. Use Linkedin, Payscale, Glassdoor etc.

Step#3 - Research and read the latest industry, business and technology trends. Follow Gartner, Mckinsey and other leading research companies.

Step#4 - After you see the response from the first few interviews, take a pause, draw a strategy, prepare well and then hunt for a better career option aggressively.

Once you receive an offer letter from the prospective new employer make sure that you research enough about your new employer. Ask the right questions to the new boss and the HR about your career growth and the growth and vision of the company in general. After all it's not just a job change, for you it is a big change that will define your career path. Be careful. All the best.

7 Essential Skills To Shape Up Your Professional Career

Here is a list of 7 essential professional skills that will help you shape up your professional career:

Know your stuff

- Ask 5 Whys to get to the root of the problem
- Understand well enough to explain
- Know and trust the facts, don't speculate
- Don't believe in too much theory or fluffy stuff
- Know what your stakeholder cares about
- Don't wait for an escalation, be proactive, take decisions
- Understand the bigger picture and the details too

Care about your work

- Take ownership of your work
- Make things happen, don't wait for things to happen to you
- Develop a "can do" attitude
- Remember Quality is important than Quantity
- Show up on time and speak up
- Internalize feedback and don't quit
- Don't wait to be told

Learn to Articulate

- When talking to business talk in business language, when talking to IT talk in IT language
- Less is more, be crisp and clear
- Know the audience, tailor your message accordingly
- Learn how to get to the point
- Visualize the complex
- Get to the point

Accelerate with confidence

- Develop a sense of urgency
- Do not allow yourself to be stuck
- Now is better than later
- Do not slow down others
- Identify and remove roadblocks
- Don't wait for permission

Influence your work

- Identify the impact of not doing the right things
- Hold the ground
- Assess win-win, win-lose, lose-win situation upfront
- Challenge the "matter/ issue/ problem' even if not popular
- Make a point

Drive and focus

- Bring people together
- Don't limit yourself
- Breakdown problem, inspire action
- Ask for help and escalate in a timely manner
- Believe in creative problem solving

Be flexible

- Be an active listener and incorporate feedback
- Learn to make adjustments in a timely manner
- Always have a plan B/ backup plan
- Think on your feet
- Be persistent to make decision
- Find multiple ways to solve the same problem

Hope you find this list of professional skills helpful. On a closing note I would like to share a best selling book that you should definitely read. If you are interested in getting better at setting goals you may want to read this recommended book for setting high goals...

How To Respond To Buy American Hire American And H-1B Protect & Grow American Jobs Act

A lot of folks across the globe have started to panic with Donald Trump's statement of Buy American, Hire American along with the news of protect and grow American jobs act being reintroduced in the congress.

Before we dive into understanding the reality let us first understand what is protect and grow American Jobs act?

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the definition of "exempt H-1B nonimmigrant" to eliminate the masters or higher degree requirement and raise the annual salary threshold requirement from $60,000 to $100,000.
(An exempt H-1B nonimmigrant is a nonimmigrant H-1B [specialty occupation] worker meeting certain criteria whom an H-1B dependent employer may hire without having to satisfy certain otherwise applicable H-1B hiring criteria. An H-1B dependent employer is generally one whose H-1B workers comprise 15% or more of the employer's total workforce, with different thresholds applying to smaller employers.)
The bill requires an inflation adjustment to the salary threshold every third fiscal year.

Source of above information is congress.gov

Now that we fairly know the intent of American administration, it is quite logical that most folks would panic if their job depends on any of these decisions. But this is not the first time that people will lose jobs because of certain decisions(for e.g: changes to h1b visa) that they don't control. It has happened multiple times in the past for different reasons. Here is a recap from the recent past (source Wikipedia):

2008: The Recession of 2008 (also called the Recession of the late 2000s or the Great Recession) was a major worldwide economic downturn that began in 2008 and continued into 2010 and beyond. It was caused by the Financial Crisis of 2008.

2000: Dot-com bubble burst. The stock market crash of 2000–2002 caused the loss of $5 trillion in the market value of companies from March 2000 to October 2002. Laid-off technology experts, such as computer programmers, found a glutted job market. University degree programs for computer-related careers saw a noticeable drop in new students. Anecdotes of unemployed programmers going back to school to become accountants or lawyers were common.

Hundreds and thousands of folks lost their jobs due to these events in the past but most of them eventually managed to survive.  If anything similar happens in 2017-2018 then this valuable information from the history should give us the wisdom to plan for a 'recession proof' future. 
Here is what one should do...

Find out if your job is under threat

• It is clear that there will be direct or indirect impact if you work for an American company or any other global company who can get impacted by these policy changes. Find out the impact to your own company and department by reviewing the current customer base, future pipeline, internal policy and strategy.

• If your job depends on any of any of the global policy changes understand that you will achieve nothing by pressing the panic button. Best thing to do in this situation is to carefully plan the next 3 to 9 months.

• In situation of lay-offs high cost and low value-add workers are removed first. Check if you belong to this category by asking simple questions: 

1. Is my work drying? 
2. Am I sitting idle most of the day? 
3. Am I doing anything additional than the regular mundane tasks
4. Am I doing any value-add work needed by the company? 
5. Is my department or my boss under cost cutting pressure? 
6. Do I get paid highly as compared to my co-workers but I do the same job?

If answer to one or more questions is 'Yes' then it's time to upgrade your skill and change your attitude.

What Should You Do?

• Prepare for the worst. Save funds equivalent to salary of 6 to 9 months. This will help you support yourself in worst case scenario.
• If you are in based out of USA then you should start searching for job options in your home country. Figure out the potential companies who may not get affected and look for desired profiles and roles. It's time to get active on LinkedIn.
• Start reading top industry research to understand where the Industry is heading and what are the top trends for the next year. For example, Gartner says that By 2018, more than 3 million workers globally will be supervised by a "roboboss." This means that factors other than the USA policy change that will affect jobs a lot more in the coming year. It also means that there will be newer job opportunities.
• If your current job is a low level IT job that involves lot of repetitive work then it's time to upskill yourself. Reading latest research as mentioned above may help you find the right direction. Again, remember that there is no need to panic, all you need to do is find the right direction. For IT professionals: IoT, AI, Mobility, Analytics, NLP, Blockchain, Data Science are some of the new horizons.
• Most folks make the mistake of being confined to their area of expertise/ special skill. Make no mistake, being an expert is definitely an asset. But in addition to being an expert in a specific domain/ technology/ market segment, one also needs to acquire generic skills like People Management, Sales, Public Speaking and Interpersonal skills, Administration and Project Management etc. These are evergreen skills which are always in demand and acquiring these skills gives you the much required edge over your competitors.

In general understand the fact that there is no such thing as a good, safe, secure job. Hence, you always need to have a plan B or plan C to support your family and meet your daily needs. Also remember that no company or organization wants to let go good people. Everyone wants to retain their best of staff. There is always a need for competent people even in the time of recession. All you need is the 'focus' to remain competent.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you are more than 18 years old you would also like to read this post How Much Money Would One Save In USA? 

My Boss Behaves Badly, Should I Quit My Job?

Tim is stressed and worried. His boss has been giving him a very bad time at work. Verbal abuses and too much of workload has taken a toll on Tim. He doesn't know how to handle this situation, he just wants to quit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lot of people go through the same situation as Tim. Having a bad boss is one of the reason but at times there are several other reasons which may lead you into thinking whether you should quit your job? Some of the common reasons are:

• no work-life balance
• too much work pressure
• lack of challenging work
• boredom etc.

But wait contrary to the common belief, I don’t think that following are the valid reasons/ signs to leave the current company, hence let us strike them out: 

• ·You have a bad boss
• ·You are stressed due to work pressure
• ·You don’t have challenging work and you are bored
• ·You are facing harrassment at workplace
• ·You don’t have worklife balance

If you are facing any of the above situations or challenges then DO NOT LEAVE your job. All of these situations can be fixed. There is always a work around to get rid of a bad boss. There is always a process to report harassment. There is definitely a way to manage your worklife balance and get rid of work pressure and stress. Last but not the least if you are bored that means that you need to sitting on a pile of opportunity - it is just a matter of reaching out to the right people with right intentions and engage in skill upgrade and/ or innovation.

Now coming to the point. Following are the signs that indicate moving on is on the cards…

• You are not getting the deserved growth/ the management does not have a career growth plan for you.
• You have salary issues/ expectations which have NOT been fixed for years now and you truly believe that you deserve what you are asking for.
• You do not get enough opportunities to learn and experiment/ innovate.
• You are on the pool/ bench and not able to get a project assignment. If the company has a pool policy then you may want to quit before they ask you to leave.
• You are reading negative signals due to the drastic changes in the company policy , values or in drastic changes in the the senior management.
• When the revenues and profit continue to go south quarter over quarter without any obvious reasons.
• When you see that the company is stagnant while the industry/ sector is making rapid growth.
• Lastly, when your boss or HR has given you a direct or indirect indication that its time to leave.

To summarize, I have seen many people leave in panic just because they don’t think rationally. Most times they end up in a bigger mess. I hope after reading this article you will be able to take the right decision at the right time.

I would like to end with a quote from Robert Schuller.

Lord, give me the guidance to know when to hold on and when to let go, and the grace to make the right decision with dignity - Robert Schuller.

I Need A Career Change At 35 Or 40 But Don't Know What To Do

Have you ever felt that you have a good job but you are still not happy? 
Or 
Have you ever felt that you are stuck at your current job? 
Or 
Are you asking yourself: I need a career change at 35 or 40 but I don't know what to do?

By being stuck at your job I don't mean you have a low salary or you have a bad boss. You may actually have a good salary, a very good work environment and good quality of work but still somehow from within you feel that you are burnt out and you don't want to continue with the same job anymore. You want to do something different, you desperately need a 'Career Change'.

Let us try and understand it more with the below example based on true incident.

Jonathan is a software engineer. For the last 8 years he has been working for a large multinational company. He earns a very good salary of over $170K per year. Everything seems perfect except that he has started to feel burnt out since last few months. He feels that programming has taken a toll on him and he doesn't feel the same passion and drive towards software development anymore. As a result Jonathan now wants to quit software industry. He wants to explore newer opportunities in other industries and domains. But his current job is so demanding that he isn't able to invest anytime to find out/ search any opportunity which would give him the same salary as his software job. This starts to frustrate Jonathan because he is not able to give his 100% at the software job and at the same time he is not able to take any action which will get him out of this rut.

Above is an example of being stuck with a good job. After a few years of service many professionals (not just software professionals) feel the same way as Jonathan. Some people term it as mid-life career crisis. Once you are in this situation you feel miserable because you desperately want to break out but don't know exactly how to get out, whom to consult and where to go? and above all how to maintain the cash inflow while all this is happening.

If you have felt this need for a Career Change, here are some tips that may be useful:

Do your math: Manage your finance and make the right savings and investments before you plan to act on your career change plan. To be safe you should have at least six months of funds to take care of your day to day needs.

Plan a career re-fuel break: Take few days off from your job. Taking a sabbatical may be a good option because that will give you some peace of mind to think and act outside your work.

Small efforts make a huge difference: Don't underestimate the power of small efforts. If you are not able to incorporate big changes in your career/ work life then start with small changes. For example, join a weekend or online learning course which will not conflict with your working hours.

Don't wait for one fine day when everything will be fine: There will be new problems every day, some big and some small. Don't wait and wait for all problems to be solved, create a plan and act as soon as possible.

Don't undervalue or underestimate the value of your current job: Your current job still pays you enough to support your family and pay all your bills. Don't be in a hurry to leave your current job. Remember, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Network with right people: If you want to make a career change/ move from one industry to another then knowing the right and influential people is the key. Utilize the power of The Internet to create your power network of people. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Quora etc. may be useful in creating your power network.

Be ready to invest time, energy and efforts: Be prepared to learn, you may also need to invest efforts and money in re-skilling or training yourself. This will be over an above your current working hours.

Remind yourself of how far you have come: Take a look back and see how far you have come since you started working on your first job. Recollect all your memories and refresh your memory with all your past achievements. This will be your fuel and motivation to move forward towards new goals.

Ask experts/ Research: One important aspect of career change planning is extensive research. Thanks to the Internet most information these days is available at your fingertips but asking advice from an expert or consultant may prove to be very beneficial.

Focus on your core strengths: When you plan to switch from one industry to another it becomes all the more important that you focus on your core strengths. These may not necessarily be the technical skills but core competencies like ability to lead complex projects, quick learning, multi-tasking, fire-fighting or escalation management, team building, project management etc. Continuous focus on core strengths will ensure that you succeed even when you make a major career change hoping from one industry to another.

Conclusion:

Aspiring to take up a altogether new career sounds interesting and adventurous but in real world it may take more than a few days or weeks; it may actually take months or years to make it happen in reality. But if you are really desperate you need to put all the power possible to get you out of your current situation. 

Remember: If you really want something different then you got to do something different.

Bonus tip: This video has practical tips for planning your career with the changing technology trends...

Phase Your Career Before It Phases You Out

My parents worked for more than 35 years, they retired from their respective jobs when they were around 60-65 years old. Both of them had government jobs and went through natural career progression. Unlike today, those days they did not have the opportunity to change career paths or domains or industries. They were happy to do a government job which ensured that they got a government pension after they retired.

But these days government jobs are quite rare. Most of our generation is employed in private sector or corporate jobs. These private jobs/ careers provide us the luxury to change domains, move from one industry to another and also provides the opportunities to take global careers. However, unlike government jobs, a private job does not provide guaranteed pension after retirement which is a big shortcoming. Not only that, private jobs necessitates that in order to stay relevant in the era of cut throat competition we reskill ourselves continously and plan our careers properly.

Talking about career planning brings us to few very basic questions: How many of us look forward in the future? Some of us may be earning a hefty salary today but are we planning our careers accurately? It is wise to ask yourself some difficult questions...

Have you ever wondered how your career will look like 15 years down the line or 30 years down the line? Would you be doing the same job? or will you be doing something different? For example, if you are a 25 years old software engineer then would you still be a software engineer after 15 years or 30 years? If not, have you ever visualized how your career will progress and conclude?

To answer some of these questions and become future proof we suggest that you design your career path in terms of career phases, that is, divide your career into 3 or 4 phases with respect to your age and experience. One example is given below:

Phase 1: Age 25 to 35 years. Experience 0 to 10 years. We can call this as a High Energy phase. This is where you are full of energy and have dreams and stars in your eyes. This is where you need to focus on learning. Learn as much as possible and break out of 9 AM to 6 PM mindset. Be flexible and develop a go-getter attitude.

Phase 2: Age 35 to 45 years. Experience 10 to 20 years. We can term this as the Prime phase. By the time you enter and pass through this phase you have gained enough meaningful experience to know what you would love to do for the rest of your life. You have built your core skill and strengths. This is where you have also created your power network of people. You have understood in which field you will grow and how exacly that growth will happen. Believe me, if you have not figured out your core strengths and built your power network then you are in some serious trouble.

Phase 3: Age 45 to 60 years. Experience 20 years plus. This is the tricky phase. There are chances that by the time you reach the tricky phase of your career you have already burnt out most of your energy(in phase 1) and you are already past your prime(in phase 2). This is the exact reason why it is termed as "tricky" phase. Imagine yourself as a 45 year old or 50 year old professional who still needs to work for another 10 or 15 years. Ask yourself: How much of fight will be left within you? Would you run out of gas? Would you have enough money in your bank account to support your life after retirement? This is a phase where you need to stay physically fit and mentally fresh. This is a phase where you need to stop living in the past and be ready for change and be open to newer and brighter ideas.

Because there is no going back from Phase 3 to Phase 2 and from Phase 2 to Phase 1, it is of no use or help if you think about your career problems when you reach Phase 2 or Phase 3. It is beneficial to uncover problems early in the game and take some concrete actions. Having the futuristic view of your career phases in front of you will help you do that depending on where you are at this stage of your career and age.

Try plotting a career phase diagram for yourself and you would know exactly where you stand and whether the road ahead is crystal clear or a bit hazy.

To conclude: If you find yourself too busy with your work and havent really got a chance to think about this stuff then it is all the more important that you take a pause. If required, give yourself a break of 2-3 days and invest time in planning your career. It is wise to act on it urgently and you should act right here, right now. Remember that failing to plan is planning to fail.

Other good reads:

The Making Of Olympic Champions
15 Powerful Techniques To Pay Attention In Meetings
20 Effective Work Life Balance Tips For Professionals
39 Key Critical Competencies Of Successful Business Leaders
Is The Digital Revolution Going To Take Away Your Job?