PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE: DIFFERENT HURDLES OF MY LIFE

“If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal.”

 Life doesn’t go as planned, for anyone. It may be the most intelligent person in the world or the dumbest person, but nobody ever gets anything easy. Making a plan is simple and setting a goal is simple, but when life goes sideways, you also need to adapt to new situations and adopt a new strategy to achieve your ultimate goals. There are thousands of ways to achieve every goal, but one attitude allows you to look beyond the horizon. Patience and perseverance are the magic ingredients in our lives. Perseverance means continued effort to do or achieve your desired goals despite various difficulties, failures, or opposition. It is a quality that cannot be taught but that comes from within throughout your life experiences. For instance, there are many hurdles in my life journey where patience and perseverance have played a key role in my life. 

Before starting my graduation, I had a passionate interest in the mechanical design and manufacturing of automobile products, so I always tried to design some products like gears, pistons, etc. on paper, and I also always tried to learn from Google. To pursue my goal further, I applied for a B.Tech at GLA University in Mathura. Despite various difficulties in getting a specialization, I was able to take the mechanical branch. In college, I have made various efforts to further pursue my interest in designing and manufacturing by learning and acquiring various designing software, taking guidance from teachers, and doing internships at the company to learn the manufacturing process. But despite my hard efforts, I was not able to get my interest company at the start due to the recession and demonetization of the automobile sector. But I wasn’t ready to give up, so I joined my first company, which is a mechanical project-based company in Gurgaon. So, we have been sent to the new project at ITC Paper Industries Ltd., located near the Krishna River, Telangana. This was a very new experience for me, as going from north to south, with different cultures and lifestyles, is very difficult for a newcomer to adapt to, but I went for the project, working in the company, learning new skillsets, i.e., the installation of a mechanical paper mill machine in the new paper mill setup, supervising employees and learning at the same time, which is a very hard-striving journey for me. After a few months of perseverance, patience, and dedication, I was hired in my desired industry, the automobile industry, through an online interview and was chosen by the company RACL Geartech Ltd., a gear manufacturing company with locations in Gajraula and Noida. Since my experience is in different fields, I faced a lot of difficulties like customer dealing and core technical tools that work for many foreign customers like Kubota, BMW, KTM, Rotax, etc., during my initial period in the company. With the desire to continue learning to achieve my goal, I learned various skills, processes, and core tools; took guidance from my seniors and heads; and was able to become a senior engineer in the company within two years. 

But, as said, difficulties or hurdles in life can come at any time; there is no fixed time. So, during my job, I have a terrible accident, which causes me to resign from the company and take complete rest for 8–10 months. During this period, my life suddenly becomes blank, physically and mentally hurt, but I keep the attitude of not giving up, so I keep on learning new skills online. But added to my difficulties in life, the COVID-19 situation comes, which not only causes the lockdown but also destroys all the job opportunities in the mechanical sector in the coming years. 

I always believe in patience and perseverance and also always try to find the right thing in any situation. I thought that, as my technical knowledge with some industry experience is very limited, I should try management studies to broaden my goals. So, I started preparing for the CAT exam, and with a lot of hard work and challenges, I was able to get good marks and joined the PGDM college to pursue and explore new options to reach my ultimate goal. I always knew that perseverance would help you overcome any challenge, but now I can say that patience also helps me focus on solutions rather than problems. 

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulty disappears and obstacles vanish.” I have always heard this quote, and so far, have experienced it in my life too. I learned its importance in my life, and with time, its value has only increased.

Abhishek Gupta