Thank you WSO

Hey everyone,     

First of all, I just want to make it crystal clear that I'm far from being considered a "success", and I still have a long way to go in my career since I only recently just started to hit my stride. I think the minute you consider yourself to be successful, you grow complacent and you stop learning/growing as a person and in your career. But this post has been long overdue.

My First Post - Three Years Ago

I recently took a trip down memory lane by looking at my past post history on this website, and the earliest one (3.5 years ago) in 2019, to say the least, was shocking to me. It feels like someone else wrote it - someone that was much more naïve, scared, and aimless. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do (medicine and business are such different careers, how could I have possibly considered both??), and I was so desperate that I was ready to turn to internet strangers for advice - aka you guys. And you wrote helpful comments (StrapYourBoots, ebitda-d, earthwalker7, Winnfield, Brogrammer (this beautiful man is always so helpful), and so many others). And some of you even reached out and DM'ed me really helpful advice, effectively giving me some sense of direction when I was in a super desperate situation.

Landed a Great Job

The rest of my posts following that first one were a bit more grounded, but still a bit in disarray - you can see that I was sort of randomly interviewing at a bunch of companies across a number of disparate industries. But just a year ago, I realized what I'm actually passionate about and good at, and I'm really happy to say that I have since successfully found a great job in that corresponding industry. Ironically, I ended up in a career path that wasn't medicine or business, and in a city that is wayyy better than the suburb I grew up in. As for the specific job, it pays well, has awesome benefits, I get to learn new things everyday and challenge myself, and most importantly, the people I get to work with are awesome. In one of my previous posts, I talked about how I constantly get ghosted by every company I apply to, but now, I have a ton of recruiters that are aggressively looking to get me into company interview loops, which is an absolutely massive difference from just a couple years ago when I would get resume rejected by 99% of companies I applied to and I just felt like utter trash. So a lesson learned is to always keep all your options open, and expand your horizons, because you never really know what you'll end up liking. 

Non-Traditional Paths Can also Lead to Fulfillment

I didn't write this post to brag or self-aggrandize at all; rather, I feel like a lot of people use websites such as these to get help, and then once they do taste even a little bit of success, they disappear into the night. It's easy to forget your roots, and even easier to ask for help when desperate but stay quiet when things are going your way. I want to show that you can fail multiple classes in college, switch majors halfway through (more than halfway actually), go from one career path to a totally different one (medicine -> tech), and still turn out OK in the end. It seems too often, especially on this forum, we only hear of success from the typical golden people aka the guys that graduate from ivy leagues and go straight into some top IB -> PE -> Harvard/Wharton/Stanford MBA, and the rest is history. But there are also other non-traditional paths that can lead to fulfillment, like the one I'm currently on, that shouldn't be ignored.

I also want to address some comments I have made from the past few months, that I sorely regret. These comments appeared in a lot of the Tech vs IB type posts, and I was in a bit of a dark place at the time of making them. I had recently gotten my current job, and I was feeling severe imposter syndrome, but at the same time my ego inflated a lot because for the first time in my life I was feeling even a tiny bit of success, and unfortunately I let it go to my head and felt the need to justify this to others. This is not an excuse, but rather a reflection of my past actions. Recently, I have actively been trying to make more helpful comments in a variety of posts that don't just revolve around Tech vs IB or other superficial topics, and have also humbled myself in a variety of ways in my personal life that have led to a more healthy lifestyle and positive mental mindset for myself.

Feel Free to Reach Out

Anyway, if there is any high schooler, college student, or even someone who has already graduated but still feels lost, you can feel free to reach out to me and I'd be happy to help and give back to the community. I was once in your position and I know how utterly isolating and arresting it can feel, but it doesn't have to be that way. I can't promise that I'll give you magical advice that'll lead you straight to the path of success, but I feel like I can definitely lend some helpful perspective to people, or at the very least, give you a sense of direction like I was given 3.5 years ago.

Grit Is the Most Important Factor for Success

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give (not industry specific) is to never give up. Ever. Not until you're 6 feet under. As cheesy as it is, it works. Grit is the most important factor for success. So many successful people have been rejected hundreds, even thousands, of times, but a lot of us only see them at the finish line AFTER they fell over a million times. Sure, natural intelligence, environment, and other factors can matter - but the saying that "hard work will beat talent when talent doesn't work hard" is one of the truest I've ever seen, and one that continues to ring true in my own career.

As for me, like I said at the beginning of this post, I've still got a long way to go and I continue to learn every single day and grow both as a person and professional. Maybe a couple years down the road I'll make another update post, who knows. Until then, thanks again to the super helpful advice from people on here - you are changing lives for the better. Please continue to do so :)