I noted down the main takeaways from Mr. Eram Hasan's talk during the breakfast today. He gave us some advice and life lessons. Have a read.
1. Always think critically and have a good analytical mindset. This will always bolster you as a professional in any organization. Read books on how to become a good critical thinker and learn analytical reasoning.
2. Be good at communication (both verbal and written) because this matters the most in the professional world. If you can speak and write well, then you can achieve great things in life. Watch TED talks and listen to BBC Hard Talk podcasts. You will learn the art of communication from these two sources.
3. Collaboration and Creativity are also as important as Communication and Critical Thinking. Learn to be creative in your work (think outside the box) and talk to people, share your ideas with them, listen to them, and collaborate.
4. Sometimes you have to step down to go up in life. If you think you are at the same level or position after a year or two, or at the most three, step down and look for other options where you can make quick progress. Embrace change in life. The point when you feel 100% satisfied or feel like you're in a comfort zone (in your professional life)—that will be the death of your career.
5. Take risks when you are young because 25 to 35 is the most important time in your life. You can make switches in these ten years and evaluate your interests. Risk is a powerful tool that can make you both wise and successful. Take wise decisions, and once the decision is made, don't regret it—stand firm.
6. Try to avoid social media as much as possible. Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media sites and apps are simply a waste of time. Ignore political and religious discussions and news because they provoke nothing but hatred. Social media sites are somewhat dedicated to a term called "voyeurism."
7. For those who want to stay healthy: don't eat too much and use 1 hour daily to exercise. We waste a lot of time on WhatsApp daily (almost an hour or more a day). Use that hour for exercising and maintaining your health. By the way, I believe it is 80% food and 20% exercise, so the major factor behind being fit is food. If you can decrease the quantity of food you consume daily, you will be fit within a few months. Also, practice intermittent fasting regularly. Science has also proved the benefits of fasting.
8. Read books, journals, and magazines on science, literature, arts, design, and fashion (but not politics). These books will open up your mind to know about our world. An engineer can become an artist if they read about arts or talk to people belonging to the arts. This is the era of self-learning. You don't need a degree to be a master in a given field. You have the internet, and that's enough.
P.S. A little about Mr. Eram Hasan: He did his A-Levels from Karachi Grammar School. He moved to the USA to pursue his BS and MS in Material Science and Engineering from MIT and then did his MBA from Harvard Business School. He has over 25 years of experience in different multinational firms, mostly in the US, Dubai, and Pakistan.
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