How tuning the radio can help you discover your calling!
By: Saurabh Bhandari
Tags: Life Calling, Discover Your Passion, Setting Life Goals, Discover Your Path, Professional Development

I often tune in to the radio while driving and I assume, as most of you, I equally dislike ads. The moment a station plays an ad, I switch over to a different channel. This process continues from time to time.

One such evening, I had a stark realization. As of today, I am convinced from head to toe and in my bones that I want to spend the rest of my lifetime in the capacity of a Director and a Cinematographer and maybe a few more things! But I did not arrive at this conviction overnight or in the classroom.

It was a combination of many experiences, good and bad, and a result of testing the waters beyond the classroom. Somehow, each of us already knows what works for us and what keeps us integrated and at peace. We come with this intuition from Day 1. But somehow it gets clouded, corrupted, and buried deep below.

Now here is how the radio tuning bit comes in. As, one switches from channel to channel, you keep listening to different things; Hindi Music, English Music, 80’s Bollywood, Cricket commentary, Podcast, etc. And in each category, there could be two or more channels playing a super niche within that category. Each channel has a niche and we explore and continue to tune, till we settle on one.

Why do we settle on a given channel? It’s simple — It matches my expectations and is in sync with either my mood, personality, likes, preferences, etc. To put it short, it’s a match!

No one profession is good or bad, right or wrong. It is about finding the one that suits me for who I am. And this process of discovery takes trial and error. One must explore far and wide and then through negation, one arrives at a broad stroke. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, mind you!

I once asked a friend who got married via the arranged marriage route, How did you decide that he was the one? — She said, there was no reason to say no. In essence, she kept negating the ones she met before till she felt right, intuitively. But to arrive at that sense of intuition, she had to go through multiple meetings with multiple prospective partners. It’s not easy or entertaining.

Once you arrive at a broad stoke, say ‘ Finance ‘ for example. It is then that you explore the different verticals in the field to arrive at your niche. It takes time. It takes pain. You have to go through the darkness to arrive at the bright spot. It all adds up in the long run but you have to tune through multiple channels to get to your perfect station when starting out. It is a process. And observing others doing different things in your field and placing yourself in their shoes and visualizing yourself is also a part of the discovery curve.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever — Steve Jobs

The other important aspect is self-awareness. Life is a treasure of wisdom and realizations but am I ready to tap into it? In my case, Spiritual knowledge has really helped me become a bit more self-aware of myself, my emotions, reactions etc. Each one goes through multiple experiences but are we ready enough to let those experiences communicate with us? There are many of us out there who turn a blind eye to our experiences cause we are neck-deep in a vegetative state, to realize anything out of our experiences.

Old age comes with a passage of time, maturity comes by deep reflection — Swami Chinmayananda

I absolutely love the above quote and in a way, it sums up what I am trying to express!

A lot of young people say, ‘I am creative’. That is as generic as it gets. Creativity is something that can be applied across the spectrum. From the kitchen to the interiors of a house to a creative agency. Every field has it’s pro’s and con’s, a certain lifestyle that comes along, a certain monetary reward, fringe benefits, and so on. And it is about finding that field that is integrated or a good fit with my innate personality. Only when the synergy is right, is one going to feel elevated, excited, and interested and find the inspiration to persevere. I am saying this from personal experience. It is a funnel approach, we go from broad to narrow. Arrive at one cuisine from the many out there and then within that cuisine arrive at your dish. That is how I look at it.

Let me conclude my deduction with a personal story.

In college, I took to an advanced diploma in Advertising, and I excelled to be modest. I had every single trophy, my teacher adored me and I was a part of some of the best of projects. I shined and I discovered my creative genius. I had it me but the course helped me discover and bring it forward. But this was just one of the many steps moving forward.

If I had to give my younger self, some unsolicited advice, it would be — Test the waters and constantly explore! This realization of wanting to pursue a creative road forward, perhaps in an agency or so was utterly wrong. I realized this when I interned in ‘MTV’ and ‘Rediffusion Y&R’. The very same thing that I loved in college was a pain point for me in these offices. I hated the bureaucracy, the hundred-odd emails, and it just felt wrong for ‘Me’. And professional choices cannot be hinged only on ‘passion’ or ‘love’. There is a combination of other elements that come into play in the real world, that a classroom realization will evade. And hence, you have to go out and test that broad realization in the real world. And once you are convinced, march forward. At the end of my Master’s, I knew well enough that I want to Direct but that feeling got amply reinforced when I actually started Directing a few years later.

My current realization is based on a solid intuition, backed, and substantiated by real-world experiences. There is no room for doubt. Is it all hunky-dory! No, never will be. Life is a struggle, I better embrace it.

To keep it simple, keep tuning and do it actively. Don’t expect life to drop a wisdom bomb. Take it upon yourself to consciously explore. Tune into different activities, hobbies, spaces, vocations, etc., and be acutely self-aware. And then act on it, moving forward. This is my mantra to realizing your calling.