“The only certainty in life is uncertainty.”

When I was much younger, before law school and life happened, I had a 10 year life plan all chalked out for me. The plan was simple – five years of law school, five years of litigation and then become the best thing to happen to the legal industry after Mr. Jethmalani!

I was going to be the Robinhood of the lawyers, giving free legal aid to the poor and educating the common people about their rights.

Over ambitious and naive, huh? I know better now.

I tried to stay the course, but did not last a year on my plan. I attribute it to my unplanned self and lack of real-world knowledge. I took the first job I thought will lead me towards my goal. I was not cut-out for it. Then I planned to work in-house so I interned with a company for about four months. After that, I got a job offer in a media and entertainment company and I worked there for about four years, and simultaneously helped in running my family business. Then I quit that job to work with a legal education startup as a writer!

The point I am trying to make here is that the only thing constant for me has been change and uncertainty. I have come to accept that even with the worst plan in my first year, or a good plan, thereafter, lie some uncertainties. The best thing I have learnt is to adapt and make the best of whatever life throws at me.

This is not true for everyone. I know a lot of people who had a plan and stuck to it until they achieved it. But I also know of several others, who have struggled to get what they want. Some have persisted, while others did not. It does not make their journeys any less significant. It just makes you realise that ‘the plan’ must have enough room for you to adapt to the present situation. It also makes you realise things like, what you really want, your abilities, the importance of financial stability in your life, etc. I have had bare minimum and stable income as well. But then sometimes the job was simply worth doing, so the money did not matter. Other times, money was the only reason for doing a job!

# Show me the money!

I had almost romanticised my vision of legal services as a law student. I felt that since I live an extremely simple life, I could live off my meagre salary. That was only briefly true. But then free legal service is not really as the name suggests. You have to get paperwork done, filings, etc. You can probably waive of your own fees. But there are still expenses to be borne by the clients.

Just like starving artists, first generation lawyers without a solid plan, often have their rose tinted glasses snatched off too soon. The realisation hits that the income has to be supplemented. When this happens, there are only a handful options left.  You can either try and work your way into the law firms or companies, or you can sit for judicial or civil services examinations or, pursue further studies as well. Those who want to stay in litigation may also do a contract drafting course, and start drafting contracts to supplement their income as well as increase their client base. To know more about it read here. A sustainable income is necessary and deserved at this point.

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# To be, or not to be

By the time you have realised how to sustain an income, you may come to the crossroads of what to do with your career in the long term. For many like me, the first year is mostly to find our footing in the legal industry. It is the time to decide whether I am suited for the dream job and can pursue it to the end or not.

As I have mentioned earlier, my ten year plan did not work out at all for me. So then the huge realisation smacked me in the face: what to do? Was I ready to hang my boots or change my dreams? The reality was way different than my expectations of the profession. Mind you, this was the time when I did not know about the online courses which could have helped me with all my troubles. But being ignorant is no excuse in my book. Neither was the being indecisive.

Miraculously, something happened in my personal life, which helped me decide that I want to work for a company. But I had no corporate experience. So I reached out to my contacts and found an internship with a company. It was a great learning opportunity and while the company did not hire me, I got my next job based on the work I did for them. So one thing kind of led to the other.

The takeaway is that, you will come to a crossroad at some point in your legal career where you have to decide: Where do I see myself in the next five years? Then, you make it happen and get there! If that does not work out? Then go to the next plan. But don’t give up. Something will turn the tide in your favour.

# Burden of Choices

I somewhat pride myself on taking the necessary call in my career when I did. It was horrible to shelve my dreams and accept the fact that I had failed. But the thing about failure is that you have to dust yourself and get up. Failing shows that you tried. Could I have tried some more? Perhaps. I did not wait around to find out after I’d made up my mind.

The choices we make, good or bad have consequences. But you know that only once you have taken the risk and made that choice. We all have choices to make. What to do pursue as a lawyer: M&A law, media laws, cyber laws, business laws, labour laws, company laws? There are so many industries and alternatives. We are spoil for choice. But then we do not know how to gain specialised knowledge sometimes. There are online courses to help with that. But you have to make the choice first!

This realisation is what I like to think of as the turning point. This is where we decide to make the change that is necessary. The effect of this choice is usually a little long term. Whatever you choose will shape up your career. You will become an expert in that particular industry or field. This one is a big decision.

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# Chasing your passion

Once you figure out what you want to do, try and sit with it for a while. Like my boss recently said to me, “You cannot just get good at something. You have to invest time, energy and focus on the job at hand. Only with perseverance and hard work will you succeed.”

It is true. I stayed at my second job for about four years and learnt all that I could. There were no shortcuts. Everyday you learn something new. I also learnt the ropes of my family business when I had almost given up. The key to finding your passion is to do things that you want to, and some more! What you do is only part of the goal. You have to figure out what drives you and where your passion lies, in the course of doing the job at hand.

My dreams have changed since I’d started. I made some tough calls. But I tried remaining on the course long enough to figure out where I want to be. It was not at my previous job. I had learnt all I could and there was no more it could offer me. So I kept at learning as much I could. I did some courses and wrote some articles. All in attempt to figure out what I want to do next.

I realise that there are people who work in the same organisation for years, and I commend them for following their passion. But since my dreams have changed, I know what I want to do. I want to learn as much as possible. Things apart from laws. I want to learn about sales, marketing, writing and more. The crux of my dream remains the same: I want to help people learn about laws, so that they are armed with knowledge.

I have taken a lot of radical decisions in my life, which I was vehemently advised against. But it brought me a step closer to my goal without me realising so. If I had not made the conscious call to leave my first job and move in-house, I would not have landed my first major job. That job inadvertently helped me pursue my passion for writing and learning. I now work with an organisation which has the same goal as me – legal education. Did I make a lot of mistakes on the way to here? Of course, I did. But I also learnt that even if our dream changes with time and reality checks, the important thing is to keep moving forward.

The only way to keep moving forward is to keep learning and improving yourself. If you don’t understand, ask for help. Dreams may change with time, but goals are constant. Figure out your passion, set goals for yourself. Learn what you need to in order to pursue your refreshed dreams and go for it!