January
8th, 2013
The incredible amount
of aggression that drives people around me is just astounding. I see it not
only in professors yearning to get tenure, but in students targeting to get
that perfect grade, graduating students yearning to get that perfect job,
fellow gym buddies targeting to lose those pounds and attain the perfect
figure, and so on. An acquaintance recently told me that he applied for a
hundred different jobs while he is completing his PhD. Even if he was
exaggerating, I am sure the number was no less than fifty. Now how many jobs do
you need at the end of the day? Just one.
What worries me about
aggression is the fact that I don’t think I have enough of it in me. I mean, I am
still doing the things that I wanted to, living independently, (still) getting
an education, driving a car, traveling the world, applying for jobs, and trying
to lose those extra pounds at the gym. However, I am only too happy to smell
the roses, wake up to a carefree life, enjoy the sun and the breeze, take pictures, write a
poem or two, and watch that favorite movie again and again. I try not to live
life off a checklist- Visit Paris. Run a marathon. Shed 20 pounds before
Christmas. Get a $125k/year job. You get the picture, right?
In life, it is very
important to push oneself beyond one’s comfort zone. We would never have been
what we are if we did not leave our comfort zones, pushed ourselves to excel,
learned that new programming language, run that new statistical analysis, and
so on. But how do we decide what is pushing oneself and what is being
aggressive? Where do we draw the line? I am not assigning a value or a judgment
to being aggressive. But I worry about what if it is not in me? What if being
happy go lucky turns out to be intellectually fatal? I wonder if it is
specifically a trait for people working in the US, or if my brethrens in other
parts of the world feel the aggression building in them too. And while I mull
over this, I know it is time to polish up that CV, publish another research
paper, go to another conference, start networking aggressively, get a paid membership at LinkedIn, spend a fortune on formal clothes, anything to get myself a job here. Preferably a
very high paying job.
And as usual, we run
out of life as we struggle to make a living.
sunshine
6 comments:
like they, 'what is this life, if full of care,
we have no time to stand and stare!'
Maybe some of the people around you are being selectively aggressive? Perhaps they take on that aggressive manner when pursuing a goal they care for but do smell the roses, enjoy the sun and the breeze, take pictures, write poems and watch their favorite movies when they are not.
Also, the line between aggression and enthusiasm/desperation/eagerness/quiet determination can blur when we do not know the person well.
I'll not ask what is wrong with being aggressive since you already wrote that you are not judging it.
As an aside, is it really valuable to have a paid membership at LinkedIn? I'm considering it myself but am not sure..
Maybe some of the people around you are being selectively aggressive? Perhaps they take on that aggressive manner when pursuing a goal they care for but do smell the roses, enjoy the sun and the breeze, take pictures, write poems and watch their favorite movies when they are not.
Also, the line between aggression and enthusiasm/desperation/eagerness/quiet determination can blur when we do not know the person well.
I'll not ask what is wrong with being aggressive since you already wrote that you are not judging it.
As an aside, is it really valuable to have a paid membership at LinkedIn? I'm considering it myself but am not sure..
It's same everywhere sunshine: ) Wish you great luck for job search. Give your best shot but keep posting here as well :)
M, right.
Justme, I agree about being selectively aggressive. LinkedIn, one person told me that it is, but he is in the software industry, in a non-academic job. So I don't really know. In academia, it is all about doing a dog and pony show at conferences for people to be able to notice you.
Uma, thank you :)
it is same everywhere...
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