A change in Attitude

For five years of my college life, I had worked hard only before the exams began, and otherwise I was just fooling around, making friends, relaxing, enjoying life, and basically taking it easy. I never had to be serious about anything, really. And the fact that the lifestyle I was leading never caused anybody any problems, and in fact, worked great for me, I grew extremely comfortable in it, and I changed, my attitude evolved to suit it.

And then, I finished college and started working. First, for a small documentary film making company, and then for Google. In my time at the documentary firm, I never felt the need to behave any differently from how I had been in college, and I can’t say I did great work, but I did a good amount of good work. But three months later, when I shifted to Google, I realized that when Google said “You can be serious without a suit”, it meant – bottom-line – be serious.

It took me a while before I understood that another change in attitude was in order. During this time, my performance varied. It rose and fell, creating peaks on my graph, indicating that I was capable of good work, but I was lazy too. It was time for me to adapt to the work culture and get serious. I could not afford to lead a life of not caring any longer. My attitude to life has been changing slowly. And it’s definitely a good thing!