I was on the “air train” between the parking lot and the terminals at the airport at San Francisco (SFO). As I stared out of the train, I vividly recalled a similar journey I’d taken over a decade ago.
Only that time I was distraught.
For three out of my four college years, I’d worked on a start-up that didn’t pan out. A big part of that experience was a shared desire to scale and make it to the Bay Area. That was the place to be if you were attempting to build a technology start up in the mid 2000s.
That dream stayed with me. After 3 years of working as a consultant following graduation, I’d gotten an opportunity to interview in a strategy role at a large tech firm which was, crucially, open to sponsoring a visa. It was quite literally a ticket to a dream.
I had finished up a day of interviews. All of them had gone really well – except the last one with the person who led the group. That conversation had felt like a car crash. And I hoped that the rest of the interviewers would save me. But a call just as I reached the airport confirmed that it was indeed a disaster.
I vividly remember the conversations I had with friends as I was headed out. I was either in tears in some of them or close to tears. That continued into the flight.
As it was a long flight back to Asia, the company had flown me business class – a rare experience. It was both incredibly comfortable and deeply unenjoyable. There was a lot of tossing and turning amidst tears on that flight.
I think about that experience from time to time because it gives me a lot of perspective.
First, what felt like a debilitating failure at the time wasn’t one. I did make it to the Bay Area – 3.5 years and a couple of failures and detours later. Failure is definitely not the falling down, it is the staying down.
Second, it is an experience that never fails to remind me that things don’t often work out in the time scale you hope.
Third, comfort and luxury can’t help us if we’re not at peace mentally.
Finally, it reminds me to never take my day-to-day for granted. It was but a dream once.
