This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 22, 2021 - March 28, 2021

Unexpected events or shocks disrupt our habitual routines, jolt us out of our comfort zones, and lead us to ask big questions about what matters and what is worth doing. It is no wonder then that during the current pandemic, many people are rethinking their careers.

Other than the choice of a lifetime partner, I believe nothing determines our happiness as much as choosing the right kind of work. It is a choice about what is good for you, and what is good for others whom you greatly respect — your parents, your friends, a significant other, any or all of whom you suspect may be dazzled by a greater or loftier choice of profession.

It was with this in mind that I had breakfast recently with a young couple, Ashraf and Shahirah, and their little four-year old, Wafi. In their early thirties, both Ashraf and his wife are engineering graduates. They returned from England a few years back, aspiring to work with multinational companies or at least government-linked companies, but found the employment market for fresh graduates rather tight.

Ashraf decided to take up a part-time job with a solar panel marketing company and began a side business selling pineapples. His shy wife took the professional route and settled at being a licensed financial adviser. Both were not happy. They were, as they put it, “underemployed” and getting by on “just enough”. Sound familiar?

Ashraf and Shahirah are not alone. Many young Malaysians face the same predicament. Sent to study in some of the best foreign universities, they came home buoyed by a sense of confidence that there would be jobs waiting for them in prosperous Malaysia. They were wrong, and with competition being stiff, many settled for jobs they were unsatisfied with, and unprepared for.

As our conversation turned more serious, I asked Shahirah why she chose to be a financial adviser. The mild-mannered mother replied, “I had to do something — my family expects that of me. And we had to put food on the table.” I nodded in understanding, and asked a similar question of her husband. He pondered for a while and said, “Well, I think I’d like to give entrepreneurship a shot. What do you think, Uncle?”

I looked at them intently and asked, “Is this really the right time for you both to contemplate these things?” They were quiet.

Even for those of us lucky enough not be sick, caring for others who are sick or scrambling to make ends meet, the pandemic has increased uncertainty and caught us unprepared — socially, psychologically and financially.

Harking to happier times, even then, career change was never a perfectly linear process. It is a necessarily messy journey of exploration — and to do it right, one has to experiment with, test and learn about a range of possible jobs. In times like the present, that luxury is not on the table.

I weighed my words carefully that morning and said to Shahirah, “I understand why you had to choose that profession you feel you are not naturally equipped for. But your choice should not be about what makes others happy; it should be about what makes you happy.”

For good measure, I added, “… and the money will follow.” I know that from experience.

I said, “You should not choose what seems to show you are successful by the exterior measurements of society: not about what brings you the biggest salary — particularly in the beginning, when those things seem so important — or the biggest house, or the greatest respect from your circle of friends. You need to choose what makes you feel complete and happy, and makes you feel like a part of something larger than yourself — a bigger, more purposeful community.”

She sat in silent contemplation, and nodded in agreement. I felt like a sage, but the truth is, in the end, this is a choice she must make for herself.

I then turned to Ashraf and said, “Many young men have come to tell me that they want to be entrepreneurs. And I would smile and respond, ‘Oh that’s great. And what is your unique idea?’ Unfortunately, after thinking a while, many would say, ‘I don’t have one yet.’”

I would sigh resignedly and prick their fantasy bubbles, “I think you should go get a job as a waiter or something until you find a product or cause you’re really passionate about, because being an entrepreneur is a lot of hard physical and mental work.” I know, I am one.

Entrepreneurship is so hard that I am convinced about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the unsuccessful ones is pure perseverance.

You see, you put so much of your life into this idea of yours, this “thing”, and you go through so many rough moments as you iterate and reiterate, that I think most people finally give up. I don’t blame them. Being an entrepreneur consumes your life. It is pretty much an 18-hour day slog, seven days a week for a while.

I looked at Ashraf and said, “Unless you have a real passion for this pineapple business of yours, you are not going to survive. You are going to give up. So you had better have an idea, or a problem you want to solve passionately, to make entrepreneurship your vocation. Otherwise, you are not going to have the perseverance to stick it through.”

I think that is half the battle, right there. One needs true motivation to stay the course.

This is not easy because our motivations today are heavily informed by the media. Our social feeds are populated by endless images of wealth, relaxation, power and pleasure.

This virtual run-off perpetually seeps into our consciousness, polluting our sense of reality and self-worth every time we go online. We compare our lives to these largely artificial constructs and structure our plans accordingly, hoping to eventually afford a golden ticket to these misleading fantasies.

Distracted by the never-ending stream of aspirational media, we dilute our opportunity to define what is meaningful on our own terms.

I hope Ashraf and Shahirah can define their real motivation and meaning in life. With the right vocational choices, they will not only be working harder but smarter because both their hearts and minds will be genuinely engaged by the endeavours. And they will be happier.

Zakie Shariff is executive chairman of Kiarafics Sdn Bhd, a strategy consulting group. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

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