10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong - Part 2

In my last post, I told you about 2 things I told myself, which turned out to be completely wrong.

One was, I told myself I would never get married – I was completely wrong on that.

Another was I told myself I would never learn to drive.

And I was wrong about that too.

Here’s one more thing I told myself which turned out to be completely wrong…

I told myself I was a words person, and not a numbers person

I can be forgiven for thinking that way.

From a very young age, I showed an aptitude for writing. In 2^nd grade, I won an award in a national essay writing competition hosted by the S.P.C.A. My entry was titled “My Pet” and I took 2^nd place.  I do not have any copies of this essay, but it was the first sign writing might be “my thing”.

Confirmation came in my freshman and sophomore year of college.  Instead of going to college, I sat in libraries, and at home, writing articles for the local newspaper, and some magazines, I thought might be good homes for my writing. I also taught English to foreign students. Another sudden interest of mine was composing songs. I would start with the melody (a la Al Stewart), using 3 basic chords of the guitar, maybe 5 at the most, then I would write lyrics to the melody. These songs were nothing to write home about, as you learned from my post Why I Can Never Get A Job At Google, but my family loved to parade my skills at parties.

I got some good fun money (and a boyfriend) out of teaching English to foreign students.  I got family admiration for my musical exploits (even though my musical experiments drove my neighbors crazy). But the biggest payoff came from writing those articles, and getting published in the local newspaper.

My sister Christine had a friend Mela, who worked in an ad agency. She called my sister and said, “We have a job at the agency for that sister of yours who writes. Tell her to come see us.” Next thing I knew, I was earning my first real paycheck, gainfully employed as a cub copywriter. I was living every Mangalorean's dream.

This cemented the idea of ‘words’ being my thing.

Until I moved to America. That’s when the music stopped.

I assumed when I moved to America, I would land a copywriting job. It was what I was used to. It was the thing I thought I was cut out for. I had no other concept of myself.

But when job application after job application failed to produce an interview call, I knew I had to shift gears, see what else I might be able to swing with my skills.

Admin Assistant jobs were aplenty, and easy to land, and I soon landed an Admin Assistant job at Palm Inc.

I sucked at that job, but it was while I was on it, my boss suggested I should consider joining the Palm Commissions Accounting team.

Initially, I was incredulous. I was a words person. How could I, a words person, do an ‘all numbers” job like Commissions Accounting? His suggestion appeared kind, but misplaced.

I would crash and burn.

But you know what? Sometimes, we need to go with an idea, even if it sounds crazy.

That’s the only way to find out if we can do the unthinkable.

So with a great deal of trepidation and reluctance, I bit the bullet and went for this totally new and scary "Commissions Accounting" thing.

What did I find out?

Ha! What I found out is, I had been completely wrong in thinking I was a words person.

Yes, I was a words person, but I was also a numbers person.

I was a pretty decent numbers person, as well. So after I took up Commissions Accounting, I stayed with it.

In fact, I am still doing Commissions Accounting today, except now I do it as a Consultant.

Life is unpredictable.  We are unpredictable.

Life changes.  We change.

It is wonderful.

At any point of time, we have more options than we think we have. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Do come back next week for the third part of this series, 10 Things I Told Myself That Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong.

I look forward to sharing some more truths about myself with you. Meanwhile, hope this post encourages you to try something unthinkable. I wouldn't be surprised if you discover what you have been telling yourself is completely wrong. In fact, I am almost willing to bet on it.