The Only Security is Agency

We spend 10 hours of our awake time on work. this must be the most important thing in ones life.

So, It has to be more than "paying bills." 

It should be a source of fulfillment. That pulls you into a state of flow. A meditative space where the outcome vanishes and the act itself becomes the prize.

but life and realities collide.

I see executive teams frozen by the risks of AI, and people layoffs. Recent Amazon, UPS, HD and several brands laying people in thousands is one of many rounds of layoffs. These have been going on since 2022 and ramping.

Some say that in this environment, one should be grateful to have a job.

That is a negative way to look at life and your capability. 

It puts the focus on external factors. 

A Company direction, business unit pivots, or market shifts. 

These are beyond your control.

The magic happens when you shift your focus to the only thing you own: Your Agency.

At a few points in my life, I found myself in positions that weren't at the scale I wanted. 

I was being asked to engage at a granular level I felt I had outgrown. 

My ego hated it. I felt like I was moving pebbles when I wanted to move mountains.

One evening after a long run, I realized - fighting the situation was a waste of my energy. 

I put my head down and immersed myself in the work. It was a choice.

That passion and all the experience I had opened bigger better doors soon. 

I led a massive data lake transformation, and stepped into security leadership when a CIO needed it most. 

Heck, I even got myself a AWS Certified SA Certification.

I want to be clear: none of my experience is the same as the pain of a layoff.

I haven’t had the rug pulled out from under me in that way. 

But the whole point is to remind, to believe in your own skills and capability.

Roles and titles are temporary. 

A board meeting or "strategic restructuring" can take it away. 

But the skills you build when you immerse yourself are yours forever.

all the best

Saurabh