Generation X
Up until generation X (Up to 1980) in India, parents used to dream about their children and would ask their children to fulfill their dream. Children back then respectfully followed their parent’s advice and strived to make the parents proud. Youngsters adapted to their parent’s choice and started to like the subject they study and the jobs they had gotten into.
Parent’s dream back then was only to make their children either Engineer or Doctor. Colleges were divided into 4 years of Engineering,5 years of Medicine, and 3 years of Science &Arts. Those were the days we had fewer colleges, fewer companies, and fewer opportunities. Girl students were insignificant in Engineering colleges, mostly they were into Arts and Commerce. The cream of Girls went to Medical College. Even at jobs, there were few women, for the most part, they managed the home.
Is it correct to push parent’s dream to children?
In Hindsight, is it correct to push parent’s dream to children? Isn’t it the other way, the children should have a dream and parent’s responsibility is to support their children’s dream?
Does this mean back then the parents were wrong in their approach to their children’s education in the past! NO, of course not! back then it was the right thing to do because children are unaware of the opportunities and lacked the ability to find out their interests and opportunities by themselves. After all Lakshmi Mittal, Amartya Sen, Deepak Chopra, Shantanu Narayan, Ajay Banga, Abdul Kalam, Satya Nadella, and Sunder Pichai are from that Era… and I don’t have to explain how successful they are! I can bet these people have a tremendous influence on their parents in the choice of study and job.
The reason for that astounding success of many people who were born back then was clarity in what to do. Education was simple, home rules were simple, people were simple, and life was simple.
Generation Z (Born after 2000)
Now let us look at today’s education and life. As per AISHE’s latest report, India has 1043 Universities and 42,343 Colleges. Each year 3.85 crore enrolments happen into higher education, out of which 1.96 crores are boys and 1.89 crores are Girls.
The following is enrolment information streamwise
B.A and B.A(Hons): 1.14 crores
B.Sc. and B.Sc. (Hons): 53.47 Lakhs
B. Com: 41.6 Lakhs
B. E and B.Tech: 36.38 Lakhs
B.Ed. : 13.7 Lakhs
MBBS: 13.5 Lakhs
Each year the Universities and the student enrolments are growing at 11.2% CAGR.
Today we are at the helm of the Information and Social Media age, and everything is available on the Internet. It is Good and Bad, it is Good because the information is at your fingertips, bad because it is overwhelming and confusing. Today both Men and Women are working and on top of it, there is a huge influence of smartphones on us.
The younger generation wants more independence, and they are ready to choose their dreams. They no longer want their parents to choose their life choices. That is great and they have every right to choose their goals and objectives. The only problem is, do they have enough clarity and tools in choosing their choice of study and profession?
Confucius Says, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. The same applies to studies. Chose a subject you love, and you will never have to study in your
life…
How do you know what you are good at? How do you know what is your talent?
Talent, Knowledge, and Skills
Before answering the above questions, one must understand the difference between Knowledge, Skills, and Talent.
Knowledge can be acquired; Skills can be learned but Talent is inborn.
Every human being is born with a unique inbuilt quality called Talent. First people must identify what is their talent and then the Knowledge and Skills can be built on the foundation of Talent
Your talent is nothing but your strongest area where you can reach maximum potential by using your strength. Most people do not know what their strengths are and often get confused with Knowledge or skills.
In the book, “Now discover your strengths” Marcus Buckingham and Donald Cliffton defines
Strength = Talent + Knowledge + Skills
Let us understand more about Talent, Knowledge, and Skills:
What is Talent?
It is a natural aptitude, does not require much effort. It is an exceptional natural ability. For Example, Steve Job’s talent is “Creativity” and M. Visvesvaraya’s talent is “Attention to Details”. Steve Jobs built the most valued company “Apple” and Sir Visvesvaraya saved millions of lives with his attention to detail.
What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is familiarity, awareness, and understanding of something. It is also the combination of facts and lessons learned. For example, we call Einstein very “knowledgeable”. Similarly, we call Stephen Hawking and Aryabhatta very knowledgeable.
What is a Skill?
Skill is a combination of competencies and abilities to perform a particular task. Skills help master a particular action or task. It is a learned ability to perform a task. Examples of day-to-day skills are “carpentry”, “computer”,” Driving”. Similarly, there are organizational skills, Analytical Skills, Management Skills, etc.
How do we choose our path?
First, identify your talent. What are you good at? What is your natural ability? Which subjects excite you? Does Mathematics Excite you? Does History Excite you? Does public speaking excite you? Does content writing excite you?
You have to figure out what excites you. Once you figured out your talent then you have to test the same. For example, if you think Mathematics excites you, then you have to participate in all Math related events to find out whether you are actually into it. Similarly, if you are excited about History, then travel to all the historical places and study them to see that you are really connected with them. During the testing period, if you lose interest, that means the subject isn’t for you.
Once you identify your talent then build knowledge around it to excel. You have to do the same exercise in choosing a work that fits your talent and knowledge. In this journey, your parents, teachers, friends, and family will help you identify your talent. However, it is you who has to seek their time and inputs.
” Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.”
– Brain Tracy
Gen Z has the potential to really shake up the world…
This Post Has One Comment
It was much helpful to learn about my inner ability and identify differences between knowledge, skills and talents. Thank you.
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