Hi there!

Let me start by thanking you to consider subscribing to my email list to read about my thoughts and to know about what’s going on in my life. Thank you! My goal with this email is to share my thoughts and bring some form of value to your life. Since this is my first ever email to you, I am not really sure about the schedule and the consistency of my emails, but I will definitely try to send at least one email a month. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you.

Let me first start by introducing myself. My name is Pancham Khaitan, and I am a software engineer. I find peace in building something, in the sound of music and I enjoy singing a little bit here and there. Today’s a very special day for me because it’s not just my first email to you, but also my last working day at my current employer. I have been working at this firm for the last 3 years and 2 months, and working with a brand like Google (as a vendor, not an employee), I couldn’t have been happier to have joined this firm.

I would like to share 7 things that I have learnt during my tenure here. Hopefully, you will find some of them interesting…

1. Curiosity will take you places: Most people resort to other people for help rather than putting in the effort to understand the root of a problem, and finding a solution for it. If you are someone who is willing to put in the hard work of understanding a concept from its core, you will become the go-to person for everybody. This will lead to your peers and your superiors giving you more opportunities to grow. Always be curious, and be willing to put in the work for the thing that other people are too lazy to look at.

2. Dressing up is game-changing: I used to be in the “I am a developer so I wear jeans and a t-shirt” camp. I hated having to wear ironed shirts and formal pants. But, shortly after joining the corporate culture, I realised that dressing up didn’t just make me look good and presentable, but it boosted my confidence to the next level. I felt important and powerful when I dressed up. It completely altered my state of mind and pushed me to function better.

3. Always document your findings: When we are exposed to a plethora of brand new information, our brain thinks that we would memorise all of the stuff and recall it whenever we want. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. When you document your findings while researching for a bug, or jotting down possible feature sets for the next version of your app, you are essentially laying the groundwork for the next person. You are not only helping yourself gather your thoughts, but helping everybody after you to see why things function the way they do. And because everything you did is documented, you can ask your boss for promotion since whatever information a person at your level needs is already documented. Always document everything: not just work-related stuff, but your personal thoughts as well.

4. Don’t be afraid to look stupid (if you don’t know something): We have heard that a student shall never stop learning, but we often forget that in the process of learning, there are a lot of ups and downs. You could possibly look like an idiot when you first start with something new, but gradually, you will learn from your mistakes and become much better from when you started. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t know something. We are all trying to figure out something.

5. Opportunities never come to you: I walked up to my boss and asked him to promote me to the role of a senior software engineer. At that time, I had been working in the industry for a year after college. Instead of laughing at my face, they very calmly explained to me that no one had ever actively sought promotion at that level of experience before. They also mentioned that most people in the team would never ask for a promotion because they hoped for the promotion to come to them. This lead to them being promoted 4-5 years after working in the same role. But, because I had asked for a promotion that early in my career, I got to know about the qualities that I needed in order to get promoted. I incorporated those qualities and a little more than a year later, I got promoted. Never wait for opportunities to come to you. You may never get it.

6. Always try to look for the good in others: Even if you feel like somebody is being unnecessarily rude to you, or being unreasonable while interacting with you, try to think about why they are being the way they are. It could be because they are swamped with work and are finding themselves under a lot of stress. It could be because you were unintentionally rude to them and haven’t apologised yet. As humans, we are quick to find mistakes in others but slow to figure out ours. Try to find good in others, and prioritise your relationship with them over being right. You never know how and when that individual would help you.

7. Don’t be afraid to be different from others: If you are the sort of person who likes to come to work at sharp 9:30 and leave work at 6:30, don’t be afraid to do so. Just because others are staying at the office till 10:30 PM doesn’t mean that they are working more than you. They are most likely doing the same amount of work as you for almost twice the amount of time that you need. You may be ridiculed and made fun of because of this excellent time management skill of yours. Don’t be afraid to be you. Chances are that others will be inspired by you and will too try to finish their work early. Be yourself with no regrets.

An interesting read

How to Live With Dying

I have always hated running, but as my waistline increased during the lockdown, I am finding myself working out more than I am used to, and have kind of fallen in love with running. I ran four 5Ks in the span of a week! This article is an amazing read about running, almost dying because of running, and about life in general. I find myself reading this from time to time.

That’s it for my first email to you. I hope you liked it and found something interesting. Please feel free to share anything that you find interesting by replying to this email. I would love to know more about you.

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