Gunjan Anandjiwala

Transcript

it's a cold winter day of February 2004. a young immigrant man from India gazing out of his window at a snow-covered landscape feeling immensely sad depressed and homesick questioning every decision that he has made and wondering if coming to Canada was the biggest mistake of his life that young man was me just a few months before that I had left a great I.T job in Mumbai India with a dream of a future life in Canada the beautiful future in Canada but the reality hit me hard as the things did not go the way I had planned things shattered I was kind of broke I questioned

it was it really a right time to take this decision despite all the help and support of my uncle and his family I found myself in a dark place with no friends no job and no Direction at that time the memory from the past surfaced my mind I'm walking into the bank in India to close my bank account and I run into this middle-aged Banker who greets me with a smile how can I help you sir his smile was so Charming I was excited to share my news I told him that I got my Canadian permanent residency and I'm flying to Canada I was excited

I told him that I'm going to quit my job and I'm here to close my bank account the smile on his face disappeared not because what you're thinking because I'm closing the bank account that wasn't the reason he was genuinely concerned he was worried his face turned gray and he looked at me like a dying man he painted a grim picture of people he knew who went to Canada and landed in a manual labor job just to support their families he was worried and concerned for me I did not listen to the banker I quit my job and came to Canada I knew God had

some plans for me I did what my heartfelt was right to do at that time just a few months after that I was I landed exactly where the banker had predicted I would be I was broke discouraged and totally into the labor job that he mentioned I would be in I was loading trucks in the warehouse I Associated my failures at that time to my identity I went from thinking I am failing to believing that I am a failure it penetrated deep inside me but things were very different when I first came to Canada when I gazed out of the window then it inspired me

it encouraged me and I did job applications after applications to get into the dream job for which I came to Canada and it was a roller coaster of Hope and disappointment months after months and got into this nervousness of not getting the job and not Landing where I was supposed to be however one day my cousin called me he was my well Wisher he was my supporter he called me and asked me how is the job search going gunjan and I couldn't tell him a lie I couldn't lie myself so I told him it isn't going well and I'm not getting what I'm expecting the

next question he asked was very profound how many job applications did you do in the last month this simple question triggered a deep realization Within Me I was not taking action towards my dream I was not making many job applications and soon after I got on my job search and did applications after applications I did not just land in a dream job I built a very successful career for myself here in Canada years later I began dreaming of being My Own Boss at that time I had to hustle through the same challenges I had to fight against all the odds my internal fears and the

opinions of the others which told me it is not the right time to take such chances I went against those odds and built a successful career in real estate in the last six years so my friends we all run into situations in our life whether it's quitting a job changing careers pursuing higher education getting married buying a home and so on remember if you want to concur if you want to really do something quit your excuses give up your excuses and just do it take action towards your dream thank you

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.