'How I stopped fire-fighting, literally'

I used to work for a big liquor brand in 1994. My job was to globalise the brand, make it exportable. Exactly 10 years and 1 day after I took up the job, the brand was in 55 countries. That was also the day I left the company. I thought I was in the field of international business. But everybody else saw me as being in the liquor trade. When I went to parties, everyone would say, “Here comes the booze guy.” I got a little tired of the perception.

I looked at several options wanting to pursue international business. Finally, I saw a tiny ad for a fire fighting company. It said, “You have fire in your belly?” I thought, well…and the next thing I knew, I was working for a global company that has an innovative fire-fighting solution. People at parties would tell me they were fire- fighting at work — as stock brokers, as bankers, as soap and shampoo marketing honchos. I’d tell them how I was literally fighting fires.

I travelled 20 days in a month. I did fire fighting demos in Japan, at airports in Australia, mock oil rigs in Brunei. Until one day when I came back home from a tour, my son opened the door and did not even greet me. I realised how much I had got disconnected from my family.

I was trapped within a job that gave me no time for my relationships at home. My wife told me that she had been raising my son like a single parent. That year, the wedding anniversary gift I gave my wife was my resignation letter to my job.

By sheer accident, an old acquaintance turned up and I found myself at Design Core. It’s a good job. In the morning I may be doing something related to agriculture, in the afternoon with technology and in the evening with lifestyle. It’s like a TEDx every day.

I’ve discovered that most people work for their bank balance and fall into the trap of routines that can be mind numbing. The thing to do is to guard against rigid thinking. Stay flexible in the mind. My top tip to those who have fallen into the trap of routine or have become too busy to notice that their work is taking a toll on their relationship: pull the plug. Life is not about upgrading to an SUV or getting a holiday. It is about evolving.