What if...

Just met up with some friends lately at different occcasions and the conversations got me thinking..

"I can be who I want to be when I'm overseas, but there are expectations of me when I'm in Singapore."

"Actually I don't really care about promotions. More of ..."

These may not be the exact quotes, but the meaning is there... I'm not sure if everyone who went through the similar edn route thinks the same, but I guess there are social expectations about people like us. I have always wondered to myself...

What if I was offered a promotion at my workplace one day? Would I accept it because I really want the promotion? That I really want the level of higher responsibility, higher commitments, greater challenges, the job of being a manager? Or would I accept it because it is the norm to go? That it is stupid not to be promoted when you have the chance? Or just fulfilling the expectation that we are supposed to be great achievers in life?

How do you measure success at work? Is it the good performance appraisal? Good performance bonus? Promotion opportunities? Or just job satisfaction? Does moving up the corporate ladder equates to success? I think it is viewed that way for many people, but then again must one really be a manager or a director to be successful? If one is a teacher and chooses to teach for life instead of becoming a HOD or principal, does that mean that person is not successful?

Similarly, if I was ever given the opportunity to study or work overseas, would I take it up? Do I really want to go overseas and get some experience? Try the world out? Or is it a form of showing that I have "made" it and my company gave me the highly coveted opportunity? Does not going overseas ever mean that I am not a high achiever? Is the grass always greener on the other side?

Oh well.. Was just self-reflecting alone when I was taking the bus home. Maybe I would never need to bother to find the answers if I'm never offered a promotion, an overseas scholarship or an overseas job deployment...