3 Idiots, Salesforce, and You

My colleagues recommended the movie 3 Idiots to me, and I’m thankful they did. It’s considered one of the best Bollywood movies of all time and I can see why. If you haven’t seen it already, come back to this post when you have =)

Sometimes when I watch movies I can’t help but make parallels to the Salesforce world. 3 Idiots might as well have been created by a Salesforce ISV. It’s basically about 3 students and their pursuit to become engineers. And their journey reminds me about 3 things I’ve learned during my own pursuits.

Focus on learning, not on the outcome.

I struggle with this one. You might struggle with this one too. Let me throw out some tough love:

• Having the DEV 401 certification doesn’t make you a Salesforce Developer
• Having a Technical Architect job title doesn’t make you a Technical Architect
• Being strong in Apex and Visualforce today doesn’t make you a strong programmer tomorrow

If any of these points hit you in the feels, you might need to focus more on learning. Don’t chase the certification or the title. Chase the knowledge, the understanding, and the rest will take care of itself.

Do what you love, not what’s expected of you.

I’ve done a lot of things right in my career and I’ve made a hell of a lot of mistakes too. Looking back, I remember the highs and the lows. Twice in my life I’ve taken pay cuts (30% and 50%) to gamble on myself and try pursuing things I knew I’d love – like coding. Looking back I’m thankful I had the wisdom to make those decisions at those times.

I also know what it’s like taking the other path in the road. Again, twice in my life, I’ve taken positions because they paid more, they were more prestigious, and my family/friends would envy me more for doing so. Both times I’ve left, shamefully, because my heart knew I took the job for the wrong reasons. Every day, every step down those paths took me one step further away from where I really wanted to be. Each morning was more difficult to wake up to than the last.

You could argue that this is a fantasy that doesn’t apply in the real world. You can also argue that every decision, good or bad, leads you to where you are today. You may be right to some degree, but, you always have to remember to learn from your mistakes. Maybe you’ve made similar mistakes like I have in my career. What goals are you pursuing in your life and why are you doing it? I hope my students on SFDC99 are learning for the right reasons. These students somehow always seem to be the ones to find a way to succeed.

Give back to the world

I made this site to pass on the knowledge that others had freely given to me. In turn, people like Kieren Jameson (MVP), Geoffrey Flynn (MVP), and Mayank Srivastava (future MVP) have taken knowledge from this site and passed it forward in their own way. I like to think these kinds of things make the world a better place. Small acts of kindness have a habit of multiplying – compounding on top of each other. It’s one reason why the Salesforce community is so incredible. I hope you too can contribute back to this community in your own special way!

Anyway if you’ve read all of this and you’re still on the fence to watch 3 Idiots, I recommend you watch it for its killer songs. Still have em stuck in my head!