The riskiest thing I ever did wasn’t quitting a job or starting a company. It was scratching a line through a number on a printed contract while my visa hung in the balance.
In 2016, I was an engineer at a manufacturing plant in Melbourne, living in a suburb I hated and commuting past neighborhoods I couldn’t afford. It was a very quiet place which was also far away from the city centre and the train stations.
But… it was cheap.
One weekend, my colleagues from work wanted to show me the city and we ended up in South Yarra in Melbourne. I loved this place and I told myself that I will try my best to live there.
The math didn’t work. South Yarra rents versus my current salary left a gap that was embarrassing to even look at.
At this point of my life I was working as an engineer in a local manufacturing plant where I was responsible for restructuring it. I truly enjoyed it back then as it felt like a great challenge (it was).
The idea of life in another part of the city couldn’t leave my head.
I had this crazy idea of negotiating the contract with my employer so I could afford living in one-bedroom apartment in this area.
The catch: this same employer was sponsoring my visa. Push too hard, and I wasn’t losing a salary negotiation – I was on a plane home.
Then the big day arrived.. I was about to sign a new contract together with my visa application form that has been prepared for me. At this point I already knew what salary is awaiting me. I got my contract to review and my hands were shaking due to the stress this moment has brought.
I scratched out the number my boss had written and wrote the figure I expected instead. It was about 25% more.
I pushed the contract back toward him without saying a word, certain I had ended everything. I had completely no idea what will happen next – laugh, scream – I was imagining the worst.
Against all odds, my boss simply nodded and said, “We can make it.”
That’s all.
Ten years later, the line I scratched on that contract still feels like the moment everything changed.
The restructuring project taught me engineering. That contract taught me something I couldn’t have learned on the job. That handwritten number on a printed contract taught me something no salary ever could: the first person who has to believe you deserve more is you.
As for the apartment – my entire 4 years I spent in Melbourne since this moment I was living in my beloved suburb – South Yarra.
May the spirit of that young man continue to guide me.