I made up a website with 700 INR. But, I did not have Rs.700 to buy the domain name. I bought it on debt. I didn't succeed in the first go. I had ZERO technical knowledge on how to build a website. But that was not going to stop me because I don't have any other option. My survival depends on this and I have to do it,
come what may.
My first website didn't pick up, Account cancelled.
I made up a second one. It didn't work either. Account cancelled.
I made up a third website. Failed. Account cancelled again,
I gave it a fourth try. Countless hours spent in Googling, coding, writing and building it. I remember those days. I locked myself in a balcony and Googled all day long. Nights, days, weeks, toiled like a madman. That was the time I realized what hard work means.
First month, I made $1.29. Second month, I made $8. Third month I made $21.
And then some more. And then some more. And then some more.........
When a wolf starts smelling blood and flesh around, he becomes a dangerous beast. I had smelled my flesh and now I jumped on my prey with all I've got.
Lessons I Learned During My College Days
1. Lead a loan free life. Need a car? Wait, don't jump into an EMI. Save and then buy the car. Avoid banks as much as possible. No credit cards, I don't need cashback and other things. Want to study abroad? Don't take huge educational loan. If at all you take loans, have something to fall back on. Money is fire, you gotta be careful. Save. Every month Pay Yourself First
2. Make mistakes. Fail, fail fast and make it public. Don't drag it on. I wouldn't have succeeded in this wild venture if I listened to people telling me I write shitty articles. In fact, all I wrote for the first year was pure garbage. But here is the thing. I didn't stop. I kept pressing on because I had no time.
3. Do not be ashamed of your situation. I could have written it Anonymously, so that my Facebook friends never know how miser my life was. But No. I am not ashamed of the truth. Accept life as it is.
4. Do not compare your life with anyone.
I see a new trend, specially in Quora. People comparing their life with IITans and IIM graduates. As if, IITans don't have any struggle in life. As if IIM graduates are the happiest people. Trust me, its a myth. They too have challenges, they too have problems in their life. Keeping the expectation of society because you're an IITan or IIM graduate is no easy feat. The moment an interviewer sees the word IITan on a resume, he himself prepares the toughest questions. If you compare your life with someone else's, you will not achieve peace.
5. Be very careful when success comes to you easily. It’s treacherous path to tread down. You must see failure before success, otherwise you will not know the value. Lets say you sit in a campus interview and clear it in one shot, take up the job and keep doing it for years, chances are high that you will regret - "Why I did not explore? What for?" Also, do not expect to get lucky everytime. You will be in trouble somewhere down the road, then what are you going to do?
6. Do something on your own. However small or big, doesn't matter. Do something completely from scratch and learn how to sell that thing. This will teach you life lessons you will use for the rest of your life.
This will also give you huge confidence. I don't have any fear in my mind. Fear of what? The worst that can happen is that I will lose my day job. So what? I have worked on my own for 3-4 years without any help and have overcomed a huge financial crisis on my own, without a job. So if I am in trouble again, I know how to make my way.
7. Do not make one disappointment the center of your life.
When some incident shatters all the plans, hopes and aspirations, people start considering that pain and hurt to be the center of their lives and continue to live their lives around it.When people start considering one obstacle, challenge or misery to be the center of their life, and stops the very momentum of life, they cannot become successful in life. Nor can they achieve happiness and contentment.
8. Help people as much as possible. My friend Soumen Halder was with me during that tough phase. WE have had many fights. But he was there. When the storm had settled down at my end, he was going through a tough time. I pulled him out and secured his position at a startup I was working.
9. Do not be obsessed with "perfection". You don't need a perfect solution. You need a solution which is "good enough".
People say "passion" is everything. Trust me, its wrong. Passion is not everything. Noone interviews a passionate musician who played guitar for 20 years, never copied someone else's music and call it his own.
You should have a Goal. Well, wrong again. How do you know where you are going when you are full of doubts?
I believe, you need a problem. A massive problem. A crisis. Solve that shit and you will have those answers. Most of this comes from experimentation. And to experiment, you need systems.
Big things will happen from many small things. So lets say if you have 10 small things in your pocket, one of them will be big. You don't know which one is your trump card.
Now this calls for a well deserved rant, take it with a grain of salt.
10. Failure is acceptable. Every single person fails. You know what's not acceptable? NOT TRYING. I see most people giving up without even trying in the first place.
So you hate your job. What are you doing to find something you love? You dedicate so much for your girlfriend, you spend hours chatting in Facebook, you go to weekend parties and then on Monday morning, you are ready with your excuses. Stop pretending. Yes You, I am telling this to you. Stop being a hypocrite to yourself. Yes, I am angry and shouting because I know you're not giving your 100%.
