7 THINGS I WISH I KNEW WHEN I WAS YOUNGER

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Most people reflect on their life around New Year’s Eve or their birthdays. But as for me, I go into a state of reflection a lot more than that. Nothing teaches you better lessons than your own life and the mistakes you committed, which you only realise much later. Communicating with yourself is as important as sharing your thoughts with the world outside. With every such reflection, I gather more wisdom and courage, because when I look back, I see just how far I’ve come. And that fills my heart with gratitude and humility. So lesson #1 for me is that every realisation takes you a step further. And with that, I’m sharing with you seven realisations I wish I had when I was younger. But hey, better late than never, right?

1] MAKING MONEY IS IMPORTANT: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this one’s a universal truth and you should just accept it. Don’t fight it. My younger self was quite shy about admitting it or even demanding it because I couldn’t accept it as truth. Now that I know what exactly I’m working towards - my mission is aligned with my personal, emotional and financial goals.

2] MONEY IS A REFLECTION OF YOUR CAPABILITIES: While money is not the only measure of success, it is definitely a reflection of what you are capable of as an individual. It keeps you on track with respect to your financial goals. Realising my true potential made me work for it and that’s when I realised what I’m capable of.

3] LUCK, CHANCE AND FATE IS THE LANGUAGE OF LOSERS: People keep using these words, really believing that things like luck and fate exist. Since I was surrounded by such believers I did give these words some importance intially as well. But soon I realised that these are the words that losers use. If you want to accomplish your set goal, be ruthless, be persistent and honestly, take action. Life will keep throwing that curveball at you. You just have to learn to handle it better.

4] WHEN YOU START SOMETHING, START IT TO SCALE IT OR ELSE, DON’T: I started two other businesses, a recruitment agency and an outsourcing project management company out of sheer desperation, less than a decade ago. And you know what? They bombed because the two companies had no vision or a competitive industry edge. That’s when I realised that your reason to start a business must be born out of passion, hunger and the willingness to scale it so it can make a difference, solve a problem and not be born out of just opportunism or greed!

5] BE WILLING TO SOW IF YOU REALLY WANT TO REAP: Everyone wants to reap the rewards but few put in the hard work required. That was another million dollar realisation I had. There’s no trick or shortcut to success. If you know what you want and you desire it enough, then make sure that you put in the effort required to achieve it. Taking action consistently is what makes all the difference.

6] DON’T PLACE PEOPLE ON A PEDESTAL: I was only 19 years old when I started my business and at that point I was too scared to speak my mind, or to demand what I truly wanted because everyone in the industry was much older than I was. That meant I automatically put them on a pedestal. But I realised much later that no matter what our age, we are all equally capable of success and failure!

7] ALWAYS ASK: Many a time, we go on without questioning. Why? Because we’re afraid of being wrong or being laughed at. But by asking you will be a lesser fool the next time. So, ask questions, state your opinions and say what you feel. It’s okay. Yes, it really is!