It was the summer of 2020. Tensions were high. Fear, panic and death everywhere. Offices were closed. People stopped meeting one another. The entire world was on lockdown because of a virus – with signs of a looming recession. It was the worst possible time to start something new. But this didn’t deter Rajiv, who started his first partnership with a partner in Canada. And went to build a million-dollar business over the next 5 years.
Like most of the young professionals in India, Rajiv came from a middle-class family and dreamt of making it big in life. However, what drove him in this direction was not he wanted from life, but rather what didn’t want to be. He didn’t want to be a person whose kids are their only achievement in life. Someone who constantly worried about money, who always regretted missing their chance and were dissatisfied with life.
The Person Upgrade
Now, to not be like this typical middle-class man, he had to change – he had to be better, a 2.0 version of himself.
To do just that he did 2 things –
- Committed himself to a life of learning. Books, videos, mentors – anything to help him get better.
- Followed the advice, that everyone knew but nobody followed – use your head to plan and heart to work.
He had burnt hands and much experience from his first business. So this time, he this time I didn’t jump in head-on – he instead took his time, honed his skill and started freelancing as a side hustle. Soon, he built his freelance agency as a solo founder. As he became good, he turned his focus on getting clients from developed countries, so as to leverage the currency difference. The goal was to ensure that he made recurring revenue in the next 2 years that it could match his salary post which he would move into it full-time.
Upgrade Issues
However, this was easier said than done. Within a few weeks, he found himself so overwhelmed with the work and burnt out with too many things. This was a turning point in this life. He realised that he didn’t need to learn every new technology or read every self-help book to be better. Instead, find a way to balance learning and working.
But how did he do this – learn 3 crazy hacks and 1 uncommon practice that Rajiv used to make his day productive and scale up his business 50x in the next 2 years in the next post.
Stay tuned!
