A Motivational Story

"Motivational Story" whenever we hear/read these words we expect what story would be like. Main protagonist must be from a poor family or he/she lost one of their parents at an early age. Started from rags, a school/college dropout , started his own business and built a huge empire in 30-40 years. These stories though sound appealing, but can they provide actual motivation?

Usually in these stories it takes years for a business to be a success. In the current era where technology is at our fingertips, where food is delivered from any restaurant within 45 minutes, do we have that much patience to wait for that long to get what our protagonist achieved in his story? Things aren't always what it seems. These motivational stories don't inform us about the problems faced by the protagonist at that time, how long it lasted and how he overcame it. In reality when things aren't going in our way, we feel dejected and lose our path to success. So how to  know that we are on a right path? How do we know we are successful? How to remain motivated? And most importantly,  how to define success? 

Like most motivational stories , you must be expecting that this will be a similar story  in which people with hard-work become billionaires, set up a big enterprise and are counted in elite category. I don't know whether you will be happy or dejected to know that this story isn't like that. This is a  story of a common guy who wasn't good in studies, faced criticism , family lost hope on him, no college admission , no goals.This is a story about how he turned his life. This is story of his 6 year journey towards success. 

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To start with I met this guy Raghu (name changed as he asked me to not reveal his identity) in 7th class in school. He failed twice due to which he ended up in my section. From beginning he didn't have much interest in studies due to which he was regularly scolded by teachers and bullied by some guys for poor progress. But he didn't care and there wasn't much change in his attitude. Generally guys who are poor in studies are usually good in other things like sports, music, dance, arts etc. But he was equally bad in all these things. He was average in all the fields. Even if he had any other talent he didn't showcase in his school life. He was from a well-to-do family and didn't have any pressure which could also be a reason for his this indifferent behaviour towards studies. As he was a nice guy, we were good together but I never truly called him a friend. For me was always a good classmate.

Time passed by and thanks to CCE , he was able to clear class 10th without much difficulty. As still, he wasn't good in studies he opted for Commerce which is an easier option than Science ( there was no Arts at that time in my school). But here too he faced trouble and was forced to change school as school didn't allow him to progress to 12th as school didn't want to spoil its Class 12 result. After he cleared Class 12th from different school with mere 70% , he didn't have many options. School life is like a shell. Until you are in it you don't have to worry about anything else. Once you get out of it, real game starts. You have to decide your major, get into a college , set goals and make a career. Most of us are not clear regarding our choices at that stage.

Same thing was with this guy. He didn't know his next step.  He wasn't able to get admission in any regular college (due to his score). His didn't have any special interest or talent.  He didn't have any goals at that time. As his father was a lawyer, so a chance of entering into family business wasn't there. He had nothing in front. He got an admission in open learning and was left on his own to find what he wanted in life.

At that time his parents were highly disappointed and didn't have much hope from him. Seeing his indifferent behaviour they were considering about sending him to their village in Punjab, thinking that possibly seeing his cousins work he might too get involved in some manual work like household work or work in farms. This is what they think will be his future. This was what it hurt him the most and he decided to take control of his life. As he was enrolled in Open Learning he had ample time in his hands. He decided to invest in himself. He decided to learn Web Designing (in September 2013). His family didn't know much about it but were happy that at least he was doing something. He worked hard ( for the first time in his life) and finally after seven months he had work in his hand. He started working as a freelancer. He was getting projects and was paid well. He was able to cover his expenses.

Time passed by and in next one year he earned a good reputation as a web developer on freelancer.com , got his own office (on rent) and earned well. But suddenly business dried up due to new ways of web development, clients were demanding the latest ways to design their site. As he was good in Wordpress , his orders reduced  and so the pay per order. Though initially he was worried  about it but he took it as an opportunity to start something new. He searched for a while and finally came up with mind boggling idea of Virtual Office Assistant. As he has his own office he decided to use it for this purpose. He made his own website and through some old contacts that he made via web development started getting clients for virtual office. He provides assistance to startups for registration process and allows them to use his office until they get their own office. Currently, this is his primary source of income, and he no longer works on web development. It is here he feels he found his niche.

Apart from these things in last 6 years he has also done Cabin Crew course , which he didn't pursue as he didn't find it appealing. He also took Franchise of Indian Post which he ran for sometime along with virtual office but it didn't pay him much. He left his college studies mid way with the hope of returning to it at a later stage. But with his success at his work he found it difficult. He is currently without any college degree but happy and  successful at what he is doing.

He now lives a settled life where he is not only able to cover his expenses but is also able to finance his trip. He is happy with what he is doing. Isn't this the settled and balance life we all want. Isn't this short term  success (with the hope of making it big) we all want? Isn't this kind of story we look on to, to get motivation in adverse situations? What's your take on it? Do you find his story bit motivating?
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Some takeaways from his story:

1) Don't be dejected when things aren't going in your way
2) Keep looking for opportunities as you never know when and where you will find your niche
3) Your school result won't define your future. It's upon you how you make your future.
4) There will always be endless opportunities in market. You just have to find one best for you.
5) There should be a burning fire inside you. It will keep you motivated.

Do mention in comment whether you find it motivating or not and if yes then what are your takeaways from this story.