Till the date if I have any achievement to boast about, it is no. of failures I had! I failed in academics, sports, as an ideal son, as an ideal brother and as an ideal friend. Failed the expectations of family, friends, society, etc. I was shy in school days, I couldn’t speak fluently and confidently, my presence was often of no significance. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I always wondered why was I studying in school, why was I appearing for exams, why was I competing with people on the terms of memorizing text books. I was thinking differently which made me fail even as a social animal because I could hardly socialize then with my age group.
I joined engineering few years later only to realize a new failure was awaiting me. I was expecting to work on machines, running here and there in lab with a tool box, but rather I found myself snoring in a classroom 8hrs a day and running after professors with journals for their autographs. I again failed to adapt with the obsolete education system and lost interest. Only few weeks after joining Engineering, I realized Engineering is not worthy of my 4yrs, I stopped attending lectures, didn’t even appear for exams. Three months later my parents were invited to college for felicitation, my parents were hit hard when they learned that I’ll be not allowed to appear for university exams, They were insulted for my failures. Principal advised my parents to get rid of me, disown me, stop wasting money on me. HOD insulted my parents saying that not even a single student of my class recognize me. My mom told me just one sentence, ‘ I have been called upon to insult, if you really respect us, ensure that a day comes when I can visit this college keeping my head high.’
Today when I look back, I actually failed only in choosing a measuring scale for failure and success. As a famous proverb says, ‘If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend it’s whole life considering itself stupid.’ I never choose to compete in academics with my age group, I was dragged in the race and then I considered myself failure. Till the time I reached engineering, society made me believe that I was a synonym to failure. Success was a distant dream for me. If there was any confidence left in me, it was my confidence on failure. I failed because I had something to loose every time. While in school I failed because I had hopes of my parents to loose, while in engineering I failed because I had expectations of the society, norms of university, hopes of my parents to loose. But on that day I lost everything. My parents lost all their hopes in me, I lost all the self-esteem and confidence long ago, I was a pauper.
Suddenly, I started feeling light because I didn’t had any hopes of society on my shoulders. Somehow, there was a thirst to gain back the status quo, my self-esteem, confidence, etc. I got that opportunity few weeks later. My college conducted a competition named Mr. Persona every year, the winner was given the title of the college and the title of Mr. Persona. It was not just a ramp walk, but something where brains could be applied, finally I found at least one place in engineering where brains could be applied and not mere memorizing. My senior motivated me to participate, all he told me was, if you loose, you dont hv anyhitng to loose, but if you win, you will gain back everything because it is the most prestigious title of the college and everyone including principal respected it. I enrolled for the competition, cleared the auditions. Final 3 rounds of the competition were to be conducted on stage in front of thousands of audience. I won the competition and the title too but it was not the real victory. The real victory was when the host asked the audience to guess the name of the winner and thousands of people echoed together my name ‘Aman Jha’, I felt that was the day when my mom could visit my college again keeping her head high. I won few more such competitions and became quite famous in college.
Now, let me tell you I never ever even stood on the stage or addressed even a group of 10 people before that competition. But I had a strange confidence within myself due to which I could win that title. My long acquaintance with failure ripped me of any fear for failure. I realized how important those failures were for me to realize that victory. Had I never failed in my life, I bet, I’d hv not even bothered to try to win the title. It was my failures which made me strive longer.
Thereafter, I changed my measuring scale, I realized business is where my interest lies. Today I know what I want to do with my life. Today, I am a serial Entrepreneur….!
As Napoleon used to burn his ships for victory, your failures burn your ESCAPE SHIPS so that you don’t have any other option left except to WIN!
Aman Jha
Hi Abhishek,
Thanks for your pessimist approach and advice. But then it reminds me of Alok Kejriwal’s tweet ‘When people give you advise, make sure they aren’t advising themselves, using you as an excuse…’
I hv my share of success stories too but I dont post them here just bcoz people can learn from my failures not from my success. I hope you read the end part of the post, I mentioned, I am a serial Entrepreneur. I celebrate my failures but it doesn’t mean I sit home and party…!
Aman Jha
Sir,
If I post only about my failed ventures, it doesn’t mean I never had a successful venture. According to me a serial Entrepreneur is one who comes up with new ideas, kick start them, let the team handle day to day activities and move on to another startup. I don’t mind you proving me an Entrepreneur instead of serial Entrepreneur. I am happy both ways!
Regards
Neerja Singh
Aman you have made me a fan! Not many people would have the courage to be so touchingly honest, especially not men! This was written straight from the heart and I am sure will touch many hearts. I especially like how you pointed out that being at the bottom stripped you of the fear of failure – and helped you win. If only we could remember that all the time, in whatever we do!
Tejas Vishnu Nimbargi
“According to me a serial Entrepreneur is one who comes up with new ideas, kick start them, let the team handle day to day activities and move on to another startup.”
Aman, probably first time I am disagreeing with you. But I feel this is exactly opposite of what we know “serial entrepreneur”
If you ask me, a serial entrepreneur, will start off a venture, despite of some failures, be successful.
Take that venture to its zenith. Then probably he would look into a different area, different ventures.
That ia what I think.
Apart from that, wonderful writing as usual. Straight from the heart, dost!
Cheers!
Aman Jha
Its good when people have different views and perception. Actually, even if you google serial Entrepreneur definition, you will find contradicting definitions, so everyone hv their own definition. Its perfectly fine and also it is not significant issue of this post. I important point was failure is stepping stone for success, which you and me both agree…
Aman Jha
Thank you very much, your words encouraged me to write more often…
Sai Rodinhood Pothuri
Aman, Good Post and the best point is that, lot of people these days mostly students, they commit suicide when they failed in exams, Its LIFE the best of the best part in entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurs keep on failing, they fail to learn the things and they succeed.
Today you might be doing some thing and i surely tell you tomorrow you might be some other person who knows . but Trust your self and keep the wagon ahead
Thanks & Regards
Sai Pothuri
Sachin Sinha
Aman,
Okay agree you are a hero in your own right. But there is a lot of negativity emanating out of your post which could have been avoided. This is my opinion and the first thought that comes to mind when I finished reading this post.
Maybe a brief description about how you overcame self-made obstacles will help kill the negativity.
Sachin
Aman Jha
Hi Sachin, I am no hero neither m trying to position myself as a hero. My emphasis was on just one point i.e. ‘If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree then it will end up considering itself a looser all its life.’
I am talking about the measuring scale. It was not abt the education system or society or family. It was about my first victory, the kind of boost it gave to my confidence and the role my previous failures played in it.
But I’d like to know which part of my post is projecting negativity, so that I can improve my writing.
Regards,
Aman Jha
Aman Jha
Thanks… Not quitting is my mantra…!
Rohit Singh
Napolean also studied julius ceasers pattern of obtaining a joint between continents.
You do need a backup for reeling back and attacking with full strentgh.
That enabled him to go for the world.Backing away at right moment is not bad.
That’s the basic rule.
Aparna
tat is some perseverance 🙂
kudos on your efforts!
Aman Jha
Rohit, I think you have great affinity for Napolean.
Swapnil
The story of your life looks really interesting Aman . How about writing a book???
Rohit Singh
I have affinity for every person who went beyond boundaries and tried to conquer the known world at the time. Napolean was not like hitler,he was the best commander and military strategist of his time. In waterloo,he came late and his army lost and he was exiled.If he was there leading his army
Aman Jha
Hi Swapnil,
A lot of chapters are yet to be written in my life… Every day of my life is better than yesterday… So one day I’ll definitely write a book but first let my life write it’s book…
Regards,
Aman A Jha
9892621090
Khushal Kapoor
Hi Aman,
Awesome post. But do you think everyone has the luxury to feel the lightness of having NO expectations from their family? we live in a country where today children are expected to perform when they enter kindergarten; and this expectation keeps on increasing especially when a child is surrounded by peers (friends and cousins) who are doing better than him/her. This post reminds me somewhat of the scene from ‘the dark knight rises’ where Christian Bale takes a leap having no fear of death. Thats when he succeds in getting out of the prison.
Aman Jha
People hv expectations from you only till you fail their expectation. Once you fail all their expectations, you can hv the luxury to feel no expectations…
When you are at bottom, you can only rise!
Aman Jha
Great to know that…
But y war at 1st place… y not trade?
Rohit Singh
Sometimes you want to apply your ideas to the world.The french revolution changed the world and he wanted to uproot all the kings and give people true freedom.
Trade is what east india company started and obviously more successful,but you need to inherently assume that the people you meet are too ignorant or rich and busy.Otherwise no one would trade.You are in biz so you know its a deal with customers about what they want and not necessarily what they need.Trade needs lot more patience(which i seriously lack).
Aman Jha
Patience has to be cultivated gradually…
Rohit Singh
Yeah well,iam in the process.
Being still is hardest lesson of life.
Sanchita Dutta
Celebrating failure as a tool to learn from the mistakes or oversights is understandable, but if someone actually starts looking forward to it as a tool to learn, then its really bad. smartest are those who learn from other mistakes. also sometimes i get a feeling that we are actually undermining success by celebrating failures. a failure story will get you tons of kudos, “well dones” “never lose hope” etc but really is that what one looks for out of a failure? i hope not! for that can only make a person more complacent than determined.
my view: Failure is a bad thing. it reflects all things that we did wrong or incorrectly. without blaming oneself, one should accept that and quickly take notes out of it on what went wrong and what to do or not to do, PREFERABLY QUIETLY without letting the whole world know and move on.
Aman, these are random thoughts, not really related to your particular incidents but on glorifying failures…
Tejas Vishnu Nimbargi
Hi Sanchita..
How well your thoughts resonated with me.. Well said. I have always thought.
Celebrating Success should have been the page right up there!(I know testimonials and your story exist)
Only one thing:
“PREFERABLY QUIETLY without letting the whole world know and move on”
I did not agree with this. In fact, if one has noted down the points, it is better to just let people also have them bookmarked.
(For example, Aman’s “How I doomed my first venture” has made me think on a lot of points which i could have ignored otherwise”)
I hope you are getting my point..
Aman Jha
Hi Sanchita,
I was of the same opinion that world should not know abt ur failures but u must learn out of it. But aftr 7yrs of entrepreneurial learning I can say Failure do not reflect wrong or incompetency but it reflects that you tried n how hard you tried. No one posts failure stories for sympathy or kudos, atleast I dont. As you said one should learn from other’s mistakes, so how others will learn until I share my failure stories, lot of my frns here in rodinhood and other places who belong to same business hv been benefited from my failure stories. Similarly, I benefited from other’s failure story. Success stories only inspire, Failure stories teach.
There is no sure shot way or Do’s that will take yyou to success, but there are sure shot ways and Do’s that will take you to failure, so better people know beforehand how to fail so that they dont fail.
Regards,
Aman Jha
Sanchita Dutta
When one fails, following happens:
1. you are in financial mess and require urgent immediate financial help
2. you feel worthless, foolish, silly and all around you appear to be more intelligent, smarter, knowledgeable than you ever were.
3 as a result, you tend to give high value to every opinion that you get and end up following wrong advices as well.
4. since you are now a certified listener, people who anyways love to advise will flood you with all kinds of it n clutter your mind and thoughtprocess
5. some will advise you to “be normal” and take up a job
6. No body will dare to give you money. you have just lost tons of it. are they foolish enough to risk theirs
7. all in all no benefits to acrue for you
During such times, you need help rather than bother about lessons from your failures for others safety. look after yourself first, succeed and then you can think about world prosperity.
why one should be quiet during such times
1. think, think and keep thinking over what went wrong. make notes. learn from them.
2. Avoid advices. it is you who having learnt life lessons the hard way who should be giving advice rather than taking it.
3. People around you either through sympathy or scorn can pull you down. dont let that happen by keeping it private.
4. Be low profile and rebuild. rebuild is easiest and most hassle free after a failure when done quietly and without fanfare.
This I say from life experience, after going fully bust two years back.
Aman Jha
None if the above should happen with a seasoned Failure expert….hahahha jokes apart….
1.Financial mess happens but then money is not a constraint for biz, you can start again or do job, make money n start again
2. Aftr every failure, I felt more mature, more intelligent
3. People criticize your decisions and you realize your weak spots but no opinion of other people can defeat a true Entrepreneur’s spririt
4. Again, money is not a constraint…
5. You are right, I hv failed so I should be the one advicing and thats what I do aftr I fail…