Your Key To Success 2020

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

Those were the words of Robert Frost. They are close to my heart. Sometimes I feel that they were written for me. Not just me... but for all the startup founders, entrepreneurs around the world.

Because it talks about the key to success and that’s what I want to discuss today.

The Key is Perseverance

Perseverance is the continued effort to achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

We’ve seen it all through history.

We wouldn’t have the freedom and independence today if thousands of people weren’t committed to fighting for freedom regardless of the obstacles they faced, or difficulties they encountered.

We wouldn’t have the light bulb, penicillin, and the things we take for granted these days if someone wasn’t committed to inventing it after going through tons of failures and struggles.

That’s perseverance and is what you need to succeed in your startup quest because entrepreneurship is not easy.

Life will throw different things at you. You’ll face new challenges. Or feel scared of the existence and future at times. You’ll have more reasons to quit than ever before.

You may be the smartest one out there. You might have an earth-shattering, life-changing idea. But without perseverance, you might fall short of success.

You might want to drop the idea when no one seems interested in it. Your ideas may not attract listeners or readers or early adopters. You might feel like you are swimming across the ocean with no end visible.

You might not be sure whether people will accept your solution or not, even though you have validated the idea. You might be worried about the feedback. You might be worried whether you’ll get enough people to buy to ensure you aren’t making a loss.

At every step of your journey, you might stare at the question - am I making a mistake or am I doing it right or is it going to work?

You need the perseverance to navigate through all this and success will be waiting for you on the other side.

When I started YourStory, I didn’t have a finish line. I didn’t have a plan. All I wanted to do was tell the stories of people who created something or failed at creating something or struggle to create something. I wanted to be their voice.

Today we have told around 60,000 stories.

I never thought I would be able to do it for this long and tell this many stories. There were moments I was ridiculed to work on this idea. There were moments I wanted to pull the plug, quit everything, and probably go I don’t know where. But I didn’t. I managed to hold on to my dream, weathered the storms, and still doing so.

It’s not just me.

Every one of the founders I met during all these years has more or less gone through the same road. And tomorrow you might be going down the same path.

Without perseverance, you might not complete the journey or travel long enough to succeed.

Hold on to your idea strongly. No matter what happens, hold on to it tightly.

Keep working. Keep moving the needle. And remember, every step you take will bring you close to success.

Because perseverance never fails.