Stories |

When I started my career, I made an agreement with money- Till the age of 40, I will work for you; after 40, you will work for me. Even today I work; the difference is that today, unless an assignment excites me and I feel that I can make an “impact”, I don’t accept the assignment. I charge for my work; but I don’t work for money. There is a big difference.

Being from a business family, “naukri” (employment) was just not in my system. I wanted to be my own boss. For me ‘naukri, sounded like ‘no curry’! When I started, I was self-employed. I was spending a major portion (my prime time) coaching CA students for their exams. That gave me a lot of satisfaction and improved my understanding of the subject immensely. However, I soon realized that this was an extreme form of Ai. The only reason I should continue doing this was if I wanted to start my own coaching class (I dream of this even today). However, I realized that the entire coaching class “business” was star driven. Certain professors have the magnetism of pulling in the students. So either you become the star (Ai model) or depend on other stars, who can be lured away by others and bring your business crashing down. Most importantly, in those days, the top professors in the stream did not have an inspiring story. They were slaves working from 6 am to 10 pm. The top 3 stars in the coaching industry had gone through a divorce. I love my wife (even today!) and did not want this life. So within 2 years, I stopped coaching.

I was engaged in a retainership assignment with a large CA firm. One day I bumped into my first mentor, who believed that if we could do it for others, we could do it for ourselves too. He had the belief that we will attract good clients because we do good work. I always credit him for having such high self-belief.

We started our practise by employing over 30 people. So now we would be earning on our own time as well as on the time spent by others. Great idea! However, the only problem was that 99% of the capital was borrowed capital that we had to service by way of interest and repayment of principle. Secondly, we also had to find work for feeding this team of 30. In the initial days, we were actually borrowing to even fund our withdrawals for home expenses! We soon realized that we needed some ground speed before we can take off. So we shed some excess load by downsizing the team and then we were able to take off.

We also realized that most of the clients were coming for our advice. We were becoming the “stars” in our practice. We wanted some activity that did not depend purely on the “star” power. We needed some service activity that was process driven, rather than star driven. Fortunately, we found an opportunity in selling and servicing financial accounting software which was a sunrise sector. We were adventurous and took a path that was off-beat. The risks paid off. I realized the power off Human Resource development that was the foundation of making others work for me – using other people’s time.

Do you have such stories of leveraging your Ai? Write them to me at aipichai@gmail.com

I firmly believe that your financial success depends upon the stories that you heard when you were growing up. These stories have a deep impact upon your PF (personal frame of mind). Stories that you hear at a young age, go deep into your subconscious mind and then, these stories determine the rest of your life’s journey.

Many of us have grown up listening to stories that undermine our capabilities. Many parents tell stories that are uninspiring, that undermine the self-belief of a child -stories that make the child ultra conservative and lead him to live a life of drudgery. They believe that if they inspire children to think BIG, the government might impose a further tax on their income!

I was once listening to Sandeep Bhatnagar talking about the kind of stories our parents tell us. How life is tough, earning money is not easy, etc. etc. When Sachin retired, he acknowledged his father who gave him freedom to pursue his goal at the age of 11. His only advice was not to take shortcuts in life. Just imagine if his father had motivated him to grow up and take a government job because it guaranteed Provident Fund and pension- the dream of middle class Indian parents in the 70s and 80s. In those days, parents wanted to be middle class even in their dreams

All the stories are not from parents. You buy-in into dreams from many sources as you grow up. The first story teller in my life was my grandfather, a Pathan from Peshawar who had never gone to school. He told me stories about building your personal reputation based on ethics. I learnt about personal brand building from these stories.

When I was in college, my mentor introduced me to my favourite author, Richard Bach. I heard the story of Johnathan Livingston- the Seagull – a story that inspired me to pursue excellence as a goal. If I was a financial advisor to my client, I want to be the best advisor for my client. If I am a wealth coach, I want to be the best wealth coach for my clients. Anything that is worth doing is worth doing passionately with an eye on excellence. Baba Ranchoddas came up with this theory in “3 Idiots” much later – I was already implementing it in my life!

I keep reading stories on “success” to keep myself motivated and to recharge my batteries. Rashmi Bansal’s stories in “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” , “Connect the Dots” and “Poor Little Rich Slum” have always motivated me. So has Shobha Bondre with her book “Dhanda- how Gujaratis do business”. I do not distribute “mitthai” on Diwali. I distribute books. Because I believe it is the stories that you grow up listening to that will determine the size of your dream and the quantum of energy you generate from within to pursue these dreams.

What are your stories? What are the stories that you are selling to your children? Do leave your comments and feedback below this post.