If You’re Successful, People Will Assume You’ve Had It Easy
Success looks glamorous, but the path to reach it is set with hurdles.
Hello dear friend
Welcome to another edition of Be Your Best Friend with Anangsha, the weekly newsletter that keeps counting its blessings. Today, I want to talk about how skewed reality is based on what perspective we look at it from.
Last weekend, I went for lunch and a movie at one of the poshest malls in my city.
I was craving for an exotic dish I’d last tried in Goa. It was super expensive here, almost 10x of the price when I’d first tasted it. But I’d worked super hard the whole week, and I felt I deserved it.
And so, even though the price was about half my monthly rent for just one dish, I went ahead and ordered it.
When I posted the pictures on Instagram, some people mentioned that it’s easy for me to enjoy such luxuries as I have rich parents.
I deleted the comment and blocked the person. I had enough on my plate to try and justify my story to them.
But it’s very common for people to see success stories on social media and assume that the person had it easy all their lives. That is what I want to dissect in this newsletter.
No, I never had it easy all my life
Yes, my parents are well-off, but I’ve never demanded luxuries from them.
When I was in Delhi preparing for the engineering services exam, my parents only paid for the house rent and tuition fees. I was naive while bargaining and spent much more than our budget when I shifted houses. This led me to exhaust all the pocket money my parents had given me that month.
I felt so guilty and ashamed, that I didn’t even ask my parents for extra money. I was even failing all my mock tests which made me feel worse. In my head, I’d done nothing to deserve more money, and so, I spent the entire month with just 500 rupees ($35 US) in my pocket.
There were days when all I had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was white bread. A packet cost 20 rupees, and one packet was enough for one day. It was my way of saving money and making sure I made up for the mess I’d made.
Success is glamorous. The journey isn’t.
These aren’t stories I share with every person, but somehow, that comment made me feel like clarifying this.
Now, I’ve built a thriving 6-figure business around my writing. You might look at me and think I’ve had it easy, but the truth is different. I’ve survived terrible times and worked tooth and nail to build what I have today.
And trust me, most successful entrepreneurs you see online have come through the same hardships as you might be going through right now.
It’s easy to compare your day zero with someone else’s day 1000, but if you keep this perspective in mind, it will help you keep your hopes up.
What this means for you
At the end of the day, the only people who succeed are the ones who refuse to give up even when all odds are stacked against them.
Sure, luck and unfair advantages help, but your grit and determination are the most valuable assets you need for success.
Hold on to them, and trust that better things are coming your way.
Either you will give up or the hardships on your way will.
It’s on you. Who’s going to win this round?
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Dale Carnegie
I recently had a conversation with Vidya Pottabatula who works as a Growth Marketer for Swapstack about how a freelancer can grow their audience and build multiple income streams.
If you’re interested in building a side hustle and earning some money in addition to your current job, watch the video here:
This is also my first in-person interview (all others were on Zoom), and I’m super excited about how it came out. Please do watch and let me know how the video turned out.
In other news, I have some good news for all writers looking to make a decent income through Medium. I’m relaunching Project Medium, my flagship coaching program that has helped 20+ writers make more than $100 from Medium in their first few months.
If you’re already enrolled in the Medium Partner Program but haven’t been able to make decent money from it, this could be your chance to increase your earnings and develop a new income stream by writing about exactly what you want.
Note that I create this newsletter for you every week with lots of love. If you’d like to support me, here’s a link to buy me a book.
If you found this letter useful, don’t forget to forward this to a friend or ask them to sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and you know me, I only send valuable content.
That’s all from my end today. I’ll see you again soon. Till then, stay strong. Keep smiling and be awesome.
With love,
Anangsha.