Growth often comes disguised as failure.

How I failed 12th twice and still ended up somewhere in life.

Hello, happy Friday! :)

The educational landscape around us is so much more dynamic from the time when I was a high school student.

Most of you know this, but just to set context again:

I am Indian. I was born and raised near Delhi, and completed my schooling in India itself.

That’s little Ajay :) So grateful I had parents to push me and that made me believe in myself and those dreams.

There’s some reason behind why Asians, especially Indians, are perceived to be academically bright and rigorous. Because that’s quite literally the kind of things you grow up hearing at home:

You’ve to either be excellent at a sport, or academically bright.
Else, you’re doomed.

I was raised in a similar society that expected me to be great at school studies, or I’d end up as a lifetime failure.

Now, some of you may know this:

I failed 12th grade.
Not once, twice.

Imagine this in a society where flunking your board examinations is as bad as embarrassment gets. Even the people closest to me had given up hopes of me becoming anything in my life.

So when I finally managed to barely pass in my third attempt, I decided to go away from this environment itself. I applied to a few universities outside, got an admission letter from one, spoke to my parents and, thanks to their confidence in me, I decided to leave.

I boarded the first flight, of my life, to the States in 2006.

When I reflect on my journey, that time feels like ages ago yet still so fresh at the same time. The best thing to happen to me after moving to the States was that here, I entered an environment where they teach you to dream big from day one. Because of the risk appetite that people there have, they are able to dream big and maybe, as a result, succeed.

After 2 successful businesses and building my current one with all my love and labour, I think I did alright.

There’s only one lesson I have learned from my own journey that I hope to leave you with:

Growth often comes disguised as massive, red-in-the-face failure.

If I would’ve never failed, I never would’ve left. What feels in the moment like a failure of a lifetime can often be an opportunity urging you to pivot and find it.

Almost always, a change in external environment will result in a change in the internal environment.

📌 Meet people who are like you, who are better than you, and who you want to be.
📌 Be okay with not having a plan until you can work really hard on opportunities you get.
📌 Trust the process even when you don’t trust yourself.

What, according to society, has been your biggest failure?