Lessons from a Zero-to-One Journey

The world bows down to the feet of people who have achieved wonders in their life.?

Recently I was involved in a huge activity for my personal self. I went on a weight loss journey where I achieved lots of significant milestones.?

On a parallel note, there was a similar significant achievement journey on the Business Development front undertaken with, again, significant milestones achieved.

Recently, while on a vacation, I got a lot of time for myself and started thinking whether the above two achievements are linked?

Whether there is a pattern to these achievements??

Why was I able to achieve both while many peers may not be able to achieve even one let alone both??

Am I doing something right in my daily habits that is allowing me to achieve more out of my career and life alike?

But before we start, let me give some statistics to better understand each achievement.

Weight loss:

As the image below shows, I lost a lot of weight over a 90 days period. Here are the statistics:

Business Achievement

1. Achieved significant scale in Y1.
2. Achieved break even in 1yr and 9 months
3. Best in class execution at retailer level.

And now, here’s my take on the same. Hope it helps everyone whether on a weight loss journey or trying to make most of their careers.

Any significant achievement has a few chronological steps, each of which, need to be sequentially achieved before the final result appears.

From my understanding, here are the steps

1. Wishful thinking phase
2. The Gaze and Craze phase
3. The decision making phase
4. The tough start.
5. The plateau phase
6. The?unthinkable dip phase
7. Rise as an Eagle

1. Wishful thinking phase:

I have seen a lot of people who feel that a startup is the right place to be for growth and ESOPs. Let me tell you it’s not at all hunky dory. Even in my weight loss phase, initially I felt everyone around me was so fit and I’m the only one who’s lethargic and carrying lots of actual baggage. In both above cases, the result is zero unless you move to the next phase.

2. The Gaze and Craze phase:

This is where I looked at people successful in startup companies and admired how they worked and brought about exponential results almost miraculously. Even in weight management, you look at the abdomen of other men and envy when they have no flab above the belt line. It feels so Royal. But for all this admiration to work on you, you need to take decisive action.

3. The Decision Making Phase:

This is the phase in which one decides that enough is enough. Now it’s a make or break. this is the period when the resolve of the person is at the highest. When I was building the business at Nykaa I realised that if I didn’t work on it quickly, someone else will and that entity will compete with Nykaa. Unacceptable. In weight management it was age that was fighting against me. If I didn’t start now, I’d remain unhealthy throughout my life. However decision making phase might seem tough but the action of getting off the inertia is the biggest gift you’ll give yourself.

4. The Tough Start:

Post all the hoopla around the decision, the reality sets in. This is when all doubts creep up in the mind. Will this be possible, can this be actually done?? Even after starting there are so many times that you feel like giving up. At this time, what works for an individual is to declare their goals openly to everyone around. Once everyone knows, it becomes a matter of pride for the individual to achieve it.?

5. The Plateau Phase:

This phase comes in after you have seen off the initial inertia scare. The results don’t add up. The return on all the efforts taken don’t look promising. Believe me, this is the phase where it is very easy to give up. Don’t quit and continue knowing fully well that the positive phase will come. This happened with me when a couple of brands underperformed and the sales dipped significantly due to it. My weight loss reversed for a while and it started briefly increasing. What works in this phase is regular capturing data and analysing the same. I used to create a Gsheet to punch in weight data and keep analysing how to?

I’ve forward and what fine tuning to be done.

6. The Unthinkable Dip Phase:

This is the body’s way of telling you this won’t work by creating all types of aches around us. The business dips and external factors start playing their role. Rest assured this phase is almost miraculously going to transform into super success. This is also where people will sit up and take notice of your achievement and some will try to bring you down.

1. Rise as an Eagle:

This phase is where results show itself. Cakes are cut and bystanders will appreciate how you have become a success “overnight”. This is their Gaze and Craze phase. If done well, you can really inspire lot of people to achieve greater heights.

The toughest part of this phase is that since it lasts for a much longer time, you need to ensure you don’t drop the ball and take it easy. The business should reach an auto pilot stage now.

Basic tenets of success remain same irrespective of what the subject is.. we are what we believe. Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. All these phrases suddenly will start making sense and you will see people associate you with them.

Here's the Instagram id where I am posting all my fitness and travel pics...

Hoping everyone will get their money’s worth in their life and achieve great heights.?

No success ever was achieved without HardWork.... But What I learnt is that an important tenet to success is to be completely on top of my game and knowing exactly what is happening to be able to take corrective steps quickly.

Loving my Body. Respecting the limitations and Enjoying how far the body goes...

All the Best!!! Cheers!!!