Flashback. 1993. The beginning phase of IT and Computers in India. Computers were still considered a luxury items. If computers were a luxury, then imagine the fate of the related software tools and packages. Not everyone could afford it. Even if they could afford, they didnt want to invest in those tools.

With this background, I joined an organization which was selling antivirus software packages. I used to make 20 to 25 sales calls everyday. Not phone calls but meeting the prospects and customers in person. No mobile phones as we had only pagers in those days. I had a very old TVS50 2 wheeler for commuting, which was a better version of a bicycle. I could easily count the number of calls I made in a day but could never count the number of times my TVS50 broke down on the roads.

Everything was tough. Communication was tough. Commutation was tough. Customers were tough. Piracy was at its peak. Selling was tough then. (I don’t mean to say it is easy now). The first 6 months continued like this and I was nowhere near my salestarget. Frustration. Desperation. I was about to give up.

It was the first day of a fresh month. That’s when my mentor and boss motivated me to give my best. I thought about it for a while. I got an important realization that hard work alone wouldn’t be enough and it was smart work that was the need of the hour. It is not the quantity but the quality that one had to focus on.

I changed my mind and I wanted to give itone more hard try. I put in extra efforts. Showed a lot more persistence and perseverance. I changed my approach and reduced the quantity of calls and improved the quality of my calls.

It was the last day of the month and Boom! I hit the number for the first time after so many failures. That was the beginning of many more success stories that I subsequently wrote. When I reflect now, it was that introspection and realization which pushed me not to give up. That propelled me to think #outofthebox to #breakthefailures.