I was the complete opposite of my brother, who was exceedingly good at studies. I used to bunk my school, as I was not fond of it.

My friends used to taunt me regularly, saying, “I won’t be successful and will die doing some mediocre job with a meagre salary.”

I had repeatedly contemplated to myself, “Is this what I was born for?’ when I went through my share of bullying, being left out of group activities by friends, being looked down upon by my relatives, and getting compared to other kids’ academic performances. It was a nightmare for me to show up at the parent-teacher meetings at school and collect the annual report card.

I recall being a “typical” preteen who ran around the neighborhood frantically with no regard for the future until the time came for me to realize and figure out what kind of life I wanted to build for myself.

Life changed for the better after I realized my dream. I went from being aimless to having focused goals, such as handling emails, closing deals, giving live speeches, and holding video conferences in an office room.

I got a job after finishing college that paid 6000 INR ($100 per month).

I grew up in a society where a person’s success was measured by their salary. As a result, my father overestimated the value of society’s opinion of me and pressured me to keep doing this job.