Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eighth: Sankalp Changed Failure to Fortune

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw.

This is the tale of someone who went through a roller-coaster of crests and troughs to reach the other side of life. Sankalp Gupta, who is 22-years-old is a person who wears a crown of confidence everywhere. Despite Sankalp losing his father at an early age, his mother never made him feel the lack of warmth and love. He had great communication skills and being a social butterfly, Sankalp had a lot of good friends since his school years. Sankalp always wanted to be a successful entrepreneur. By class 10th and 12th, Sankalp was already the founder of two start-ups which gave him a lot of recognition. Eventually, he shut down his start-ups considering the inevitable factors that followed. Sankalp completed his B.com from Delhi University and later moved to Noida. 

“By the end of class 12, I was pouring out with happiness as it would open opportunities for me to explore the world.”

Having an entrepreneurial mind, Sankalp took the first opportunity he got to start a company when he entered college. His enthusiasm towards new ideas fueled his confidence with no hopes of failure. But like it’s said, ‘life is like an ocean, it’s filled with ups and downs’, Sankalp got his first setback with the failure of his 2.5 years long company. He suddenly couldn’t handle failure. 

However, his zeal towards entrepreneurship didn’t let him give up so easily. Without wasting any time, he set foot into another unique idea – ‘Hataao.com’, where they would have been dealing with the removal of suspicious vehicles. Soon, he was pitching his idea to various investors. 

“I received a lot of appreciation but no one was willing to invest in my idea for hatao.com. They turned down my idea with negative opinions. I got the taste of failure for the first time. ”

Sankalp had reached a point in his life where he had started to question his potential. Sankalp has a twin brother who was also the founder of Hatao.com. His brother opted out of the idea and went ahead to start his own venture Jobkhabri, which took good recognition in the market. In no time, Sankalp had come to a point where he started comparing his current situation with the people around him. He could see his friends becoming lawyers, or preparing for exams while he was still there. Stuck with failure and self-doubt. His confidence had taken a huge turn downhill. 

“I used to sit in a corner and see everybody moving ahead in life but for me, which got me depressed.”

The feeling of why he couldn’t achieve was bugging Sankalp to great levels. He spent another two years getting disappointed and feeling depressed. Sankalp being a person with big dreams describes those two years as the lowest of his time because all he could see ahead was darkness. All he could feel was dejection and sadness. 

“Maybe I was not the hero. The feeling of why I can’t do it made me question my potential and disappointment had taken over me.”

Sankalp started weighing all his options for a career. He had a phobia of Maths since his school time because he found it extremely difficult. His mother would spend a lot of fortune in tuitions just to make him pass in that subject. But his weakness in that subject created problems as he could not sit in entrances that require Mathematics as a primary subject. Moreover, he had issues speaking in English as well. Overall, it was a big problem for him to excel academically in competitive exams. 

“For most people, Covid-19 was a bad time but for me, it was a blessing in disguise because everybody was on the same page doing nothing.”

As Covid-19 hit the nation, Sankalp grabbed this opportunity to do some self-development. Sankalp was optimistic about the idea but did not know how to go about it. As Sankalp pitched his idea to the boss, he was asked to complete 5 minimalist goals. Only when the boss guided him to make goals, he was able to do it and improved himself. This was the turning point in his life. Sankalp was unable to complete all the goals. But instead of feeling deceit, Sankalp had entered a tunnel of hope. He decided to bring about a change in his life. Soon, he was doing 200-300 maths questions every single day based on 3rd-4th standard books. The next time he appeared for a self-assessment, he was solving two-third of the questions correctly. Next, he moved on to work with his English speaking skills as well. 

“For some months, I didn’t speak Hindi at all. I declared to myself that I thought I could follow someone who spoke only English. This way, my usual Hindi speaking tendencies can be minimised and English can improve as well.”

Sankalp was working in Byjus at the time when he approached YourDOST. YourDOST was associated with his company and he took up the opportunity to know himself better. The emotional wellness coach YourDOST, got him assigned with a counselor with whom he opened up about his challenges.

“The best part about these counselors is that they can listen to you for hours and analyse your issues.”

Sankalp was suggested to wear a rubber band on his hand. Whenever he would feel distracted from his goals, he was asked to squinch his rubber band on his hand. The reflex would wake him up with a reminder. Along with meditation practices, he was encouraged to take tests to analyse who Sankalp was as a person. This inculcated in him a problem-solving attitude and in no time, he had adopted the idea of turning negative thoughts into positive challenges. 

“The counselor said that whenever I face some problem, I should calm down and take two breaths. Then I should think about the solution.”

Sankalp developed a sense of reliability within himself. He feels gratitude towards YourDOST as he states that he never missed a chance to talk to the counselor. Sankalp said that “whatever I am today, YourDOST has a major contribution to that.” Today Sankalp stands in a position where he believes that he can achieve anything by regaining his lost confidence. Not only did his attitude improve, but he also feels gratitude towards his body. We from YourDOST not only feel delighted for Sankalp but also wish that he hits the millionaire club very soon. As rightly rated by him on his self-development, he surely is a 5 on 5.   

While YourDOST team was documenting Sankalp’s journey, one of his friends, Saumya chimed in and mentioned how Sankalp had improved over time. She mentioned that Sankalp’s impulsiveness has been transitioned to more detailed and planned strategies. He is the driver of his life now, who hustles hard and never gives up!

Sankalp’s Warrior Tips:
1. Life is like a graph. If things are going downhill, get ready that it will definitely go up. Meanwhile, enjoy the ride.
2. Don’t panic too much because panicking makes you take extreme steps.

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