This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO, LawSikho.

What is the enemy of big success?

It is not failure. Most people think the opposite of success is failure.

Opposite of big success is small success. Small success is a more palatable name for mediocrity.

We chase small goals, and never dare to focus on big goals. And that is why we never get the things we always wanted to get in life.

Extraordinary people do not have extraordinary capabilities. They have extraordinary goals. They have extraordinary vision. They can imagine inspiring results that are far away into the future. They can allow such distant results to inspire their work today.

Most people are way too focused on the short term pain and pleasure. They cannot imagine the empire they can build in 10 years or 15, because they want instant satisfaction right now.

Let me tell you something incredible

Did you know that if you invest 10,000 rupees per months, and manage to get an 18% year on year compounded growth on the same, and keep doing this for 10 years, you will end up with 30 lakhs? Well, that’s alright but not really spectacular. But what if you did that for 20 or 30 years? In 20 years, you would have 1.8 Crore. Yes, that’s correct. And in 30 years, the total accumulation would be over 10 crore rupees.

Time is magic when it comes to consistent growth. Benjamin Graham, who was the mentor of Warren Buffett and taught him how to invest, used to say that compounding is the 8th wonder of the world.

The thing about compounding is that it applies to everything, not just money. You can compound your career growth. You can compound your reputation. Doing the same thing over many years and improving even by a slight margin every day will compound your growth so much that the result will be unbelievable in years.

But you know what happens?

People can’t wait for the 30 years to get that 10 crores.

They withdraw much earlier. They face this problem or that problem, some emergency or temptation and just take out their money or stop investing. And that’s why 99% of people never get rich.

Just imagine, someone who has just 10k per month to invest today, can become super rich by consistently investing and never withdrawing the brilliant dividends over the years. Also, remember that you can increase the investment over time as you begin to earn more.

Say you earn 40k today and save 10 out of that. One day you will earn 1 lakh, as over time income increases. Then you can save more. So you can reach the 10 crore goal faster. Much before those 30 years.

Even if you have no earnings, you can invest your time into learning and growth.

Wealth, managed properly, multiplies itself. So does other kinds of success. It does not take 20 to 30 years in most cases to reach that kind of success because all your competitors drop off much earlier. It gets easier and easier the further you get. Things accelerate as you pick up momentum.

I have seen this happening in my own career and business. The hardest part was the beginning, the initial few years. Now I am armed with a lot more knowledge, allies, network, resources and money after 10 years of pursuit. Success looks more obvious than ever. Any set back is only temporary. But it was not like this for the first 5 years.

Back then we had to clench our teeth and go through hell, which was only enabled by our faith in what we did. But as we kept going, things got easier.

The problem with people is that they don’t have the mindset to chase such a huge goal. They can’t even imagine doing the same thing consistently and pushing against boundaries consistently for years at a time, non-stop.

Even if you tell them about the tremendous results they can get, they will find it too intimidating and never take action. They will give 10 excuses to avoid taking action.

I don’t even have 10k to invest. Equity markets are risky. Who knows if I will live that long. Blah blah.

Some people though, take that action.

Most people have too small goals – such as buying a car, buying a flat, spending lavishly on a marriage or something like that. And the moment they have some savings, or worse, even before they have any savings, they take loans and fulfil those goals. There is no scope for big goals because they are so busy and occupied with these small targets.

So the rich, or anybody who is ready to invest rather than spend on small goals get richer. At the cost of the rest of the people who want quick gratification.

Money is so measurable, definite and visceral. Other goals are more complicated because the growth there is harder to measure. How much do you have to grow to become the top arbitration lawyer in the world, or to become a senior advocate in the supreme court? The road map is not as clear.

Still, growth is no different when it comes to lawyering. Or being an entrepreneur. Or career growth of any kind. Compounding works.

If getting successful and rich is so easy and obvious, then why don’t more people become rich and successful?

People want quick results. Whenever given the option of investment, they will use their time and money to enjoy themselves rather than to grow. There are some exceptions to this rule, and those are the people who strike gold.

People who invest regularly, consistently and do not withdraw midway, get rich. People who spend time every day on becoming better at their work, become one of the best in the industry, and command name, fame and incredible paychecks.

I do not advocate that there should be no enjoyment in life, or that you should invest all your money and time in growth

Spend time and money on what is important to you. It could be travel, or car, or leisure and whatever else you like.

But if you want to grow, block out some money and time for investing in your future so you can grow.

How about making sure you invest 10% of your income, or 20% of your time into growth? Initially you must start by investing in personal growth, and slowly also start investing into your financial future. You will still be left with a lot for your current and immediate needs.

At Google, employees are asked to spend 20% of their time working on whatever projects they fancy and think will be good for the company. That’s how products like Google mail, calendar etc got built!

When as a young entrepreneur I and Abhyuday started making some money, we decided to invest most of the earnings back into the business, creating new products, more marketing channels and hiring good people. We had the choice of taking more money for ourselves and spending, but for years we just took a subsistence salary. We were the least paid employees of our own enterprise for the first 5 years despite the company doing well financially.

My cofounder Abhyuday drove a beat up small car gifted by his parents, for almost a decade. Till date, I do not own a car. I actually drive a small second hand two wheeler. I once enquired about buying an expensive car, and realised that apart from the cost of buying, there are a lot of hidden costs – such as upkeep, parking, and worrying about its well being.

Buying a BMW or Mercedes adds very little value to my life, given the availability of Uber and Ola, apart from a little ego boost and opportunity to show off that I have also arrived in life! Well, I can forego that and invest all that money right into where it will keep growing, and enable me to get richer.

My personal financial investments have allowed me to be free from financial insecurities. Knowing that I can survive and live a reasonable life for several years without earning anything if it came to that gives me tremendous confidence.

Investing back our profits and foregoing shiny personal consumptions enabled LawSikho and iPleaders to beat our competition on every turn. Even highly funded competitors could not match with our focus on compounding and slow and steady growth. We have already hit the 10 year mark. And the results are incredible.

We have received offers to sell our businesses for a lot of money. It would have been enough to not have to work in our lives again. But that would be small success. The vision we have is much bigger. Our vision is to change the world by making the highest quality legal knowledge and skills accessible to anyone willing to learn, and building an ecosystem for justice around that.

So we continue to toil. We sacrifice comfort for growth. We invest our time and money into things that matter in the larger scheme of things.

What about your career? Do you have a big vision that will require you to work steadily and consistently towards it for the next 10, 20 or 30 years?

Do you invest in making yourself better, smarter, richer every month? Because if you do, nothing can stop you for being a big success.

It is a lonely journey

However, watch out. There would be people in your life who would not want you to invest, or grow. Your boss may feel insecure if a top performer is growing too much. I once had a girlfriend who did not want me to work out, and tried to sabotage me in various ways so that I did not become more attractive. Unbelievable, right? It took me a very long time to understand what was going on. I found it hard to believe it when she admitted it, too.

99% of the le are poor in the world. 1% of the top earning people earn a lot more than the bottom 99%. There are many factors here, but one major factor is mindset. Those who do not invest do not increase their income. Here is a chart they prepared about this in the USA. You can imagine how it must be in India.

Also, your family, friends, colleagues are more likely to be part of the 99%. They will not agree with you. They will think you are crazy if you begin investing in yourself. It is normal and to be expected. Be ready to handle their objections when you break the pattern and commonly accepted practices and pursue your own destiny.

Remember, if you do what most people do, you can only hope to get mediocre results.

Being successful and rich is a lonely journey. The journey for excellence is even more lonely. Don’t expect a crowd to cheer you as you walk the path to become rich and successful.

If you want to invest in your legal skills, do consider courses from LawSikho.com

Do respond in the comment section below and let me know what would be your big success and how will you begin investing in yourself towards that future.