Jared Pillai featured in Destiny Magazine on bouncing back from Setbacks. Jared Pillai gives us tips and lessons learnt from setbacks.

1. WRIT TEN BY RICHARD GOLLER
86 • Destinyman • JULY 2016
self
Setbacks are inevitable
in life. It’s how we deal
with them that makes
the difference.Two men
speak to DESTINY MAN
about how they coped
with disappointment
BAck
Bouncing
JARED PILLAI, entrepreneur
IwasverydisappointedwhenIwasturneddownby
numerousinvestorswhoalllikedtheproductIhad
invented,butdidn’twanttotaketheriskofinvesting
inmybusiness. I had risked almost everything,
maxing out my credit card and overdraft. I had
even sold a vehicle that I was still paying off to
get to a point where my business and product
were investor-ready. Even then, they didn’t want
to invest.
Icametotermswiththedisappointmentbyusing
ittoimprovemypitch,businessmodelandproduct.
InventorThomasEdison put it in perspective
when he said:“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found
10 000 ways that won’t work.”
Ibelievedinmyselfandmyproductandwasn’t
deterredbythemany“no’s”Igotfrominvestors. In
fact, that just encouraged me to press on to
prove to all the investors who said“no”wrong
and that they had missed out on an opportunity
of a lifetime. Many great men have failed
multiple times before succeeding.
ThomasEdisonfailed10000timescreatingthe
electriclightbulbprototypebeforehesucceeded.
Colonel Sanders was turned down 1 009 times
while trying to sell his fried chicken recipe.
Sylvester Stallone was rejected 1 500 times
trying to sell his script and himself as Rocky.
These failures and disappointments did not deter
them.They had the tenacity to push through and
keep going. Disappointments are always going
to be there and you can either view the glass as
half-empty or half-full. Setbacks are stepping
stones for a comeback.The one constant in my
life is my relationship with God.This has kept me
going through the toughest of times.
Many great men have
failed multiple times
before succeeding.
PILLAI’STIPS FOR DEALING
WITH DISAPPOINTMENT
• Acceptance: The realisation that there will always
be disappointments, despite your best efforts, makes it
easier to get back up.
• Persistence: It’s never easy to keep pushing forward
when you encounter a disappointment. However, a
victory is hollow if it wasn’t worked for. Persistence is key
to pushing forward. American statesman Colin Powell
said:“Success is the result of perfection, hard work,
learning from failure, loyalty and persistence.”
• Passion: This is what keeps the wheels turning even
when there’s no more petrol in the car. Ultimately, you
need to love what you are doing.
54MSelf.indd 2 2016/06/02 5:57 AM