I grew up in a village with a poor education system—and today I run a digital agency working with global clients. It was a beautiful journey I will cherish throughout my life.
I am writing this so that:
- I can reread this when I grow old
- You can learn if you are walking a similar path
In this article, I’ll share seven critical lessons that took me from a shy overthinker village student to running a thriving digital agency with global clients.
Lesson 1: The Power of Self-Improvement
In 2014, I started studying Engineering. In my university, there were students from all over the country with different backgrounds. I found it difficult to make friends as I was shy and introverted.
So I decided to learn how to change that.
I picked up two books by Dale Carnegie:
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
These books transformed my approach to social situations. Before reading them, I would struggle to find conversation topics. Afterward, I developed a simple technique: look around, find something positive, and start talking about it. This small change opened doors I never imagined possible.
Today, this skill is essential as I lead my agency team. I’ve learned that motivation isn’t just about money—it’s psychological. When I need team members to take on challenging tasks, I focus on how completing the work will positively impact their long-term career growth. This approach creates intrinsic motivation that’s far more powerful than financial incentives alone.
Now I lead a team of 15 people while maintaining strong client relationships. The principles I learned have become second nature—sometimes consciously applied in challenges, other times flowing naturally through my communication.
So I committed to the path of self-improvement, and it shaped my future.
Lesson 2: Embracing Continuous Learning
With my newfound self-confidence, I became hungry for knowledge in different areas.
I hate mediocrity. I believe everyone has the potential to be great at the things they do daily, including you and me.
The reasons we stay mediocre are:
- We choose to
- Lack of information and resources
- Not taking action
The Exploration Phase
I lacked resources when I was younger. But with internet access, I rarely had information problems.
I was great at research and finding information.
I learned basic coding because my friend group told me. I learned graphic design because it felt cool. I learned digital marketing so I could sell these skills. I learned writing so I could communicate my thoughts effectively.
Of all these skills, becoming a holistic digital marketer was perhaps the most challenging. The field constantly changes, and mastering all its aspects requires persistent dedication.
But my greatest learning challenge wasn’t technical—it was mental. Growing up in a family where we always lived on a tight budget, scarcity thinking was deeply rooted in my brain. We never had extras. Shifting from this limiting belief to an abundance mindset took years of conscious effort. Now I understand there’s enough for everybody. Abundance is available to all who seek it.
In the process of continuous learning, I fell in love with Entrepreneurship, Writing, and self-employment.
Did learning too many things slow me down? It did. Do I regret it? No.
Why? Because I explored to figure out the things I love doing. Without this journey of continuous learning, it wouldn’t have been possible.
How to Learn Effectively
When you don’t know what you want to do:
- Explore. Learn different skills.
- You will know which one resonates with you the most and you love doing.
If you know what you want to do:
- Get an overview of the skill
- Start doing it for yourself
- When you get stuck: Google the problem, or use YouTube and AI tools for help
Most likely someone else faced the problem, and you will find your solution.
The best part of learning by doing is “It sticks.”
Remember, nobody is perfect, but we can be better. Learning gives us the opportunity to grow.
Lesson 3: Taking Action
The reason I failed in coding and graphic design is: I didn’t take action.
I thought I could do it. But I didn’t do it. So eventually when I started doing, I realized I was terrible at this.
I wasted money and time.
I learned the lessons. From then on, whenever I learned something, I would practice it.
I started 3 failed businesses between 2016 to 2019. My first e-commerce failure taught me the most. While online gurus proclaimed how easy it was to succeed with dropshipping, reality told a different story. We faced two major obstacles: payment gateway problems for running Shopify stores in our country and a severely limited budget. When we started with minimal funds, we faced the harsh reality that successful e-commerce requires proper investment and long term planning—something the gurus rarely mention.
Even though I failed, I learned a lot about the world, business, and marketing.
Most importantly, I was satisfied with myself because I was doing my best with what I had.
When facing a new opportunity, I ask three questions:
1) What’s the worst that could happen if I try?
2) What might I learn even if I fail?
3) How will I feel in a year if I don’t try at all?
Tips: when you are learning something new:
- Keep a few hours a day to practice it
- Do it for free for others who need it
When you keep doing something, there will be a time when you can produce results consistently.
That is when natural confidence comes. You don’t need to fake it. People realize you know your stuff when they talk with you.
Action is the magic you are looking for in mastery.
Reflection: What skill have you always wanted to learn but have been putting off? What small step could you take this week to start exploring it?
Lesson 4: Taking Responsibility
Let’s face it, you can’t achieve anything with a victim mindset.
If you don’t take responsibility for your life, you will end up being mediocre.
If you wake up everyday and complain about everything and do nothing about it, you aren’t going to change anything.
To achieve success, you need a success mindset and discipline.
After COVID-19, I fell into depression. I started taking medication, but after a few months, I saw no improvement. In fact, I felt like I was moving backward. One day, sitting with my pill bottle, I had a moment of clarity: “No, this needs to change. I can’t let this happen to me.” The irony wasn’t lost on me—I knew so much about mindset and positive thinking, yet here I was, trapped in negativity.
I made a decision to stop the medication and instead recondition my thinking into positive patterns. It wasn’t easy or quick—it took several months of deliberate mental work. To change my thought patterns, I started a daily ritual: writing three things I accomplished each day, no matter how small. When negative thoughts arose, I consciously replaced them with evidence of progress from my journal.
Within a few weeks, I noticed I was naturally identifying opportunities instead of obstacles. Affirmations and spiritual practice also helped strengthen my new mindset.
You become great by taking responsibility for your life.
You need to learn to solve problems instead of wasting time complaining.
It’s not about others. It’s about you.
If you fail, you fail alone.
Imagine you have the potential to change the world but you end up doing nothing.
A lot of people can feel sorry for your potential.
But do you want others to feel sorry for you or do you want to actually live the life of your dreams?
Take responsibility.
Lesson 5: Starting Small & Building Gradually
When I started my journey, I had nothing except faith in God.
Now when I look back, to be honest, I am proud. Could I do more? Maybe, maybe not.
I don’t overthink these.
There were times when I worked 16 hours a day. And then there were times when I did nothing.
I tried a few failed businesses. Then I thought of doing freelancing with the business skills I had.
My first $50 Fiverr order was creating a Google Ad Campaign for a pet shop. I still remember the excitement when I received that order just three weeks after creating my gig. A rush of optimism washed over me—I truly believed my struggles were about to end. The client was a woman who ran a business selling pets, specifically dogs. When the campaign generated actual results for her, her satisfaction gave me confidence that my skills could deliver real value. While the pay was minimal, that small success planted the seed for everything that followed.
I got more orders on Fiverr. Then eventually got a few larger projects. I also worked on Upwork alongside my low-paying job to survive during the difficult times.
Then I started landing projects outside marketplaces. Eventually, I built my agency.
It was a remote agency at the start.
Then we moved to an office in 2024.
Now we have a team of 15 members that is growing.
Starting with that $50 Fiverr gig, we’ve now processed over 500 projects worth $1M+ in total revenue, serving clients from 12 different countries.
Failed businesses ➡️ Freelancing ➡️ More work than I can handle myself ➡️ Agency
The graph looks simple, but it taught me so many things along the way.
With the experience I have accumulated over the years, I can take on almost any business and make it sustainable in 3-6 months.
Now I dream to do something bigger.
Lesson 6: Building Teams
When you start getting a lot of work, you will need extra hands. Plus, as a modern-day entrepreneur, you want to do the work that has the most leverage.
Like doing creative work. Things you are naturally good at.
So you need a team to support you to do other works that aren’t your expertise.
Now, like everything in business, the strategy depends on your budget, goals, and clients you work with.
But no matter what, you want a team you can trust to deliver the outcomes your clients want.
One of my biggest hiring mistakes came from ignoring my intuition. During an interview with a candidate, everything looked good on paper—he had the skills we needed and seemed capable of delivering results. But something about him triggered a negative feeling I couldn’t explain. Despite my reservations, my team encouraged me to give him a chance since we didn’t have many qualified options.
We called to offer him the position, but he declined, saying his mother was sick and he needed to go to his village. We found someone else instead. Months later, when we needed another intern, my team contacted him again. This time he accepted—but on his first day, he simply didn’t show up and never answered our calls. That experience taught me to trust my intuition when it comes to people decisions.
I have tried many methods to hire employees like job portals, running ads, recommendations from friends.
We have an in-house team we didn’t hire from freelance sites. You can find good employees from there as well.
The best employees I found are from recommendations or people I knew. If you can find people from your friend’s recommendations, then that’s great.
If you can’t, then try freelance sites; even on LinkedIn, you can find top talent, but you may need to spend a lot more time on these.
But remember, your company is as good as your team.
Lesson 7: People Who Helped Me
I always like working on my own. Learning on my own. But there are people who helped me in different ways along the journey.
I want to take this opportunity to thank them.
My parents provided crucial support through difficult times. When I chose entrepreneurship over a stable engineering job, they never pushed me toward the “safe” path. Their belief in me gave me the freedom to pursue my dreams.
One client (Kat), to whom I’ll always be grateful, entrusted us with multiple projects when we were just starting. Those projects were the foundation that helped us build our agency. My business partner (Hasibul) stood by me during challenging periods, offering both practical help and emotional support.
There are tons of known and unknown blog writers, YouTubers, books, courses, etc. that helped me a lot too.
Conclusion
While growing my business, I have grown up as a person. This journey shaped how I see reality and my place in it. If I could give one piece of advice to someone starting their entrepreneurial journey, it would be this: Take time to figure out who you actually are. Identify your core skills. Determine how you can live a fulfilled life.
Once you know yourself, you can pursue what’s meaningful to you—and that’s where true success comes from. Positive thinking isn’t just motivational fluff; it’s the foundation for creating the life you want. You become what you think all the time.
What step will you take today to move forward on your entrepreneurial journey? Remember, even the smallest action can set you on a path to success you never imagined possible.
God bless you.