A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a Single Step

Attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the quote encapsulates all aspects of life. It highlights the importance of taking things one at a time when any journey, professional or personal, seems too tedious and daunting.

Bestselling American author Stephen King is no stranger to long journeys. The author who specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror and suspense stories and has had his books adapted to a number of successful Hollywood films like ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, was broke and struggling when he was first trying to write.

Stephen King received 60 rejections before selling his first short story, “The Glass Floor”, for 35 dollars. It is because he continued writing persistently, Stephen King eventually became a huge success, despite all the rejections. His journey to success was very long and he reached his destination one novel at a time. Even his now best-selling book, Carrie, wasn’t a hit at first. After dozens of rejections, he finally sold it for a meager advance to Doubleday Publishing, where the hardback sold only 13,000 copies—not great. Soon after, though, Signet Books signed on for the paperback rights for $400,000, half of which went to King.

To the author, who lived in a trailer with his wife and worked multiple jobs to support his family while pursuing his writing, the journey to success would have definitely looked very long. But he obviously undertook that journey one step at a time, selling more than 300 million hardbound copies by 2013.

In the same manner, sometimes the journey to reach our financial goal might seem very long and tedious, but like King, the key is to take it one step at a time. Systematic Investment Plans offered by mutual funds, or SIPs help you walk those steps. SIPs allow you to begin investing with as little as Rs. 500 per month, letting you take that first step on your investment journey.

Information contained in this article is not a complete representation of every material fact and is for informational purposes only. The recipient is advised to consult its advisor/ tax consultant prior to arriving at any investment decision.