I didn’t want to be a cog in that system.

I wanted to run my own business, but I never anticipated the challenges that came with it.

This post originally appeared onMedium.

An SMS hitting my BlackBerry on Sunday evenings used to decide my destination and client for the coming week.

I was working for one of the top three global strategy consulting firms.

“Tomorrow morning 5am, flight number AZ610 from Rome to NewYork.”

A life packed in a suitcase.

A consulting life where you miss out on everything and everyone in life, except Excel spreadsheets.

It was fancy, too.

The company was proud to be among the top payers of the industry.

Sounds pretty good, right?

But there was something wrong with this consulting life, though.

I want to start my own startup."

My mom almost had a heart attack.

I tried to ease her distress.

“Mom, I hate it.

All these consultants are pretending to be happy like they are taking happiness pills.

I get to sleep only three to four hours a day.

All those benefits the company promised don’t exist.

Remember the fancy five-star hotel?

I am working almost 20 hours a day and I don’t even enjoy it.

We never have time to have that.

Fancy lunch, dinner?

It’s just a sandwich in front of our Excel spreadsheets.

I never have time to spend a single penny of it.

I hate my life, Mom, it’s such a loser life.

I don’t even see my girlfriend.

I can’t fake it anymore.

I want to start my own business.”

My parents had retired after years of a nine to five working routine at their secure government jobs.

It was my mom on the phone:

“Sooooooooo, how is your business doing?!

Is it growing?!”

I told everyone that I just quit my job to follow my startup dream.

You are going to be the next Zuckerberg, right?"

Day by day, I was getting lonelier and more depressed as I avoided social occasions.

This was killing my productivity and ability to make proper decisions.

I was panicking and rushing to be successful and to make money.

Today

Enough with the drama: more than two years have passed since those days.

This is certainly nice, but no, I haven’t become a millionaire startup founder.

There are, however, five things I wish I had asked myself before starting this painful journey.

Are You Ready for the Social Pressure?

I cared so much about what other people thought of meso much that it took an intense emotional toll.

You are often no more than a few seconds of attention other people give to a Facebook status.

I got mine quite late.

Are You Single or Do You Have an Extremely Supportive Partner?

Doing your own business is toughway tougher than I could have ever imagined.

Do You Have Enough Cash to Last at Least a Year?

Success will come slowly, and cash will burn fast.

Be smartplan from day one.

Are You Ready to Sleep Only Few Hours a Day?

It all started by little wake-ups in the middle of the night.

I simply couldn’t wait for the morning to arrive so that I could start working again.

As a result, at least two or three days of every week I had almost no productivity.

Don’t be fooled by over-hyped funding news about startup founders becoming millionaires.

The stories behind the scenes have so many painful days, sleepless nights, and continuous rejections and failures.

The journey to success is long.

Very often, too long, and the work takes a toll.

How Do You Define Success?

Each of us has a different priority list in life.

Consequently, people define success differently.

Depending on your definition of success, the difficulty of your entrepreneurial journey will differ, too.

Successful entrepreneurs are not necessarily those who raise millions of investment rounds.

Don’t forget, they are one in a million.

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