Building something is about staying invested, about weathering the ups and downs, and mostly, about staying long enough till dame luck smiles. This is a difficult fact to acknowledge, especially today when results have to come fast, and making one’s own luck is the done thing.

I know someone who has decided that he wants to build an independent consulting firm, and regardless of what he does, he has already taken a decision that will drive the odds in his favor – he has decided to stay with consulting for three years, come what may. Staying power is hard to come by today, when every decision has to show results in the next quarter’s earnings, and every piece of work has to add to one’s resume.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.