At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Dr Saurabh Patil for an exclusive interview with us. He is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Life Coach, Speaker, Trainer, Consultant, Mentor, Change Enabler, NLP Practitioner and Restaurateur. Let’s learn more about his incredible journey, his background, and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dr Saurabh:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey, please;
I’ll start off by sharing how I became resilient: I always wanted to be an Airforce pilot, but my ‘sight’ which was affected. My world came crashing down; my first failure was at a very young age. My second failure was after my MBA in my first job. My next destination for a job: is Nepal.
This was the turning point and I went from exceeding targets to setting new precedents in sales and customer delight. I came back to India and started my own firm as a trader in medical equipment.
A complete greenhorn in this sector, we went on to exceed all expectations! We achieved a turnover of INR 5 crore in the second year itself and maintained positive revenue and profits for the next 5 years. I truly believe that – ‘’It’s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you.’’ – (Batman Begins)
Who am I today: I am an MBA from the prestigious SIBM – Pune in India and a Ph.D., I possess 12 plus years of experience that spans a highly absorbing corporate career and a journey from a fledgling-to-thriving serial entrepreneur in healthcare and hospitality. I am a restaurateur and co-own a popular casual dining café in Mumbai.
I am an ICF-CCE Certified Life Coach for Men and Founders and a serial entrepreneur who has bounced back not once or twice but several times from rejections and failure.”
Today, I coach men, and entrepreneurs to deal with setbacks in their professional and personal journeys and get back on track, grow, and thrive.
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Coach’?
As a Man, I had my set of emotional roller coaster rides-feeling of inadequacy, anger, incompleteness. I was overwhelmed in life with my failures in business which reciprocated in my relationship with my spouse.
I healed and evolved as a Man with the help of NLP and Mindfulness and that’s when I decided to Coach Men who undergo similar roller coasters in their life and help me evolve and thrive as a Man.
I entered coaching after going through a series of failures, setbacks, and testing times in my own life.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
The first step to thriving in your life is to understand and accept your current situation. The next is to set a goal. I subconsciously coached myself to reject rejection, became self-aware, and went forward with a positive mindset.
My calm and composed approach and outlook empower me to take the challenge head-on. I strongly believe in taking one task at a time and not multitasking. Over the years with so many failures and setbacks, I have become more resilient and agile.”
I believe if there is a challenge, there has to be a solution/outcome. I try to maintain a disciplined routine and meditation helps me maintain focus not just on the goal but also on the flow despite distractions and challenges.
What drives me is the growth mindset and commitment to continuous learning and self-improvement. One has to always be open to learning new skills to overcome new challenges.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
As mentioned, I had my set of failures and setbacks. It was very easy to quit at that time. And I was ready to quit from everything I had. But the best motivator you can have is your family. My family stood by me and that is what got me out of it.
Even today along with and in my family which includes my parents, siblings, wife, kids; there are two most important people that are my daily motivational pills for me.
My twin daughters. Although my family has stood by me as a strong support and backbone, my 2 daughters are the everyday motivations that pump up the energy in me to work harder towards my goals.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Well, I do follow the below points which help in grow & evolve as a person.
> Set SMART goals
> Keep learning continuously
> Adapt to change
> Practice self-reflection from time to time
> Practice self-care: Mental, emotional & physical.
> Gratitude-utmost important.
> Surround yourself with positive people
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
(1) Wake up before the world: start your day early
(2) Take massive action towards your goals
(3) Practice gratitude
(4) Learn & implement new skills
(5) Take ownership for your action.
(6) Show leadership traits
(7) Break down larger goals into smaller milestones.
What advice would you give to our readers?
Take massive action. Have a disciplined routine. Every person who has been massively successful always had a disciplined routine.
For entrepreneurs, take risks, explore possibilities & keep innovating. Don’t be afraid of failure, failure teaches you to improvise. Never give up. Stay focused and determined.
Be like a noise-can-cellation earbuds. Clear all the distractions and keep the focus on the target. Network a lot. Entrepreneurship is exhausting, learn to manage time effectively. Lastly, be flexible and adaptable.
For men, be accountable for your actions. Treat others with respect. Effective communication is the key to life, business and relationships.
Make sure you communicate openly and honestly in an effective manner. Be man enough to accept your emotions and mental state. It’s ok to not be ok.
Vent out your uncensored version to someone who is ready to listen. Practice self-care. take regular breaks to check on yourself. It’s important for men to do self-reflection from time to time.
Men are often trapped in limiting beliefs. Recognized those limiting beliefs, reject it and reframe the empowering beliefs. Be willing to accept and notice the change by taking one step at a time.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
The interesting part of my journey is my self-transformation where I have evolved as a Man- Son, husband, father and the journey to enlightenment continues.
Recently I have received the Supernova award- which is a certification presented in recognition of significant achievements in the field of Learning & Development in 2022 by the Indian Leadership Academy.
The exciting part is the power to transform Men’s lives to guide them to lead a fulfilled and meaningful life by helping them achieve clarity and explore their true purpose.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
