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 Veena Dhandhia for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Coach, Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Author, Mentor and Change Enabler. Veena is the Founder Director at MoveAhead. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, background, and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Veena:
We are aware of your contributions. Talk us through your background and your journey in Life:
I am a LIFE ENRICHMENT DIRECTOR, who has gratefully transformed thousands of lives holistically through my roles as an ICF-PCC InnerMost Shift Life Coach, Speaker, Mentor, NLP Practitioner, Author and Professional Listener. My specialization is in the areas of Self-Growth, Relationships, Success and Happiness.
My mode of Coaching is 1-on-1 personalized coaching, group coaching, recorded courses and live workshops. I am on various global expert panels like Turnskill, Just Baat, Zenguruz and Main Hoon Na Helpline…to extend my services.
As a Speaker: I have spoken on different topics in the above areas of expertise at over 150 platforms for webinars and talk sessions for a multitude of groups, corporates, clubs and other organizations, and have conducted talk sessions on mental and emotional well-being for NGOs and other charity projects.
On Indian television, I have given several episodes on how to be the best version of yourself, and for the senior citizens, how to live the happiest life possible after 60 years of age! Active on social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Website) I love making meaningful content and videos for my people.
As a Mentor: Impacted over 200 women with transformation and re-design of their lives.
As a Professional Listener: Catered to over 50 celebrities, to date.
As a Corporate Trainer: I customize and conduct programs in Motivational Training, Time Management, Visions and Goals, Public Speaking, Vision Boards, Communication Skills and the like.
As an Author: I have written the book “Life-Camera-Action!” a self-help book to enrich all areas of your life. This is available on Amazon worldwide.
I am honoured to be awarded ‘The Best Influential Professional in India 2021’ as the Best Life Coach, Speaker and Trainer, at the Biz Tycoon Awards.
My Certifications: ICF-PCC Life Coach, NLP Practitioner (Richard Bandler), Life and Relationships Coaching, Transformation Coaching, Success and Motivation Coaching, V.I.P. (Values, Identity, Purpose) Coaching, Ho’oponopono Healer.
My guides and mentors have been Shri. Sat and Siri Khalsa of Alpha Stars Academy, whose classroom training, general guidance and blessings have forwarded me on my path to become a PCC ICF Certified Life Coach!
I am grateful to have been featured in many publications including The Femina Worldwide Health Magazine, InnerReview business magazine, Rajasthan Publications etc., and written several articles for global health magazines.
MISSION: I aspire to globally inspire millions of lives around the world!
VISION: By HELPING YOU to HELP YOURSELF, my vision is to EMPOWER you to ENRICH your life enough to EVOLVE from an extraordinary being to an extra extraordinary being and reach your next levels of Success and Happiness.
MOTTO: Live Life to the Fullest!
Imparting the experience of Inner Knowingness and Positive Intelligence, the awareness that all our potential qualities lie within us, and that this is where all the answers lie, a powerful emergence and development of healthy mindsets come to the fore with Self-Mastery.
Armed with knowledge from global experts, NLP techniques, Ho’oponopono Healing and Positive Intelligence, qualifications and experience plus in-depth passion, my coaching, public speaking skills, and convincing powers, I STRIVE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
MOVEAHEAD and SANGAM: As the founder-director of these organizations, I with my team of experts aim to holistically enrich people’s lives in society, especially women, through customized workshops and programs catering to health and wellness, passions, hobbies and filler gaps in people’s lives. The list of topics is endless!
PERFORMING ARTS: With a background in Performing Arts, I have been active as an anchor, actor, model, voice-over artist, wedding sangeet and play director.
Brought up in Hong Kong and currently residing in Mumbai (India), I aim to give a holistic experience as a Life Enrichment Director. With my life experiences, profound learnings and enriched knowledge I aim to serve, serve and serve! I believe in a tremendous sense of positivity and vibrant energy in treading life’s paths. Having worked upon myself to become the kind of person I am happy I am, I feel blessed and complete with a wonderful family, wonderful friends and a wonderfully supportive community. It’s my pay-back time!!
How did you discover your passion in ‘Coaching’?
We all as humans, help our family, friends and society in whichever way possible. With my experience over the years with a multitude number of kinds of people in India and abroad, the passion to be able to make a difference in STRANGERS’ lives surfaced.
And why would strangers come to me? They would come to me only if I had experience, qualifications, credentials and the like. Plus I had some friends pushing me into this field, raving about how I am an ‘inspiration” to people around, and I was sorted. The seed was sown.”
I looked up different possibilities as training grounds on a certain Sunday, and the following Friday I was in class! Now I am proud to say I have completed over 500 hours of coaching, qualify internationally as an ICF-PCC Life Coach, have done over 150 Speaking assignments in a span of a few years, and am the author of the book “Life-Camera-Action!”
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I’ve had my share of emotional turmoil to the extent of being depressed and visiting a personal counsellor. But I gradually took the decision of re-writing my own life. I challenged myself to become the BEST version of myself. I stood up on my own feet, bounced back with resilience by working on my self-doubts and low self-esteem (brought about by factors I wasn’t willing to share with anyone), to gain the inner strength and self-confidence I so badly needed.
So I plunged headlong into every activity I could get my hands on, kept fully busy all day without shirking my responsibilities and multi-tasked. The risks were failures around each corner, but any failure that came along, I conditioned my mind to think of it as a stepping stone to success.
I emerged a winner in my own eyes and gained appreciation, love and respect from all around to the point of actually being known as an “Inspirational” person. I told myself repeatedly to delve into only one area of work, but I never could as I was always charged up and passionate about a lot of things. Eventually…I accepted my personality. I was here with the purpose of multi-fold activities and passions and to challenge myself to do my best in all!”
I became a battery charger and a magnet for positivity. My self-growth, health and wellness, my relationships, my passions and ‘moonlight madness’ antics, my career…everything took an upswing and I soared.
Now I can confidently say that I am a truly “happy” person. And there is no situation in the world that I come across to which I cannot find the best solution possible! And this where my inner strength and energy lies. And this is why my die-hard positive attitude is loved…I am blessed. My die-hard positive attitude is what drives me!!
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
First and foremost, I am my biggest motivator on a daily basis. The moment signals pop up otherwise, my brain rewires to bounce back and handle situations with better calm and ease. If motivation on a certain day is low, discipline sets in, and that’s how I ‘click”!
Besides myself, having a very strong and uplifting inner circle is very important. Stay away from drainers, and surround yourself with energizers. Luckily, my family and friends are hugely supportive and I feel blessed.
Even people like my Dad, who passed away over 10 years ago, is a strange source of inner motivation as he himself was a truly dynamic personality, and just ‘wondering’ what he would have done in a certain situation, gives me a lot of answers.
What are the mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
> Positivity is the ONLY way to live Life!
> Aspire to Inspire, and make that difference!
> EMPOWER-ENRICH-EVOLVE!
> Motto: Live Life to the Fullest!
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
(1) Being mindful and forever in gratitude and positivity.
(2) Being a continuous learner to be the best version of myself, with self-growth and self-mastery.
(3) Taking ownership and responsibility for my actions and developing great resilience.
(4) Understanding the mysteries of the human mind, and finding solutions anywhere, everywhere.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
My motivation comes from many passions and activities which I love. I love dancing. I love music. The motivation to work hard and practice and stay disciplined comes from the desire to master my skill to keep learning something new, and my genuine enjoyment for my purpose.
I schedule a daily appointment for self-care, even if it’s just alone time. For example, to meditate, read good books and watch inspirational videos, write a gratitude journal with reflections added, quality time with my loved ones. The best of all is the “self-holidays” I take, with time absolutely alone for a week at a health resort or chill landscaped spaces.
Last but not least when I see my clients having an “aha” moment and I get the privilege of witnessing their breakthrough in front of me, it’s the most powerful stimulant I can imagine.
What advice would you give students and young professionals for a successful career?
Make informed choices and build a professional life that empowers your lifestyle. One of the most important things is to do something that you are passionate about, but which also is really important to you in terms of success in your career.
I, use the Walt Disney Strategy often and find this tool very useful in helping people identify their paths.
In addition, don’t wait to be perfect to start something. Alongside your continuous theoretical learning, dive in to explore, experiment to finally surge ahead! And last but not least, find what makes you “tick”!
Last but not least, what level of the “Happiness Quotient” can you advise your readers?
With your Life, from knowing what to ADD, to what to REMOVE, to what to CHANGE, to what to KEEP…feel a holistic transformation.
Happiness is in the now. It is a state of mind and being. If you can eventually feel good for no damn reason, you are in a state of being. What is your current state of happiness on a scale of 1-10? And what is your desired state?
So EMPOWER yourself to ENRICH your life enough to EVOLVE from an extraordinary being to an extra extraordinary being! Reach your next levels of Success and Happiness.
Be the BEST version of yourself. Be the best 1st rate version of yourself, rather than a 2nd rate version of somebody else. Elevate your thoughts on Hedonistic Happiness and dwell more on Huedynamic Happiness. Bring about a transformation, an innermost shift!
So come, be the DIRECTOR of your LIFE and RE-WRITE your story. Write your own trailer, plot, scenes and climax…taking information from the past, and using it in the present to create a more beautiful future…and celebrate life!
For more titbits and practical application tools on life, pick up my book from Amazon, (hardcopy or kindle versions) “LIFE-CAMERA-ACTION”!
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