Detangle by Kinjal
Detangle is a podcast created by health psychologist and writer, Dr Kinjal Goyal. Each episode is a conversation with an expert in their field, as they dive deep into their journerys and experiences. The conversations are full of insight and a great way to hear, first hand, how the mind plays a pivotal role in almost everything that we do. The guests range from doctors, to writers, to those in entertainment and of course, those from mental health fields.
Detangle by Kinjal
Detangle with Mr Sanjay Ghodawat
Ever wondered how 2 lakh rupees can transform into a diverse business empire? Join us as Mr Sanjay Ghodawat, a visionary entrepreneur, reveals the secrets behind his meteoric rise from humble beginnings to establishing a thriving conglomerate across consumer products, education, and aviation. Mr Ghodawat's journey is not just about financial success; it's a testament to the power of learning, creativity, and the unwavering belief that success is an ongoing journey, not a destination. Discover how he turned around a struggling educational institute into a bustling hub of 21,000 students, underscoring his commitment to education as a source of personal satisfaction and societal impact.
In a candid conversation that touches on the often unspoken, we tackle the topic of men's emotional health and the vital link between physical fitness and financial stability. Through personal anecdotes and lessons from past failures, we highlight the importance of emotional openness and resilience. As we share amusing stories and insights, we showcase the transformative impact of maintaining both mental and physical well-being to support a fulfilling life. Prepare to be inspired by Mr Sanjay's tales of perseverance, the role of teamwork, and the unwavering support of family as cornerstones of his success.
Finally, we explore the profound messages behind societal perceptions of wealth and the essence of meaningful success. Mr Sanjay shares his wisdom on navigating life's challenges, emphasizing the need for a learner’s mindset, positive influences, and continuous growth. We discuss the concept of a mental first aid box, filled with inspiring books like Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" to guide us through life's hurdles. This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom, filled with insights on living a joyful, truthful, and powerful life, encouraging listeners to embrace failures as stepping stones to a brighter future.
Welcome to Detangle, where we untangle the complexities of life one conversation at a time. I'm your host. Dr Kinjal Goel, a psychologist and a writer A person who needs no introduction is usually my favorite kind of guest on the show. We have with us Mr Sanjay Godawat, a serial entrepreneur, a successful businessman and a true inspiration to so many. Oh, and we have a special rapid-fire round at the end of the episode, so don't go anywhere. Welcome to Detangle, mr Godawat. It's a true pleasure to have you with us today.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you very much, Kinjal, for calling me on this podcast.
Speaker 1:I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get all these answers from you. I think I'm just going to call you uncle, because that makes me most comfortable. But to begin with, let's orient the audience a little bit with your scope of work.
Speaker 2:Can you tell us about all the things that you do in short, please? Yes, basically I am an engineer and entrepreneur and educationist and trained pilot for helicopters and planes and gliders also trained pilot for helicopters and planes and gliders also. And I started my journey in 1992 with mere capital of 2 lakh rupees and one person only and with that when we started consumer products in 1992, and I used to drive tempo also for 3 to 4 lakh kilometers for marketing purpose, and from that journey we started shifting our products to some other products also, like star atta, star oil, star rice, namkins, and then chemical industries, greenhouses and education, then aviation, and now we have started local mart also, that is, small supermarkets, and our target is to start 3000 supermarkets in Maharashtra and Karnataka. And when we started this group only two persons were there and right now I am very happy to say that there are 21,000 students and 15,000 direct employees are there in the group.
Speaker 2:Amazing, I am very happy and this is only the second group in the world which is engaged in manufacturing of salt to run a professional airline and different sectors like consumer products, education, aviation. So I'm very happy to see the development of our group in short span of 30 to 32 years.
Speaker 1:How wonderful. So, uncle, your group is very well known to people as the Sanjay Godavad group and the star group, correct? Or any other names that we are missing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. Sanjay Godavad group mainly Okay. Star group yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're so successful by the very essence of this word, proven so many times by all the awards that come your way. But, uncle, what does success personally mean to you?
Speaker 2:Success. According to me, success is not a destination, it's a journey. It's a journey to become a human being, to being human, because when you create your value, then only your value is there in the market. And if you want to do something new, you have to learn. You should be a learner at any time, so if you learn new things, learning leads to thinking. According to me, learning leads to thinking, thinking leads to creativity, creativity leads to knowledge and knowledge expands your wisdom and wisdom expands your kingdom and kingdom creates your value. So this is the journey of success. Success is not a single word, or there is no definite definition of that, and according to me, purity of order is called pH. That is called potential of hydrogen, ph that is called potential of hydrogen. But purity of life or success of life is called pH. That is peace and happiness. If you get peace and happiness after getting your goal or achievement, then your life is successful.
Speaker 1:How beautiful. This is something, I think, what the sages believed in. People said this through our Puranas and so many texts, but somewhere along the way we forgot, and I think we're coming back to it slowly, slowly now. Uncle, tell me, of all the things that you do, which segment of your work do you enjoy the most?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I enjoy to do work in education sector. When we started our institute in 2010, only 60 students were there and I didn't have any experience of education sector and all 60 students came and asked for refund of fees and because of mismanagement. So so I assured them that don't worry, I will check and I will change the management and we will do something new. So after that we didn't see back and then we will be successful in that field. And from then we started school also international school also, field and from then we started school also international school also and then students are getting used to that and we started some different courses also, from kg to phd. Mba is also there, engineering is there and cbs is there, igcs is there, ib is there, igcse is there, ib is there. Then we started medical and coaching, iit coaching academy also and Olympia school also.
Speaker 2:And right now there are 21,000 students getting education in our institute and university and school and we have taken over in one school in Pune also in Mulshi, so that is also IGCSE and IB school and our plan is to expand our schools in all metro cities of India. And right now our brand is fourth rank. We have got fourth rank in India for the international school and our motto is to make this brand number one brand, number one international school brand in India. And because of teamwork and hard worker hard workers are there and with ownership attitude they do the work.
Speaker 1:So because of their hard work and relentless efforts, I am very confident that one day soon we will be number one brand in in India you know, what I find most phenomenal in this is that you started with your failure, when you started explaining what makes you feel happy yes, where most of us keep our failure on the back burner and we focus on our success. But this is very interesting to see that you're starting by first mentioning what you failed at, so that you never do that again. I think it's amazing. Yeah, for some businessmen, money is the ultimate goal of the work, but the way I have known you, money is your path to the ultimate goal. Tell me what is your eventual goal that you want to reach?
Speaker 2:Money is necessary, but money is not everything. According to me, money is required for everything, but money is not everything. According to me, money is required for everything, but money is not everything. Because in Hindi they say that a person's birth is on the land marriage is on the path and the last rites are on the hill.
Speaker 2:But the one who always keeps his attention on the note, he works on the note. So the one who works on the note, he never becomes successful. When you do things with your efforts and your passion and your vision, then you will get success and automatically money comes after you. So the money is not everything, according to me, but money is required whenever you. So the money is not everything, according to me, but money is required whenever you are on the earth. So money is required for everything, and you can donate your earnings also to anybody, any needy people. So money is required for everything, and for that we have to do hard work, with honesty and your genuine behavior. So without genuine behavior, you can't earn money. And without genuine behavior, if you earn money, then it won't last longer.
Speaker 1:True, you know, uncle. Somebody once told me that you should either earn money doing what you love or spend money doing what you love. Tell me, what do you love apart from work? What hobbies are the closest to your heart?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have many hobbies. I have hobbies of maintaining cars good cars watches, shoes, belts and greenery also. These are my hobbies. So I spend time to fulfill my hobbies in my life, because if you earn money and if you can't enjoy that money, so there is no use of that money, according to me.
Speaker 1:True, and nowadays there is so much debate about how much time one should work in the corporate field. But tell me personally, what do you think about this work-life balance? How many hours should a person work, how many hours do you work, and what do you suggest your employees do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, according to me, anything in excess is harmful. Anything in excess is harmful, because if you work for 15 hours, 18 hours, and if you don't put in quality work, then there is no use of that. So, according to me, how much quality work you put also, and if you put in quality work in that, then you are successful. So there is no criteria of doing work for how many hours or like that.
Speaker 1:It's very interesting. Nowadays people have started quantifying work by the amount of hours you put in per week, but nobody is really asking how effective is your work, how good are you with your work, how much results are you seeing with your work? This is interesting. Quality over quantity, always.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you something which is very close to my heart. No one can live in a constant state of inspiration or happiness. There's always some time of stress, anxiety, other emotional disturbances. But do you feel, uncle, that men talk about their emotions freely? Do you see other men around you asking for mental health support when they need it?
Speaker 2:Yes, according to me, men have also right to vent their emotions.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I also cry many times, but when I am alone, because you should give vent to your emotions, because emotion is our important factor of our life, our human being. So if we don't give vent to our emotions then we'll get stressed. So that is not a good thing for the human being. And always give vent to your emotions and then you will become emotional. Because now generation, new generation, is diverting from emotions to information. So that is very bad thing. And now new generation is not that much emotional like our generation. But I think men always found it a little difficult to express.
Speaker 1:But now they're opening up, like our generation. But I think men always found it a little difficult to express. But now they're opening up. They're finding new avenues to talk. They're finding it safe now to discuss their emotions.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Uncle, tell me about your fitness journey. You've always been into sports. You continue to take care of your physical health, but how important do you think regular fitness is for one's financial health? Of course we know it's great for emotional and physical health, but tell me financial health, is it impacted by your fitness?
Speaker 2:Yes, 100%. Physical fitness is directly proportional to your financial wealth, or like that, because if you have a strong body then your mind will become strong, and if your mind is strong then your financial strength will be good. So that is directly proportional to financial aspects. And if you give time for fitness, then you did not need to give time for illness. So I have put one board in my, my gym that respects your body and touch your feet daily, so that I love the sound of this.
Speaker 2:It's amazing yeah, so I I have given much importance for my fitness. I give at least one hour for yoga and sun bath and two hours for a full body workout. So if you are fit, then everything is fit in your life. So there is a great importance of fitness in our lives.
Speaker 1:It's very interesting how some people feel that you know spending time on their body at a young age is like a waste of time. They should work harder right now. That is genuinely an investment. If you start early, you invest longer, you get better benefits right.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you can enjoy the money also Absolutely. If you are not fit, then what is the use of money?
Speaker 1:I also came across a very interesting quote that you can have many problems in your life, but the day you start getting a health problem, that is the only problem you can see.
Speaker 2:Yes, health is well, that is true, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Let's come down to a funny aspect now. What is the funniest thing that has happened to you in your field of work, uncle, over the years?
Speaker 2:share some incidents with us yes, funniest thing is that when I started my career I I had 12 lakh rupees I got from my father and I started one aluminum sheet manufacturing unit, small unit and in that out of 10 lakh 12 lakh rupees, I have lost 10 lakh rupees in first year because of incomplete knowledge of that business and I have failed many times, many more times than I have succeeded in my life, because I am basically I am an engineer, so I didn't know about the balance sheets and everything. So nothing was right in first year. Nothing was right on the left of my balance sheet and nothing was left on the right in my balance sheet yeah so that is that was the problem.
Speaker 2:So many people don't know about this that I have failed many times in my life and in first attempt or second attempt I never got success in my life.
Speaker 1:Again. It's so interesting that your success is out there for everyone to see, and people who fail always believe that they are failing alone, that nobody must have gone through so much failure because I never got success in first, one or two attempts.
Speaker 2:In third attempt I always got success and because of that I never I never fear failures and I face these failures because I took them as challenges in my life and facing challenges is part of life and how to face them is art of life. So I always face all challenges in my life and I took all pressures very easily and freely and that's why I am succeeded in my life and I always be like a pressure cooker that there is fire from below and steam from above and still it whistles with joy. There have always been situations in my life. There were a lot of pressures, but I took them as positive things and challenges in my life.
Speaker 1:How lovely. So, uncle, let's make a situation come true. What if you could meet your 14-year-old self and you had to give advice to the younger Mr Sanjay Godavad? What would you tell?
Speaker 2:I will give suggestion that you should be very disciplined and communicative and very obedient person and without discipline and without good behavior you can't do anything in your life. So be communicative and do your relentless efforts in the life and passion should be there, vision should be there and without vision you can't do anything out of. I will tell you one definition of success runs on dedication and determination, with the stepney of cleanliness and accelerator of decision power, break of self-control and clutch of discipline. If you want to win the race of life, you should change the gear at right time with your imagination, power, with the steering of vision, action and passion and horn of good communication, with the feedback and follow-up, with the engine of teamwork, and you can charge the battery of this vehicle with your smile.
Speaker 2:Speedometer of this vehicle shows miles per hour, not miles per hour. And you should have good suspension to absorb the shocks of the life. You should have the good suspension to absorb the shocks of the life and pressures of the life and challenges of the life. And if you want to reach the destination, you should have good company with fear of self-confidence and you should put the board of L. That means learner throughout your life. What to learn what to relearn and what to unlearn. And if you want to start this vehicle, you should have the key of humanity, humbleness and with attitude of gratitude. And GPS of this car shows growth, progress and success. How nice, yeah. And you should keep doing balancing of four wheels to get maximum mileage. And to get maximum mileage, you should keep this vehicle fit. So this is the definition of the car of success and I would like to tell 14 years old Sanjay Ghodawat, I think a true car lover has finally spoken.
Speaker 1:Behind the businessman, there sits this boy who enjoys his toys and who loves his cars.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And so dearly as you do, that everything just revolves around them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:There's some question which I've had in my mind for a long time. Uncle, in India it's almost a sport to bash the wealthy and successful people. Children from rich and affluent families, they have to face this inverse discrimination. Very early, sometimes, I've been trying to tell people that, like everybody who is not so rich is not a thief, everybody who is wealthy is not corrupt.
Speaker 2:But what?
Speaker 1:is your take on this? Anybody who is wealthy is not corrupt. But what is your take on this? How can we change the perspective of the masses towards those who have generated wealth through hard work and are really helping society and the nation in so many ways?
Speaker 2:Yes, for that you should be giver, not taker. If you are giver, then everybody will appreciate you in the life. Then nobody will criticize how much money you have, like that. If you generate employment, nobody will criticize how much money you have. Like that. If you generate employment, nobody will criticize you because we have 11,000 employees right now 11,000 to 15,000 direct employees in our group and with these 3,000 local marks we will generate more 25,000 employment for our area's people. So that makes the difference. If you have money, then you should do charity, you should do generation of employment, so like that, if you will do. If you don't have money, then also you can give charity, like that, because I have donated my blood for 84 times in my life. So if you are a giver, then everybody will appreciate you and everybody will be happy with you, with your company also. So don't be a taker in the life, just be a giver in the life, so that makes the difference and nobody will criticize your wealth also.
Speaker 1:True, I'm going to ask you a question that I ask all my guests on my podcast now. So we've heard of a physical first aid box correct, in which we keep our painkillers, antiseptic band-aids for those minor cuts and bruises yes but what if you were to keep a personal mental first aid box? You know, sometimes you have a bad day and then you come home and you open that box and it has to make you happy. What would you personally put in your box?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I put good books in my first aid box for the brain because I'm very fond of reading books and my favorite book is that stephen coveys that seven habits seven habits most effective people.
Speaker 2:So that is my favorite book. And if you read the books your idea will change. You will get good thoughts. So your, your thoughts will make your actions, your actions will make your attitude, and attitude creates your habits and habit creates your destiny. So the personality also. And so because of one thought you can create your destiny. So that makes the difference.
Speaker 2:When you read good books. If you have good company, then that also makes the difference. So if you sit with coal merchant when coal is cold, when coal is cold it makes your hands black, and when coal is hot it makes your hands black, and when the coal is hot it burns your hands. So there is a loss on both sides with coal. And if you sit with a good jeweler, then his garbage and scrap is also expensive. So the company that you have, everything depends on it. So the company makes the difference. If you read good books, that makes the difference. And the thought, that remains. What can happen with a thought? How personality develops and how you can create destiny. Those who say that God has written my destiny wrong, then nothing like that happens. Your destiny is in your hands only.
Speaker 1:Beautiful, I love this first aid box. Something which has a book, anyway, is my favorite, and you can just do so much with just a book, with just some thought, with just some inspiration. Beautiful, uncle, let me get you into a rapid fire round now. You don't have to think. There are no retakes on this, so you have to answer me quickly.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which is your favorite book apart from Seven Habits?
Speaker 2:Seven Habits. Seven Habits and Bleed or Lead. Okay, ajay Bindra.
Speaker 1:Which is your favorite movie character?
Speaker 2:Movie character is Abhita Bachchan in Black.
Speaker 1:Okay, your biggest pet peeve. You know something which always irritates you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, arrogant people or undisciplined people, or with attitude or bad attitude or bad behavior people.
Speaker 1:Is there something that you believed in earlier but no longer do?
Speaker 2:That reading books is important in our life. I didn't believe that earlier, but right now I believe in that only.
Speaker 1:Lovely. What is your most prized possession?
Speaker 2:Family.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, how lovely is that. Before we come to a close and get our closing remarks in uncle, is there something that you want to ask me as a psychologist?
Speaker 2:Yes, that many times we teach people that we should not get angry when things go against our wishes, but at that moment we get angry. So what is the solution for that?
Speaker 1:It's very interesting that you asked me this, because a lot of people want answers to this question, but the answer is a little complicated. Anger management is not taught in adulthood. We need to learn this and teach this to our children, because when a child asks for something and we immediately give it yes we don't know anything about delayed gratification. They don't know anything about being, you know, told no to something, and then they don't have any resilience towards anything which happens in life and they get angry fast.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:If we raise children with everything that they need, but not enough for their greed. Eventually they will start understanding that, okay, their emotions matter, but their emotions are not the only ones that matter, and eventually they start understanding that it's okay. Somebody else might have another perspective, I might have one thought, and it's okay for both of us to disagree. This slowly becomes personality, it becomes a trait and anger starts feeling more objective. You start thinking about it like okay, I'm angry right now, but what is making me angry? Is it the fact that somebody said no to me? Is it the fact that somebody rejected my idea? Is it that somebody did some injustice towards me? And once we start understanding anger so objectively, we deal with it like that. You go to the base of it and you deal with it. So it's very interesting. I hope a lot of parents learn this now, because nowadays parenting has become very giving. Everything has to be given to the child very early Instant gratification. This generation will have more anger issues than we ever had.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, Correct. So we have to control that at that moment.
Speaker 1:Yes, we have to control it and you have to see it from a distance. If your nose is touching the painting, you will see only that part of the painting, but the minute you step away from it, you will see the full picture, even when you are angry. If you step 10 feet away and you distance yourself from the emotion, yes you'll start seeing the whole emotion and say, okay, why am I angry and what do I do with it? It's always easier to deal with it that way yes, yes, correct it's been such a nice conversation, uncle.
Speaker 1:I've been looking forward to this for such a long time. Thank you, you took the time out and shared all these little tidbits with us. Whenever somebody sees a businessman in India growing at the exponential rate that you're growing at, people just see the success. People just see that you know beautiful place that you work from, but nobody sees the failures, the struggles and all the little things that go behind it.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So this has been phenomenal. I hope we can reach out to a large audience with this one, and I hope people get inspired to fail more and then to succeed through their failures also.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, because in my journey there is a great support of my family also my wife Nita, and my son Shainik and Shaya Saloni. Everyone's contribution is there Without Barcelona everyone's contribution is there.
Speaker 2:Without teamwork, nothing is possible in this world. So that's why my advice to new generation that if you learn from that definition of car, everything is there, and in Hindi also. I have made a summary of my 35 years business life. Every if in Hindi it is Okay. So Shri Mataji says joyful and whose heart is beautiful and which is useful for everyone, whose behavior is truthful and faithful and whose body is powerful. That is what becomes successful in life, and its life becomes blissful or meaningful.
Speaker 1:How nice it's just put together so well. I think this is something we should all just put up somewhere for us to see. Yes, yes, yes, really, really, really nice. Thank you for this powerful conversation, uncle. Thank you for this meaningful afternoon, and I wish you all the very best in all your endeavors further on yes, thank you very much, thank you.
