SAMIA: Ah, that is such a brilliant, brilliant insight that you're sharing. I know one of my coaches, trainers, business mentors… this was one of the biggest lessons he always emphasized. He was like, business... like, if you have a true business, if you want to have a true business, you cannot do it by yourself. If you're by yourself, maybe you can create a job for yourself. And in that case you'll probably be your own worst boss who over-works and under-pays yourself. That's not a true business actually. To have a true business you have to have relationships and work with others. And there's like... oh my gosh… So tell me more, tell me more about what are these different kinds of relationships that we need to have, to have a thriving business.

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: How are you talking to yourself? Are you giving yourself the permission? Are you standing in your own way? Are you letting that fear dominate you? Are you letting the self-doubts… “You know what right now, it's not the right time. I don't think I can do it. Who am I to do it? What's my experience? I don't have anything to share with people, how am I going to impact? Oh I don't have enough time. I don't have enough money…” And you know what? At the same time you'll find that you're probably eating outside 10 times or even taking/getting take out, not investing the right way.

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: So that's why that relationship with self is so critical, because... unless you give yourself permission, unless you say, "Yes I'm all powered up, I'm going to play full out, I'm going to show up for myself", things are not going to move folks. To move the needle and move the dial it's important that you see yourself as the most important person in your life. If you are not going to root for yourself, guess what? Who's going to do it? No one.

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: So that's one of the relationships. Another relationship is with money. It's so important. How do you see money? A lot of people are fearful of success, "Oh gosh you know, what if I start making too much money, will I be able to stay where I'm at? Like, I've got success now. Will I be able to be successful for a long period of time? Are people going to see me? What if I make too much money? You know money is related to being evil." Folks here's what I'll share… Money is not evil. It's what we do with money that makes it wrong, all right. So for example, you know, I've got a team of 24 people and I outsource a lot of things. So yes, I make ton of money, but I'm sharing it with people. And when you share it, when you grow together as a family, then everybody's getting a piece of that pie. Another thing I'll share is that, when you talk about what is it that you do with money… Profits from my book go to entrepreneurs who are impacted by COVID 19, and especially like, you know, Kiva, k-i-v-a dot org. I donate a lot of my profits to kiva.org.

SAMIA: Yes.

DIVYA: So here's the thing. If you don't have the right relationship with money, you could not get out of that cycle. “Oh gosh, you know what, I am going to be in that scarcity mindset…” Not that you do it, and it's not your fault at all. Because you've not been taught how to look at money, you've not been taught as to how can you have that wonderful relationship with yourself… that where you are talking about yourself, it's not like, “Ra-ra-ra, look at me, how great I am”. No, it's about bringing that grace and that quiet confidence and quiet strength that speaks for itself.

SAMIA: Yeah. <

DIVYA: These are like just a couple that I've touched upon you know.

SAMIA: Thank you for that. No, that's amazing. And you are making me think about so many questions that I want to ask you. And just picking on the very last, one of the very last things you were just saying… You know, when you're talking about having that quiet confidence, it's not about, you know, being arrogant or prideful, you know. But rather just, yeah, being confident in that more positive way… being ambitious, and thus in this empowered way... How do you cultivate that? Do you have any wisdom you can share with us on how we can begin to cultivate that?

DIVYA: Absolutely. So I'll say that first of all it's so important to know yourself. And I go into a whole lot of details in “The Entrepreneur’s Garden”. I'll touch upon a couple of things. When you shift your focus on your purpose… Why is it that you started being an entrepreneur? Or why are you going for a certain type of niche that you're doing? Sit down and think about it. What is that purpose, what's your big red hot why? That will push you through the fears, that will push you during the days when it's going to be so hard. And I'll share it with you folks… and this is a story from actually after I had written my entrepreneur's garden, and then I was sitting down to write… I started writing “Expert to Influencers”. So one day I wake up in the morning and it's raining, it's cold. It was one of the winter days, and you know how that happens… I don't know if you have experienced that or not, that if it's been cloudy for a few days it can impact your mood.

SAMIA: Sure.

DIVYA: I wake up, I've had my coffee and I have... how should I say, you know, went for a walk, I've tried to meditate, I've tried to journal, I've done everything. And still I'm sitting there staring at the computer, not a single word is coming out. I type in, I write few lines, erase it. And then I said, you know what, let me just check some emails. I opened up my email and lo and behold, this is a person I don't know. And there was an email from one of my readers of the entrepreneur's garden who said that, "Divya, thank you for writing this book because as I was reading this book last night it was almost as if somebody gave me permission to be myself. And I cannot share with you how aligned and how home I feel with myself. It's almost like as if I found myself". So the message was somewhere around like that...

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: ..and it was almost like I got like, you know, all this energy and current, and like all in one second…

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: …The words started pouring out. And what I… what happened was, I was trying different things, but I forgot my why and why did I start. Because I was sitting and I was like complaining and grumbling, "Why am I writing another book? I've already written so many books. What's the need for it?" That's what brings it back. And when your focus is on your why...

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: ..the confidence comes through, because you're working towards your purpose. You want to create impact, you want to impact and influence. It's not about you, it's about the other person that you're willing to help. It's about the passion that gives meaning to your life, it's about that purpose that fulfills… And then you're in your zone of genius and then they just flip it. It's not about thinking, it's about living it. And when you're living it, that's not the way, like, you don't have to be like, "oh I gotta do this, I gotta do that to look confident or be confident”. And you are just yourself, you're in your authentic place, and you're comfortable. So for example, you know I'm happy to share that I have moments I'm not perfect. I've got days when my mojo is down. I have days when I'll sit and stare at the computer. I've got days… I mean, I've got plenty of flaws, and I'm comfortable sharing that. And why am I comfortable sharing that? Because that's who I am. And the key is that when you start becoming comfortable with who you are, you're not looking to please everyone… Because when you're showing up… show up for yourself, show up for that other person. And when you show up authentically, genuinely, that confidence... it will just shine through.

SAMIA: Yes, I love that. And you know, a lot of what I'm learning from you is not just that, you know, you need to have a purpose, but that the purpose that you have needs to be something meaningful, and not just about you... Like, I know there are people out there who have a purpose and the purpose is, I just want to make all the money I can. And they go after that. And because they're focusing on it, they achieve that purpose. They make lots of money. But in the process they end up hurting lots of other people, they might contribute in serious ways to environmental harm, you know. They also, I think, end up hurting themselves. Like when you have a purpose that's so narrow, and it does not take into account how to do things in a way that is caring about yourself and about other people, then even if you are able to achieve that purpose at a certain level, it... I bet it's not fun and easy, and...

DIVYA: Well, when the purpose is bigger than you, then it will drive you.

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: And the purpose gotta have that meaning because you know what happens Samia… I have coached thousands of people across six continents. And then, yes initially they're like I want money, money, money, money...

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: ..and then once they've had all that money, the next problem is that, "I feel that my life is empty". Just recently one of my very powerful clients, rich in money and, like you know, as a person also wonderful… “You know what? I feel that I've lost myself in the process”. So that's where, as we were talking about, it's important to have those relationships. But as you have that purpose, as you have that relationship with yourself, and if you have that meaningful relationship with money, you're growing with it, you're helping others grow with it.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. So have a more meaningful relationship with yourself, have a more meaningful relationship with your money… And also this was something that I heard you highlight so much in how you were talking about your relationship with money, that it's something that you use to help yourself and help others. And that's so important. What... why do you think, like… what's maybe a root cause or root challenge because of which people develop an unhealthy relationship with money in the first place?

DIVYA: Well, because, you know, a brain is preconditioned. So coming from the science background, what I can tell you is that people correlate money with that... "Okay, if you have money then you gotta be bad". You go and kind of take a look at it, it's also you look at like how the society has conditioned. On another hand, society calls you successful only if you have made a certain amount of money, if you have a house, if you've got good cars, if you're taking vacations. So on one hand that is... but now okay, so there's a limit. It's almost like our community, society, whatever we want to call it, has put a limit on it. Like okay, so now if you have that much, that's good enough. But now if you have a whole lot more money that means you're bad. It's just a perception, it's just a perception. And also what happens is that people think like, oh, the more money people have, they've got a scarcity mindset, in the sense that they don't want to share. We don't know, we don't know. It's like I always say that there is no competition and there's no comparison. Let other people do what they want to do. But what you can control is yourself. Okay, so what is that? What does success look like to me? How am I going to define? And what is my definition of money? If my definition of money is that I want to have a million dollars and I do this x, y and z… and that's totally fine, as long as you are not hurting anybody in the process and you've worked for it. So let me ask you this question Samia… is there anything wrong if you're working hard for it, you've put in your hours, you've done your due diligence? It's just like, think about Olympians, right.

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: If Olympic athletes have put in that time and if they get that gold medal, should we be questioning that for them?

SAMIA: We're happy for them, we're like, yay!

DIVYA: Exactly. So same way for money, you know. If you work for it and if you're not troding over other people or being sneaky and manipulating other people to make your money, and if you are just helping other people, giving them the transformation that they're getting, and if you're making money, I say that it's completely A-okay. And it's completely great because you are changing people's lives and the value that you're bringing… It's important to see that. And if you don't see that value then how are others going to see it?

SAMIA: It makes me think about something that... I think it was Gandhi Ji who said it, like, "Be the change you want to see". You know it's this idea that we see so many businesses that are doing a lot of harm out there because they're not caring about the hurt that they're causing to other people and to the environment. And we see that and we're like, "Oh my God, that's bad". But we shouldn't just... but if you think how it's bad, well, be the change you want to see… start your own business and do it better, in a different way.

DIVYA: You can also just buy stuff from the brands that are socially conscious. It's again knowing yourself. So that always comes first -- knowing your values, knowing your why...

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: ..and when you know yourself then you can have that right mindset, and those values can be driving your decision. So for example, I'll share with you, one of my values is collaborations. So I love collaborating with people. So rather than... I'll give you one example, just rather than putting out myself, like okay you know, just building my brand… me, me, me, or anything like that, I love to collaborate and do joint ventures together. Why? Because it's so much more fun. So it's about having those values. All right, what are my one, two, three, top three or top five values, and how am I going to uphold those values in my day-to-day life?

SAMIA: Yes.

DIVYA: So for example, there may be certain podcasts on which I will not go because… if they are spouting some message that goes against my values then I don't want to be showing up there. These are just simple things that can drive your behaviors, and behaviors can drive results.

SAMIA: Yes, I agree with you. And when we do business with this kind of consciousness, of doing good for ourselves and for others, business is such a powerful vehicle for creating change. Actually, when I wrote my book, "Make Change Fun and Easy", the subtitle on that is, “How To Create Inner Peace To World Peace in Three Simple Steps". So I really, you know, appreciate this balance, and living in this balance, of not just caring about my inner peace… but once I have my inner peace then to also extend that out and think about, “how can I contribute to creating world peace?” And business, like a socially conscious business, is such a great vehicle to make that happen... I mean if you think about the impact business has on our world, on… whether it's in the context of politics, whether it's in the context of environmental impact, whether it's in the context of social impact... I mean, business is probably one of the biggest players, you know, in that whole process...

DIVYA: You're absolutely right. And especially women-led businesses. And here's the thing folks, you can still have your brand. You can still talk about… I want to go back and touch upon what you said that, how can you show up with confidence? So when I'm saying that you cannot just be doing “ra-ra-ra”, what I mean is that you can still develop your authentic brand, come from a place of integrity, it can still be focused on you. And at the same token you are also partnering with other people. So the idea over here is that your brand is big-hearted. It has got an abundance mindset, that along with your brand you can shine light on other brands as well. So that was the context that I did want to bring to your audience.

SAMIA: Thank you, thank you so much for that Divya. Just as one of the last questions that just came to my mind, for people who are not familiar with the terminology of scarcity mindset and abundance mindset, can you just tell us a little bit more about how you understand those ideas?

DIVYA: Absolutely, so here's what I'll share folks. Scarcity is that... oh my God, I've got only this much, so I cannot do things… So what you're doing is you're taking yourself and putting yourself in a box, you're labeling yourself… Nope I don't have enough time, nope I'm not enough, no I don't have enough money, nope x, y, and z. So when you do that then you cannot take actions. If you cannot take actions, you don't get results. If you don't get results you don't see success… so that’s scarcity mindset. Abundance mindset is that... there's enough for everyone. So think about it folks… when you go outside, when you're walking in nature, there's enough air for everyone to breathe... I mean, of course, if there is a fire and all that then there is a problem with breathing. But what nature has given us is the abundance. And if we also operate from that manner, you'll find that you'll take actions that will attract abundance. So I'm not talking about law of attraction, and yet I'm talking about it. I'm just going a little bit differently about it, that when you take action you attract abundance, instead of just kind of thinking like, "Oh I'm going to have abundance". So for example, I'll share with you… in one of our programs one girl was so passionate about it. And when you are having that abundance mindset you can barter, you can trade, you can exchange services… You will figure out a way to move forward rather than saying I don't have enough time...

SAMIA: Yeah.

DIVYA: ..So/and let me share with you, like all these three things. So for example you know, our team has helped over 160 authors and counting to become number one best-selling published authors. So one of the lovely authors, she came with an abundance mindset. She did not have money, she didn't have time, and she was insecure. So she had like all three fronts right. But, she came in said that, “Divya, you know what? Do you think I could provide you this x, y, z services that I'm really good at, and in return if you could kind of help me work through my fears as to why I cannot belong there… and I don't have enough time… but if you can help me guide…”... Because we have templates and all that. So it's... sometimes you can just take templates and drop in things and that makes life so much easier. You don't have to think, gosh, how am I going to start. There are already examples on starting your first paragraph and moving to the second and all that.

SAMIA: Yes.

DIVYA: So I said, “Definitely, we can do that”. And then she said, "Do you think we could barter services so that I could still be part of one of the programs?" We sat down, we talked through it. So not only was she able to move through everything, defeating her constraints, defeating her limitations. And on top of that because the project went well, and the way she was communicating, she ended up making money as well. So that's what abundance mindset is… knowing that there is enough, and not just stopping yourself.

SAMIA: Yeah, thank you for that amazing example. It's the perfect note I think for us to wrap up for today. I just loved everything that you had to share. Thank you so much for coming and giving so generously of your time and your wisdom. And you know, right there... you know you're living... right now all these things, these values that you have been teaching us about. And it's a huge part of, you know... what you were saying, that it's what makes you successful, and it's what can help us become more successful. So thank you so much. Any other last words from you for today?

DIVYA: Well, first of all thank you for having me. You know I appreciate your time and inviting me to be part of your audience and supporting others. One thing that I would love to share is, folks, if you can give one hour of your time every month, no strings attached, to somebody else, just one hour… Think about it, even if 50 million people in the US alone, or 50 million… like, you know, everybody did that… just one hour of your time, our world would be a different place.

SAMIA: Another amazing, amazing, gem. Thank you for that, thank you so much. Yes please, please do that. And we are going to include Divya's contact information and her website information and so forth, in the show notes. So please get in touch with her if you need help and support in growing your business and making it more fun and easy because she's awesome at helping you with that. Thank you again. Yeah, and I hope we will see you again soon.

DIVYA: Thank you. :)