From Poverty To Leaving A Lasting Legacy

Avnish Goyal CBE: [00:00:00] 25 years ago, I mean, I had any, I didn't know what personal development was having come here at the age of 4, the family of 10. And I wanted to do something that was productive. I felt that being an Auditor was I was looking backwards. And I wanted to create some someone said to me, dream big, right?

Avnish Goyal CBE: Don't worry about how you're going to do it. Do the what? What is it that you'd love to achieve? And then work towards it. And that's what we've been doing, not just on that front, but even on, uh, and you know, in a moment, we can talk about the charitable side of something we're also passionate about. And those, the vision I had 13, 14 years ago, and that's being realized.

Amardeep Parmar: Today on the Avnish Goyal, CBE, who's the chair of Hallmark Care Homes and a huge philanthropist. What's really interesting about his story is that he moves to this country with basically nothing. He shares a small room with so many other people. He worked his way up. He went to university and was unable to join the family business, but as the youngest child, and he had to fight to his ideas heard, he [00:01:00] was somewhat of a visionary and was able to transform the company and to enter different areas that hadn't considered before.

Amardeep Parmar: That's led to huge success in his career and his life. But he's always been very focused on personal development too, and making sure he's the best person he can be and giving back to people. And he's recently launched InnerSpark to help with this as well. Avnish, you've achieved so many great things in your life so far, but obviously had to start from somewhere, right?

Amardeep Parmar: You didn't, you weren't always the person you are today. When you were growing up, did you think maybe someday you'd be able to do what you've been able to do today? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: I had no idea. I mean, growing up as a young lad in the UK, having come here at the age of four, a family of ten, uh, with very modest sort of means as a family of 10, you know, huge family, no idea, really, all I know is that, um, we grew up with my parents, especially my mom, really trying to instill value as values in us.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And, uh, her job was to for us to grow up with values. She always said that money wasn't most important thing, is having [00:02:00] a good life and having respect. And, you know, and she was used to use the example of the tree. And I remember being in the garden once said, look, this tree, if it grows wonky, then it's very hard to correct it.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So my job in life is to make sure that you grow up straight. And so if I start early, then, you know, over time you'll be going up straight. So I always remember that. 

Amardeep Parmar: And did you have that ambition? So when you were saying in your teenage years, did you have any idea what you might want to be when you grew up or was it

Amardeep Parmar: something which you weren't sure about?

Avnish Goyal CBE: Not really. Um, I think it's typical Asian family. My mum wanted me to be a doctor. So, you know, from quite a youngish age said, look, you know, we need a doctor in the family. She grew up obviously in very poor times. We had illness in the family. My eldest brother passed away when I was very young in India.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Part of the reason why we came to the UK and I think she spent many months trying to get a cure for him. I think she always felt helpless and for her, the driver was if we had a doctor in the house, then anytime, [00:03:00] you know, there was illness and so on, then there'd be someone on hand. So, but I didn't get into medicine.

Avnish Goyal CBE: It wasn't a passion of mine and ended up taking a year out, spending some time working in the family business, which was retail shops. News agents, quite stereotypical and spending, uh, then I went to Newcastle University to do accounting and finance, uh, went on and became a chartered accountant because I was told that that would open up the world to me, which it kind of did.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I got bored of that and then joined the family business to support and grow the property portfolio with my brothers.

Amardeep Parmar: Was it hard to make the decision to leave accounting or  because I guess you're going, I'm working with your family. It felt like a natural choice because I think for many people listening, if they've got that professional background, making that leap is a really difficult decision for them.

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Avnish Goyal CBE: I think it was a mixture of things. I'm at one was we were in 1991, a deep recession, interest rates had gone to crazy heights of like 15 percent or something along those lines and the economy just [00:04:00] plummeted. Uh, repossessions were massive, uh, property prices had gone down by two thirds, you know, you can imagine huge challenges, uh, in the economy and it wasn't fun to be working in accounting, um, and being an Auditor and there were things that were happening inside the firm that weren't particularly great either.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And I wanted to do something that was productive. I felt that being an auditor was, I was looking backwards. And I wanted to create something there was a calling inside of me and I think it came from growing up with an entrepreneurial family and that was rubbing off on me and then there was a yearning and a desire to go and do something that was worthwhile and I think having a mom who really instilled those values in me and then her brother, my uncle also saying it's not who you, what you have in life, but who you become.

Avnish Goyal CBE: That's the most important thing that was then starting to drive me. And what can I do? That's going to be going to create something and make a difference. 

Amardeep Parmar: And like family is such a key part of your life and what you've been doing as well. [00:05:00] But for many people working with family can sometimes be something that might be scared of, like, how do you keep the relationship?

Amardeep Parmar: Between business and personal separate, so you don't take their home with you. And you obviously worked in the family business from quite a young age. How did you guys set that out early on? How were you able to maintain the peace at all times? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: You know, there's not peace at all times in any, uh, family business, especially when you're growing and developing.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And obviously I'm the youngest, uh, out of the, the three brothers as well. So that, you know, can have its challenges. And when, um, you're a visionary, you are seen as a bit crazy. If I was in a, uh, seminar with Tony Robbins just, uh, the last few days in Dallas and there's a wonderful lady, um, called, uh, Jamie Kerr, uh, forgot her surname now, um, and she's, she sold her business 1.3 billion, I think to L'Oreal,

Avnish Goyal CBE: uh, and she was just going through her trials and tribulations. One of the things she said was that her phrase that she realized was, I'm not crazy, I'm just first. And I've been called crazy. [00:06:00] Um, you know, this will never happen and so on. And I just realized that sometimes when you're trying to be the first at something, no one's ever done it before.

Avnish Goyal CBE: You are going to be called crazy. So I think my advice to people in family businesses is have the communication upfront. Have all the agreements up front while things are great, because when if things aren't great, it's much harder to have those communications. And I think once you get those agreements in place, you know, it can be fun and celebrate, celebrate your accomplishments, your achievements, because one day you'll look and you see how far up you've climbed.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And I think, you know, before the interview, you know, we're just talking about happiness. What I've seen around me, and I'm definitely trying to keep out of that trap of we become more successful financially. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, I'll happen. I'm happy. You know, we could become one happy because I have more challenges.

Avnish Goyal CBE: We have more things going on. We have more to lose yet where the, the, you know, you know, in terms of financial wealth often, and I see this with, uh, you know, friends and family around me, the [00:07:00] unhappiness grows, and that's just counterintuitive. We want to have wealth and be successful, to be happier, yet our happiness actually drops.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So I'm on this mission to have an incredible life and also share. some of that message, uh, with the people around me. And hopefully I can do that in this interview as well. 

Amardeep Parmar: The phrase I love is the difference between a visionary and a madman is that the visionary's ideas work out and the madman's doesn't, but they often act exactly in the same way.

Amardeep Parmar: And sometimes people may be judged in different ways and it's the actions are the same. But sometimes a mark is the right timing, whoever it is. What were some of those crazy ideas you had at the beginning that which ones worked out? Did some of them not work out? But to give the paint that picture of the younger version of you.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Yeah, I think, um, one thing I realized now we've encapsulated it in vision board and goal setting workshops that my wife and I've been running now for the last 10 years. And we've had literally thousands of people attend those and the feedback has just been incredible. What I've realized, and I was just, I was reflecting on it over the last few weeks, actually, is that a lot of what I've achieved is,

Avnish Goyal CBE: is a combination of [00:08:00] the environment around me, you know, what I've seen is the more I get out there, the more my mind is able to dream big. If I'm, if I was just stuck at home on my own, you can't dream like that. The way that I dream is I go to events. I see things on television. Um, I attend courses, read books and the imagination.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Then if you've got, you know, create that fertile imagination that says, Oh, wonder if I could do that. And that's been one of my Big mottos over the years is if they can do it, surely I can do it. I didn't used to think that I think, Oh my God, they're amazing. They're wonderful. Then I started saying, actually, no, they're just like me.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Um, what they did was they had a, an idea, they had a passion about it and then they gathered people around them. They enroll people, they, and then they worked really, really hard to make that happen. And that's what I've learned over the years. And when I reflect back on, you know, when I left my, uh, county practice and joined the family business.

Avnish Goyal CBE: No one knew what I was going to do. They couldn't see what I was seeing [00:09:00] and they said, you know, why are you joining? There's nothing for you to do here. And I said there is, we're going to grow the property portfolio and we did and you know, it's huge fun doing that with my brothers and it's you know we really enjoyed that and that was the first stage of that success and then I'd opportunity to buy our first care home. I've seen family members do that and I thought let's do that.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I have no idea how I'd never run a care home before and just threw myself in. And what I found is over the years, you throw yourself in, you have a vision, you have an idea. It works out because you'll develop those skills. And then, uh, we decided I went on a course with Tony Robbins and said I was going to create this company that was going to be the leading, uh, care company.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And then we're going to really, and we didn't use the word disrupt in those days, but I said, I was going to change the face of the care sector. And in my own way. I've been doing that with all the different initiatives that, uh, that we, that we've had and that came out of just an idea. Someone said to me, dream big, right?

Avnish Goyal CBE: Don't worry about how you're going to do it. [00:10:00] Do the what? What is it that you'd love to achieve? And that took a little while to even write that down on a piece of paper. And then 23 years on, when I've looked back and I've still got that PowerPoint presentation that I created, it's like, wow, it's incredible when you put your mind to something and they're able to articulate it, write it down and then work towards it.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And that's what we've been doing. Um, Not just on that front, but even on, uh, and, you know, in a moment we can talk about the charitable side of something we're all so passionate about, and those, the vision I had 13, 14 years ago, and that's being realized. 

Amardeep Parmar: So it makes me really happy to hear you say all of that, because that really aligns with what we're doing here, and it's why we've got you on, right, is that, I think, from where I grew up in, like, East London, I didn't really have role models to look up to, especially from our background, to say, oh, I can be like them.

Amardeep Parmar: And what we're trying to do through our work is show people, there's so many people who look just like you, who you had the same background as you growing up, who've now gone on to achieve amazing things. And as you said, everybody I've introduced human, they all sleep, they all eat, they interact, they have their [00:11:00] insecurities, they have different problems, but it's that belief in themselves that they're able to push through that and continue to do amazing things.

Amardeep Parmar: And I guess anybody listening, that's what I really want to emphasize is that everybody sat in their chair who's done incredible things. They're just human. They're just normal people but what the difference is, like you said, is that they've sat down, made a clear vision and gone for it. And that's what people listening can do as well.

Amardeep Parmar: And you mentioned there about changing the face of the care set. It's like, what do you think was behind the real success of Hallmark Care Homes? And what did you do differently? That you think really made it stand out? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: Well, I think one of the things I've been driven by is what's the point of being second best or third best always aim to be the best, the best that you can be the best version of yourself.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And, you know, within the Hallmark business and all the things I've tried to do is do it to the best of my ability. That's what's made it for me really fun and really exciting. And I think over the last 30 or so years, I've always wanted to make an impact and [00:12:00] not just for the sake of making an impact.

Avnish Goyal CBE: You can make an impact in negative ways, but in positive ways. And once you start making an impact and you get feedback that says, Oh, thank you. That was great. Well done. You changed my life. You start realizing that you can do more and more and more, but the driver always is how can I make a difference?

Avnish Goyal CBE: You know, for me, it's never been about, Oh, look at me, this will get me. Like lots of acknowledgement. And I always say that, uh, um, you know, people say to me, Oh, you know, I did that for someone and they never said thank you. They never acknowledged me. I've moved on, you know, I've started something. And what I see is, and I, the analogy I've used sometimes with when I've coached family members and friends is that it's like, I love popcorn and I make my own popcorn when you put all those kernels

Avnish Goyal CBE: in the pan, you know, say, do they pop all at once? No, they don't. You have to keep watching, keep watching, keep stirring the pot. And at some point, one kernel will pop, then another one, then another one. And then there'll be some kernels that'll never [00:13:00] pop, and they're the ones you throw away. And I see that as making a difference in, in the things that you do.

Avnish Goyal CBE: You put, you do lots and lots of things, that's, they're in the pot. And then, you know, the, the, the acknowledgement and thank you isn't gonna come straight away. And you're not, you shouldn't be doing it for that, but eventually someone say, well done. Thank you. And then someone else and someone else, but it won't come when you want it.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So don't expect it. And then you'd be, you won't be unhappy and you're doing it for the right reasons. And so I get acknowledged with my wife Anita all the time. You know, we don't look for it. Do we enjoy it? Of course we enjoy it. You know, we said we're human, right? And also it's the fuel that keeps us going because we know we're making a difference.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And, you know, sometimes I love posting on Instagram and social media and sometimes, Oh, do people really want to know what we're doing? You know, we're out for dinner, date night, we've gone over here, we're doing this, we're doing that. And what I've found is as I get inspired by watching others, people are being inspired by what we're doing.

Avnish Goyal CBE: They say they, the biggest thing that we get is how do you do it [00:14:00] all? Yeah. Where did your energy come from? We just get tired looking at your social media. And I say, well, that's just half of what we do. And, you know, so what I've seen is that by people seeing what we're doing, they step up, they start thinking what's possible in their lives.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Just as I've been inspired by incredible role models in my life, who, uh, one of them being Tony Robbins, for example. And what I've seen over the years is that I never keep the same role models. I keep upgrading or changing so that you never end up trying to be like one person. Right? In the early days.

Avnish Goyal CBE: You know, my mom, my brothers were my role models and then over time, as you're growing and developing, you start seeing where your gaps are and start creating new role models. When I saw Tony Robbins, I did a course in Hawaii, 9 day program that started at 9 a. m. finished it till it didn't finish till 11.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And this guy, six foot seven. Huge guy on stage, beating his chest, jumping up and down like a madman, training us in all sorts of incredible things. And I thought to myself, sitting in the chair, I feel tired. How the hell does he do [00:15:00] it? And after that, I vowed that I'd create this energy, and that comes not just from seeing, seeing all that, but what you eat and how you live your life and that's what's given me abundance of energy and I don't give myself too much slack and saying, Oh, I'm tired because what I've realized is that tiredness is a conversation that you're having with yourself, all this calculating how many hours you've slept so that you, then you tie yourself, Oh, I went to bed at 11.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I got up at five or six. Oh my God, that's terrible. Don't do any of that. Just get on with it, you know, you've got a mission and it's incredible that reserve that you have the energy that you find when you're on your mission. 

Amardeep Parmar: Hey everyone, we hope you're enjoying this episode so far. A quick note from our sponsors who make this all possible.

Amardeep Parmar: From first time founders to the funds that back them, innovation needs different. HSBC Innovation Banking is proud to accelerate growth for tech and life science businesses. Creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity, entrepreneurs and investors alike. [00:16:00] Discover more at HSBCinnovationbanking. com. Back to the show. 

Amardeep Parmar: Really incredible what you've said then. I think the bit about Roman was really interesting too, because what I find sometimes people do is they put one person on a pedestal and they try to be like that one person, but we're all different. We've all got different skills, we've all got different backgrounds.

Amardeep Parmar: And that's why I think it's important to say in this episode, somebody might not be able to relate to you, but they can relate to the next person. But having those different role models means that you can take the best of each that aligns with you and create your own story. And that's what you've obviously done there.

Amardeep Parmar: And you mentioned there about the inspiring other people. And you've done a lot of that through your foundations and your charity work. What was the trigger behind some of that work and what are some of the proudest moments you've had through that work? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: I know 25 years ago. I mean, I had any, I didn't know what personal development was. My uncle used to  say to me stop reading those novels those fiction books and those kind of stories that I used to read. I love all different types of story books.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So I immersed myself and lose myself in, [00:17:00] in those books, he said, you've got to do personal development. And I was like, I have no idea what he's talking about. Zero. It's bizarre. Now, can we talk about personal development all the time, And then one day I picked up a book called how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And I literally was blown away by the knowledge that this guy had. I had zero idea that this kind of stuff existed. The only things I knew was what my mum and my dad had taught me and we'd been on a few seminars, uh, over the years with them in terms of some of their belief systems. That was a, uh, an awakening.

Avnish Goyal CBE: That was like a, an inner spark had been ignited in me that there's more out there. Then I read a book by Stephen Covey, uh, uh, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Then I thought I knew it all. Those seven habits was enough for me to live my life because it couldn't be anything else. That's how limited my thinking was.

Avnish Goyal CBE: But one of the things, I think it was in that book, but it was definitely one of Stephen's work, I think. said, learn to teach and I started adopting that philosophy that when I'm learning, I want to go and teach it to someone because, and it's kind of like that pay it forward concept. And I started to, as I was learning, I was then [00:18:00] telling other people, I've just learned this.

Avnish Goyal CBE: If we do that, that happens. If you do that, that happens. And I started seeing some real glow and a feeling of that impact that it was having because the people going, Oh, yeah. That's interesting. Oh, that's good. I mean, it's a bit like the kind of stuff Tony, Tony Robbins did as he was growing up, he started helping people and he's got a buzz from that because people's lives are being affected.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And look at where he's now affecting millions and millions of people's lives. Everywhere I've, I've been, I've always tried to make that big impact. When I was a, I started doing this program called the Landmark Forum. You know, I enrolled hundreds and hundreds of people into the Landmark Forum. I was an enrollment machine.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Because I just go out there. And if you met me that time, this is a nearly 25 years ago, I'd be like, I'm going to get you to do the landmark forum because I know I can help transform your life because it's changed my whole life. You know, and some of the listeners, the viewers might know my story about my mom.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I love my mom to bits. She passed away last year, unfortunately, at a wonderful age of 89. But when I was growing up, I was so close to my mum and I'd always this vision that my mum was always going to live with me [00:19:00] forever. When I got married, I'd always support her and so on in the latter years with Anita, I've had that incredible opportunity to support mum, uh, for the last eight years until she passed last year.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Um, but there was a period in my, my first marriage when things got really tough and my mum moved out of the house. She went and lived with my brother and things were really tense for a couple of years. I did this wonderful programme called the Landmark Forum and yeah, I learned a huge amount. I didn't go for trying to sort my relationship out with my mum.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I went for curiosity, really. And in there, there's a section about people had challenges with their parents. And I didn't even consider that was a challenge. I just, it was the way it was. And then the forum leader who was coaching this lady who had some real challenges with her, one of her parents, I think it was a mum.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And she went on and on about all the, how her mum was and so on. And he listened and he listened. And eventually, through some coaching, he said to her, Do you realize your mum gave you a gift that you can never repay her for? In that moment, the whole room pin dropped silence. Every single person got it, [00:20:00] including me.

Avnish Goyal CBE: It was like a knife had gone inside of me, in my chest. And I was like, Oh my God. What? What have I done? What have I been doing? What solution have I been looking for? Now this lady didn't get it for at least another 10 minutes and she went on and on and on and he said it again to her. Do you realize that your mother gave you a gift that you can never repay her for?

Avnish Goyal CBE: At that moment she got it. She went quiet. Started sobbing and uh, you know, and she had the breakthrough. And so for me, I had my breakthrough and I went to see my mum on the Monday morning after the seminar and I just literally, she opened the door. She lived opposite and my, my brother lived opposite, uh, my house and I literally on the doorstep, I just started apologizing to her.

Avnish Goyal CBE: She started crying. I started crying. Uh, we then were hugging each other on the porch. I can still picture it now. We then sat down and we just talked and went through tissue after tissue, blowing her noses, crying her eyes out. She was telling me how when dad passed away, how tough it was for her. And she didn't want us to see her [00:21:00] crying.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And then when some of the challenges happened, uh, you know, within the family, and then she said, look, if, um, you know, you don't want me here, I'll leave. And I didn't say anything. Because I thought I had to make a choice between her and my, my wife, my first wife at the time. And, and I thought, choose your first wife, not mum. 

Avnish Goyal CBE: I didn't realize you don't have to make choices. You can actually talk things through, you can work things out, but I didn't have those skills. And, uh, I really got her hurt and her pain. And that was a turning point in my relationship with my mum. And ever since then, we had the most incredible relationship.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And that may never have happened. I could have been one of those people that had a strange relationship with a parent that never got resolved. So I was in an enrollment machine because I wanted people to get those kind of breakthroughs in their life. And then, then I did Landmark Forum. I thought there was nothing else after that.

Avnish Goyal CBE: That's it. And I, if anybody said anything else about any other program, I was like, no, you've got to do the Landmark Forum. Then I went on to do the work with Tony Robbins. And I realized [00:22:00] that was my breakthrough and that there's many, many ways you can get these insights. And then, yeah, Tony then really joked me, 

Avnish Goyal CBE: the biggest growth was around health and the business, whereas Landmark was really about my personal relationship with myself and with my family. But yeah, it's been an incredible journey. 

Amardeep Parmar: What's your focus now? Like where do you spend most of your time and dedicating it towards which causes? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: Well, I mean, obviously the business takes up a significant amount of time, but I've got an incredible managing director now who doing a phenomenal job.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So that allows me more space now to do some of the philanthropic work. And my wife and I, we've just been doing quite a lot of stuff over the years. Now you're trying to make a significant impact working in partnership with lots of other charities, including things like the Caldwell Children, Barnardo's, Outward Bound Trust and various other smaller charities as well.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Uh, we've just launched a new program called Inner Spark, which we're going to reach 1 million young people in schools with our workshops, our personal development workshops, our mental health programs, our, uh, [00:23:00] we have theater productions where they go in and teach things around sexual consent, um, around, uh, self harm and, and so on.

Avnish Goyal CBE: There's a whole array of different programs where we want to, because one of the things I, when I was sitting in my seminars, all those years ago, I thought, why didn't somebody teach me this when I was, when I was a kid, why did I have to go through all the trials and tribulations over, you know, I got personal development at the age of 30, my, my children have been very fortunate.

Avnish Goyal CBE: They've grown up with this, but if I'd had this when I was 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, all those insecurities, all those things I had to deal with, I could have had more tools because one of, this is an incredible thing I did. In one of the seminars, they got you to close your eyes and imagine one of your worst days. And you go back as your adult self in your mind's eye and hug that former self as a child and hug that child and say, it's going to be okay.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And that was incredibly healing because that hurt that you have as a child carries on into your adulthood, [00:24:00] without realizing it. When you can heal that, that hurt, it's phenomenal. And I learned huge amounts of other things over the years. And I love passing on some of that knowledge to make a difference for other people.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So the InnerSpark program is how do we reach a million young people over the next five years? Because imagine a million young people getting this kind of knowledge. And we really want to hit the schools where they need it the most as well. So Anita, uh, uh, and myself and a whole raft of other people now coming on board with that.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I'm really excited. 

Amardeep Parmar: So it's been incredible to hear your story and all the impact you're making. And it's just really exciting and inspiring for me listening to you to hear what's coming up in the future for you as well. We're running out of time. So we have to go to the quick fire questions now. 

Amardeep Parmar: But I could talk forever with you. So the first one is, who are three British Asians you'd love to spotlight that you think are doing incredible work and people should be paying attention to?

Avnish Goyal CBE: First one has got to be a shout out for my wife, Anita, Anita Goyal. She's an MBE. She's doing incredible work, her passion, her commitment, her determination to grow.

Avnish Goyal CBE: We got married nearly 10 years ago now, [00:25:00] and I've seen her growth is just been incredible and a commitment to make a difference, how she supported and looked after mom with so much love has just been awesome. And the work she wants to do now within a spark is just phenomenal. So the big shout out for Anita.

Avnish Goyal CBE: That's the first one. The second one is my., my nephew, rather, Ajay Gupta, he lives in the US and he really wants to make also a difference to young people. And he's looking for that, that opportunity with all the skills that he's developed over the last, uh, 15 years or so. And he was, he grew up with the Tony Robbins work and he's hugely skilled and he just wants to make a huge impact.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And, uh, the third one is, um, Shalini Khemka, who's a dear friend of ours. And, uh, she really is trying to change the entrepreneurial world by connecting entrepreneurs together so they can make a, a significant impact on the world and with purpose as well. And so they're the three, I mean, there's loads of others that I could, but they're the three that came to mind.

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, that's amazing. So hopefully everybody checks those people out. If people want to learn more about you, your story or your [00:26:00] philanthropic ventures, where should they go to? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: Good question. Um, my website is being updated, uh, uh, will be updated should I say, but social media is probably the place, LinkedIn, Instagram.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I do post quite a lot on Instagram and I do that because I get inspired by people. Or on Instagram. And I want to do my bit, I'm not one of those who, who just, um, is that voyeur looking at everyone else's life. I feel that if you're on Instagram, you should also share your life. And I do that quite extensively because I feel I make a difference.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So yeah, so they're the platforms at the moment. So next year, we're looking to resurrect a lot of the seminars that, uh, and workshops that we ran over the last few years. Uh, when I get back into making that difference, because we get approached by so many people who say, can I have some of your time?

Avnish Goyal CBE: Would you mentor me? And I just couldn't possibly physically do all of that. Um, so we want to continue to make an impact, to make a difference. So yeah, we're going to start our seminars next year. 

Amardeep Parmar: It's even one of the things we're doing about the scaling side of things is that a lot of people ask for coffee or one to one, but it's just, it's [00:27:00] not that you don't want to help, it's just it doesn't scale, like you don't have the hours in the day to also then get the work done for a large audience.

Amardeep Parmar: So definitely, like, if people are listening, make sure you check out the seminars. And the other thing is, is if people are listening today who potentially could help you, up your foundations or your work, how could they get involved?

Avnish Goyal CBE: Yeah, uh, once you reach out through social media, uh, our website is hgf.org. uk. 

Avnish Goyal CBE: Uh, you can reach us through there. There's a donate page. We are looking for creating our own giving circle. Within the InnerSpark program, I joined a few giving circles over the years, including the Caldwell Life Changer Circle. And that's been incredible. I made a commitment to donate a million pounds over 10 years, 100 grand, 100, 000 a year.

Avnish Goyal CBE: I'm in my second year. And, you know, the work that John Caldwell is doing for young people with autism and I think about 250 other conditions is just incredible. I've been up to Stoke on Trent to see his incredible caudal center there. And it was a no brainer for me to get [00:28:00] involved. And not just that, you know, what I'm, you know, there's a lot of money, you know, listeners, viewers might say that's a lot of money, but I'm getting so much back.

Avnish Goyal CBE: My growth over that last year has just been incredible. One of John's commitments were, was that you'll get as much out as you put in. In fact, I've got so much and the people I've met and the support I've had from John himself personally, or on some of the philanthropic work that we're doing and the friendship groups and that, that, that, that group that, uh, I've now come into contact with has just been inspirational too.

Avnish Goyal CBE: So, you know, you've got to, I think what I've seen in life is that you've just got to like, be generous and just throw it out there. Um, there's no point being the dying, the richest man in the grave. You know, I want to, I've got lots and lots of plans and ideas about creating, um, like a giving pledge. How can we get more people in the UK to give, you know, 50 percent of their wealth away in their lifetime?

Avnish Goyal CBE: ‘Cause that's one of my commitments because. My kids, you know, I can leave enough for my kids to, uh, have a good [00:29:00] life. In fact, I'm encouraging them to create their own wealth and live the life that they deserve, you know, with a bit of support. And most, uh, entrepreneurs, most people who are financially successful now starting to realize that leaving your children lots and lots of wealth is actually very damaging because it doesn't lead to more happiness.

Avnish Goyal CBE: And so for me, most of my wealth would be left to charities, uh, through my lifetime rather than right the end. I want to encourage other entrepreneurs to become more philanthropic because we're trying to seek more and more fulfillment, more happiness, more contentment. And we think we're going to get it through more financial success or growing our businesses and so on or buying more houses or cars or handbags or bikes or whatever it might be.

Avnish Goyal CBE: But actually, what I found is that that extra you have to do a lot to get a little bit more happiness. In fact, often you then bog down with more responsibilities and so on. And what I've seen is that once you get into that world of philanthropy, that's the next level of real fulfillment and real joy. In fact, I've [00:30:00] said many times that I get more, more joy out of giving than in fact earning, but the earning is what allows me to return and give that back and make a difference.

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. I think that's a really key point there as well is that sometimes if people were considered by giving too early, then it's like, well, actually you can make a bigger impact if you kind of focus your time in the right way. And that's a big challenge. A lot of people is like making sure that they do feed themselves, make sure they earn enough because that's the way that they can then use their skills to make a bigger impact over time.

Amardeep Parmar: So thank you so much for coming today. I really enjoyed this. Have you got any final words for the audience? 

Avnish Goyal CBE: I think really, make sure that you're living your purposeful life. We're all unique, we're all individual, and we have a purpose of why we're here. It's about how do we discover that purpose and then go all out, like tirelessly all out.

Avnish Goyal CBE: Um, you know, that's my plan is I'm going to keep going and keep going until my last breath. And for me, [00:31:00] that's the only advice I can give. Find your purpose and just go for it.

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