For nearly three decades, Priya Kumar has been a motivational speaker who doesn’t just talk—she fire-walks the walk. Self-made, she is a brand in the fast-paced, competitive world of self-help.
As a corporate trainer, she has worked with over 2,000 multinational companies across 50 countries, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people through her workshops and books.
She has written 17 inspirational books and novels, including biographies of legendary figures like badminton champ Pullela Gopichand and Hero Cycles founder OP Munjal.
Oh, and did we mention she’s a firewalker, astrologer, and tarot expert? No wonder she’s got a knack for igniting passions (pun intended).
Ashish Virmani caught up with the Mumbai-based dynamic powerhouse, fresh off the adaptation of her novel I Will Go with You into a web series titled The Final Call, starring Arjun Rampal. Here’s what she had to say about purpose, passion, the storms worth weathering, as well as marriage.
Excerpts from the interview for ALotusInTheMud.com:
Ashish Virmani: As a motivational coach, you emphasize the importance of one’s work as a means of contributing to society. What have you discovered in the hundreds of corporate workshops you have conducted about people’s attitudes to work?
Priya Kumar: Most people consider their work a source of income. Yes, that should be one criterion but not the sole purpose. You are exchanging your life and time at work, and money is the pettiest measure. And when money becomes the sole driver, it weakens your purpose, resilience, personality, and decision-making.
“Today, career options and opportunities are aplenty, so no matter one’s interest and expertise, a match is waiting to be claimed. Income and purpose can go hand in hand.“
When purpose is the rider, you are willing to withstand any storm and overcome any challenge. When money is the driver and challenges strike, loyalty is flexible to lean towards the highest bidder.
Today, career options and opportunities are aplenty, so no matter one’s interest and expertise, a match is waiting to be claimed. Income and purpose can go hand in hand.
I always promote that having a worthy purpose, knowing that one’s expression and work contribute to a larger purpose than just money exchange, is a primary factor of a well-lived life. To be aware of, ‘What am I doing?’ ‘How does this help me grow as a person and as a professional?’ ‘What impact is my work and personality making on my company and family?’ ‘What is the larger impact of the product and service that I am a part of?’ ‘How is my life, that of my family and colleagues, and the company’s future enhanced with my presence and contribution?’ ‘How does society benefit from my purpose and the company’s larger vision?’ These questions need to be addressed… at regular intervals.
You believe that one should follow one’s heart in choosing a career or vocation—that is, do something one is passionate about. Why is this important?
Priya: To express one’s uniqueness and fully express the treasure in one’s heart would be an inviting proposition to spend a lifetime.
Not giving attention and expression to one’s passion is an injustice to oneself, restricting one’s innate power. And if we do that to ourselves, then the world only follows our cue to further suppress us.
We have attuned ourselves to agree to the definition of success, misguided by the half-truths of those who don’t want to show the full picture of their position. Money, fame, and position have become the yardsticks of success, the price tag—to be discovered when you get there, and then hidden from others.
“Integrity is the foremost guiding principle I have seen in the people I admire (such as P. Gopichand) and find in myself. Do what is right, even if it causes personal inconvenience. Don’t change with circumstance; change the circumstance without losing yourself. “
One can make it big anywhere. The process is the same. Then why not give your passion a chance? Why are we expecting others to discover us and bet on us when we don’t give ourselves that respect?
There are enough career opportunities that match our passion. We live in good times, where the world is our canvas. This is not the era of compromise anymore. The roads are open – the direction is a personal choice, though.
You emphasize effort and sound guiding principles as the basis of success. Which are the guiding principles common in successful people’s lives everywhere?
Priya: Integrity is the foremost guiding principle I have seen in the people I admire and find in myself. Do what is right, even if it causes personal inconvenience. Don’t change with circumstance; change the circumstance without losing yourself.
Listen to everyone, and then do what resonates with you. Be curious about what others have in mind and not exclude them with your input. These people listen, and that is the highest form of respect they give to others.
Treating people with respect and care greatly contributes to the success of the great ones. No one makes it alone and we need people to put in their time and life to further our purpose. Without respect, the progress we see is a downfall in disguise. Ultimately, it is people who make a company and people who break it.
Dare to express and follow your heart. While there is a norm, there are rules, and there are ‘this is how it’s done’… they understand that ‘someone’ has set them. To be a ‘new’ someone who charts his path with tremendous courage and dares. And these people, the great ones, the successful ones, they don’t want you to follow their path. They didn’t follow someone else’s. They encourage you to make your own, just like they did.
You have written several books with a spiritual basis. So, what does spirituality mean to you? In what sense are you a spiritual person?
Priya: Spirituality, for me, is a way of life. It is who I am. But I guess we have deviated so far from it that we think of spirituality as something external, which I must learn to adopt. It’s me. I have to learn to ‘not be’ who I am ‘not’.
Fear stands in the way of success, growth, possibilities, and achievement. Experiential learning (such as firewalk) in Priya Kumar’s Personal Breakthrough sessions breaks through this thick wall of self-doubt and inhibitions and challenges the impossible.
Spirituality for me is to detach myself from the result. Some results will continue to outgrow one’s lifetime. I need to focus on the job at hand – now. Is what I am doing now the best I can do? Am I convinced it would help me and help others as I have seen it to do? Am I happy? If the answer is a yes to all, the result, which is far away, doesn’t matter. And if this is the intent and action, then the consequence has to match.
Spirituality is treating circumstances, people, and things as transient. They will all go away one day. But today, can I make the best of it, so that the point of departure would be a celebration for all? Can I be objective enough about what is happening, who is doing it, and what I must allow without disturbing it with my preferences and find my peace in what I create and do?
To read part two of Priya Kumar’s wide-ranging interview, click here…
