Success coach's 'crazy rituals' to recharge himself | Economic Times

Anand Chulani, success coach and leading mental and emotional fitness expert, is no stranger to success, having worked with has worked closely with champions from every background including the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Serena Williams, Kunal Kapoor, Virender Sehwag, Hritik Roshan, Marcus Stoinis and Ross Taylor.But his definition of success has changed over the years, and the pandemic has further accelerated that shift. “Personally, I have changed my definition of success over the last 7-8 years,” Chulani shares. He says that many of the people he’s spoken to such as businessmen Narayana Murthy and Ratan Tata, as well as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, have also updated their ideas of what success means to them. “Success does not guarantee happiness. If it did, so many CEOs and actors would not be depressed or suicidal. Make happiness with yourself the definition of success. If you make that the definition, you will get success. Show up as the best and happiest version of you,” he says.Success vs happinessOver the last 20 years, Chulani, who was mentored by motivational guru and success coach, Tony Robbins, says that he’s seen people overly consumed by the concept of success. “As people, we’ve been trained to value success over everything,” he says, adding that people often come to him wanting more success but what they actually need is happiness.“That’s one pattern I have seen,” Chulani says. “As people, we tend to make big things small and small things big. We take small things and make them big dramas. But then there are actually things that are really important, big things (like fears, or deep emotions that are there) that we tend to minimise. I can’t tell you how many people I meet like this and when I meet them I ask them how they are doing and they say, I’m ok. And people think that ok is ok – and there’s a problem in that,” he shares.Softening important feelings or situations instead of taking a deeper look is something Chulani says many are guilty of, but due to the pandemic, the instability and uncertainty around us, we realise that life is short – and it’s time to focus on the real issues. “I think Covid has helped us look at what is important and in many ways reverse our thinking. Our vulnerability has increased and made us look at these things closely. That’s why people are now saying, the job I am in I’m not happy, the relationship I am in is not where I want to be. We are facing the truths of our lives. And being honest. And in many ways that is the biggest shift I am seeing. We are becoming more honest and courageous people,” he says.Tackling the consA seemingly unlikely by-product in the search for “success” is often depression. Cricketer Virat Kohli earlier this year said he battled depression, tennis champ Naomi Osaka suffered bouts of it – and they are not alone. Success and depression seem to go hand in hand; Chulani says that the reason why they are showing up together is because the model in itself is flawed. “It tends to focus on success but not the internal game. What happens is that when people become successful, they feel good about themselves. When they don’t, they don’t feel good about themselves. It goes up and down – that internal rollercoaster can create burnout, fatigue and can stress out their immune system as well. The way to handle success is to build a more solid platform and foundation. Make yourself mentally and emotionally fit and a strong person,” he says and adds optimistically, “Unstoppable success is only possible if there is an unstoppable you.”Charge your batteriesSo, how does the man who’s guided many stay unstoppable? Chulani says that he’s got his own “crazy, quirky rituals.” And a trampoline. “Every day I wake up and I do my process. It starts off with something physical: yoga, or I work out at the gym in my home, I carry around with me a mini trampoline (a rebounder) so I jump on that. It makes me move and helps my lymph system. A lot of times we don’t feel good because we’re static and just sitting down.”Next on his list is gratitude. “I make sure I acknowledge what I am grateful for in my life. I do this with some breathing that makes it a physical as well as mental practice. I then move to visualisation of what I want. Commanding my subconscious mind to not just hope that it happens but to create a certainty that it’s going to happen. I condition myself with this inner power every morning.”Always learningAs much as he is a coach, Chulani says he’s still very much a student and is always learning. “With every client I work with, I learn even more,” he says. But there are a few people in his “inner cabinet” that he turns to at times. “My best friend is comedian James Murray. He was the best man at my wedding and I’ve known him for 20 years. I know if I ever need to bounce something off someone, I can just pick up the phone and talk to him. He’s someone I really respect,” he says. Depending on the situation, he reaches out to different friends. “I am very aware of what I am a master of and what I am not a master of. I have no problem saying I don’t know and of learning,” he says.Like his best bud Murray, Chulani too was part of the comedy scene back in 2010. The Times of India named him as one of the top 10 comedians in India at the time. “That was the day I retired from comedy,” Chulani says with a laugh.When Chulani was a teen, he was bullied quite intensely, and voted least likely to succeed at the age of 13 – and he turned to humour to protect himself. “I lived a lot of my life as someone who others used humour to hurt. When I was a comedian, I used humour to hide and protect myself,” he says. It was during his time as a stand up comic, Chulani says that he had the privilege of meeting late actor Robin Williams, who offered some guidance. “He told me, there are three types of humour. You can use it to hurt someone, to hide behind or heal. And he looked at me and said that I was born to use it to heal,” Chulani says.