Sashin Govender
This week on Small Talk, we sat down with Sashin Govender; change-maker, world-renowned speaker, and Millionaire Student, to chat about conscious choices, investing in ourselves, and being
students of the world.
Rags to Riches;
“You appreciate everything, and from early on, you develop a mentality of gratitude.”
Twenty-five-year-old, self-made millionaire, Sashin Govender, was born and raised in South Africa; a 3rd world country in which the average monthly income is 300$.
“When you’re living in a 3rd world environment, you're always over-worked and under-paid. My family and I would be working relentlessly, eight days a week. So, it was always about working hard, it was never about working smart.”
With parents who devoted their lives to their careers, Sashin saw from an early age, what it means to work around the clock and work hard.
“We didn’t have everything in life, but at the end of the day it was required of us to understand that everything was there, we just needed to create that first generational wealth and success.”
With a ‘burning desire’, in his background, Sashin began to implement the habitual practices that would bring him out of the generational repetition.
“I grew up with a vision in my foreground, and a burning desire in my background.”
Working hard vs. Working smart
Working hard, in Sashin’s words, is endlessly, and tiringly working the clock.
“My earliest memory of understanding entrepreneurship was knowing one thing, how to work hard and work the clock. This often meant 16-hour days. Eventually, after you’ve put those hours in, you can spend 24- hours a day living life.”
Through hard work and dedication, last year in 2019, Sashin’s personal roster of companies and businesses, impressively hit north double digits. Now, at the age of twenty, Sashin has over twenty companies that he’s founded. 
“My past and what I have to show for it is a perfect example, in my opinion, of working hard.”
Sashin has perfected the art of working hard, putting in the hours and the dedication, thus creating his own personal empire before the age of twenty-six.
“Working smart on the other hand is being able to take a step back, look at all that you’ve brought into fruition, and say; ‘okay, now I can delegate and allow money to work for me.”
Working smart, in Sashin’s words, consists of building the teams, businesses, and companies to the point in which they work for you, no longer the other way around.
“You build teams with the proper CEO’s, COO’s and CMO’s, who are so structured within your company, that all you have to do at the end of the day is cast the vision. The visionary cannot do all of the ground-work. He or she has created the right structure and foundation for longevity and sustainability within his or her company, and the work is done for him/her.”
‘People get it wrong’, says Sashin, ‘they want to work smart on day one, but it doesn’t work like that.’
To work smart, a solid foundation needs to be put into place. And to have a solid foundation within your company, the hours and effort both need to be devoted.
“Once you have a solid foundation, eventually, you’ll be able to go and live that dream life. My next goal is to retire by 30 and have enough income coming in every month, that allows me to feed, educate, and clothe a billion people. That’s my goal. I don’t have a money goal, I’m more excited about how many people I can impact on my way.”
Self-Made, Self-Disciplined;
Becoming a self-made millionaire by the age of twenty-one is both impressive and admirable. Yet, oftentimes, those admiring, fail to acknowledge the sacrifices that are made in the short term, in order the reap the rewards in the long-term.
For Sashin, the first sacrifice took place in his household.
“My very first conversation that I had, was with my family. I had to let them know that they weren’t going to see me as much as they once had. But if I were to do this long enough, and get it right, they wouldn’t need to worry about making an income for the rest of their lives.”
Not only was Sashin’s life impacted inside of his household, but in his neighbourhood and community of companions as well.
One can imagine the difficulty as a teenager needing to make these sacrifices, saying no to friends and fun, to dial in on the dream.
“I had to make the decision of, ‘Am I going to celebrate the weekend when I really don’t know what I’m celebrating? Am I going to go out and enjoy the club, and enjoy the moment?’ or, ‘Am I going to say no to the temptation, get so zoned in, build a business, and become financially free to own that club?’ That’s the mindset that I needed to develop, I needed to choose.”
We need to begin making the conscious decision towards which path we wish to go down. Yet, what seems to be an easy answer and the right choice, more often than not, is the choice we fail to make.
“The problem is, that people make the decision today, thinking the results will prevail today. But they’re wrong. The decisions you make today will always reflect 6 to 12 months from today. The brand-new year that’s about to take place, has already started, because 6 months ago in July, the decisions you made back then, will affect you on January 1st, 2021.”
‘This is why people quit’, says Sashin.
We go into the new year with goals to go to the gym, goals to build that business, goals to build the life we desire, but we don’t reap the rewards until 6 months down the line.
“People start to quit because they can’t see it, it’s too far-fetched. It’s not instant gratification.”
With this understanding, Sashin needed to ask himself the important question of where his values lied, and if he was willing to put in the time and effort required, to live out his values and vision.
“I needed to understand the reality of, ‘do I get this right, and never have to work past 30’, or, ‘do I follow the route of my dad, who’s fifty years old and still working?’ I needed to compress my time frame to compress my results and the effort it would take. I chose to retire at thirty, so I told myself years ago, ‘I’ve got to be on top of that goal.”
Influence;
Sashin uses his leadership talents to speak and inspire at renowned stadiums all over the world, as well as on his Instagram platform of over 800k followers.
Yet, Sashin knows that having the power to influence not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands of lives, comes with responsibility.
“Firstly, we have to look at those three words, influence, inspire and impact, and acknowledge the power that they hold.”
There are many ways in which we can use our power of influence.
One way; disempowering and discouraging ways, often to benefit our own egotistical desires.
The other; using said power in hopes of uplifting and encouraging those influenced.
“A dictator would utilize all three of those words to get people to do things for them. On the other hand, you have people who want to serve the masses, and want to stand as a beacon of possibility and impact.”
When we look at our social impact from the point of view of financial impact, we can approach influence from the perspective of, ‘if you have more, why wouldn’t you do more to be of service?’
“For these younger generations, your social impact and social audience is your online wealth. Therefore, if I have the currency of 800k Instagram followers, and two million followers across all social platforms, that simply means that I have the means and the resources to make more of an impact through my influence.”
Although social media doesn’t hold sustainable currency, while it’s here and while we’re using it, we hold the power to use our voices as investments towards what truly matters. 
“Social media reflects your wealth in the online world, and it’s very sad, but I look at it as, ‘how many lives have I changed, and how many souls have I impacted, on account of my investment through this particular message.”
‘If we can be of service every day to just 1% of the people that we influence, we will have positively impacted 365 people in a year, which amounts to a huge change over time.’
“People get it wrong; they want to impact the whole world and create global change from the get-go, but it doesn’t work like that. Once you change yourself, eventually you change the city, the city impacts the country, the country impacts the continent and the continent impacts the world. Start small and start with you.”
Millionaire Student;
“When you look at the phrase, ‘Millionaire Student’, most people grasp the world millionaire, which is why I created it. I wanted to hook people into chasing millionaire status while becoming what’s even more important, a student.”
Sashin is the face and founder of the ‘Millionaire Student’; a community and inner circle in which entertainment and education are taught to those wishing to ‘work smart to become or sustain being a millionaire’.
“It’s all about understanding that the more you learn, the more you earn. Most people want a beautiful house and beautiful cars, but that shouldn’t be your target, that’s not sustainable. Your sustainability is your backbone, and your backbone is your level of leadership. You cannot grow, expand, and sustain, beyond your level of leadership.”
The more we know, the more we become. Education, whether through the schooling systems, self-taught, or externally gained, is a priceless investment, one which serves us throughout our whole lives.
“If I had 100$ in my bank account, I would spend it on self-development, because that’s an investment that can never be taken from me.”
Due to his bad grades, at the age of 8, Sashin’s parents introduced him to self-development. This resulted in him becoming a product of the self-development system. 
“I was so preoccupied with learning; it became my identity. But I never learned, just to learn, I learned to teach. When you have that teaching mentality, the skills you’ve learned can be applied and amplified, as opposed to possessing a surplus of unused tools.”
Strength in Stumbling;
“Every two to three years I get challenged and knocked down like a normal human being, the only difference is that I don’t show it to the world because there’s no need to show it. I find the problem, and I find a solution to the problem.”
Everyone, sooner or later, comes face to face with confusion and turmoil.
'Yet, it is how we handle these moments of confusion and turmoil', implies Sashin, 'that shapes our paths through and out of the fire.'
“I’m human, I go through challenges, whether they be business, personal, or financially related, but it’s a part of life. Life is not perfect, and if you’re seeking perfection, you’re always going to be disappointed in return.”
When life throws us challenges, it becomes our responsibility to allow the discomfort to take place and decide what the next right move is.
“When things happen, let it happen to you, and let it bounce off of you. Don’t let it happen to you and within you, because the biggest disease is a negative mindset.”
Our pain and suffering begin from within, eating us up internally until reflecting externally. It starts in the form of a negative thought, which then manifests into a negative mindset, which in turn leads to an unfavorable outlook on life.
“Be able to take whatever challenges are thrown at you, absorb them, reflect on them, act on them, and then move on.”
Best Advice;
“The best advice I’ve ever received was from my dad, who told me that there are three things you need to remember in life….
Number one, don’t trust your left hand from your right hand.
Number two, you’ll only have five friends that can be counted on one hand if you’re very lucky.
Number three, create a win, win for every situation.
You have two hands, one to give, one to receive. The minute you take with both hands, you’re going to lose, because someone will take from you with both hands in return.”
Through following his father’s advice, Sashin has turned this wisdom into a personalized formula for how he lives his life.
“All of that made me understand, firstly, that you must give first with both hands, that way you’ll be able to receive with both hands in due time. Secondly, if you can’t trust your left hand from your right hand, do everything the right way, the most ethical way in life. Thirdly and finally, what you know, keep it between you; you don’t need to tell the whole world about it.”
Good Morning, Thank You;
“If you’re not grateful for the small things in life, you’ll never attract the big things. The small things are a test for what you truly want in life.”
Morning routines hold great significance. Taking a few moments each morning to set ourselves up for success, as mentioned in our interview with Adam Roa and Daniel Humm, hold great importance when being the best versions of ourselves in our day-to-day.
When starting his morning, it all begins for Sashin with an ‘attitude of gratitude.’
“First thing I do in the morning, is I pray and give gratitude. I have an attitude of gratitude, saying thank you, multiple times, for multiple things.”
The first of Sashin’s steps taken each morning are each accompanied by a ‘thank you’.
Instilling this practice puts into perspective how truly fortunate and blessed we are to walk, talk, breathe, and greet another day; something that we so often take for granted.
“I position myself in the morning to arrive at a place in which I feel comfortable living in my body, I appreciate living in my body, and I am honored to live in my body.”
100% True;
We asked Sashin Govender what he knows 100% to be true, his answer;
“I believe one hundred percent that doing the right thing in life will always lead you to your truth. Yes, it’s the long way, and it’s the most lucrative and sustainable way, but it’s the only way that allows you to put your head on your pillow at night, knowing that no one is going to come knocking on your door to take back what isn’t yours.”
At TrooMe, we, like Sashin, believe in always doing the right thing, because the right things are the true things in life.
May we follow in Sashin Govender’s footsteps, making conscious choices, investing in ourselves and the goodness around us, and being students of the world; continuously seeking ways in which we can learn, grow, and expand.
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