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What does it take to lose everything, face the dark night of the soul, and come back with a formula that has helped millions? Today I'm talking with Anil Gupta, bestselling author, global teacher, and the creator of The Happiness Formula. This is the Your Next Success podcast, and I am your host, Dr. Caroline Sangal. I am a life first career coach and strategist on a mission to normalize questioning your career because I believe each of us is made on purpose for a purpose only we can fulfill. The longer we live out of alignment with who we are, what we do best, and why we are here, the more we miss out and the more the world misses out on what only we can give the Your Next Success Podcast is where we explore how to build a career that truly fuels your life. We talk about self-discovery, smart job, search strategies, professional growth. And you will hear stories from people who have navigated big career transitions themselves. So you can create a life, first career and become your own version of authentic success, one that is aligned, meaningful, and truly yours. Anil Gupta is an internationally recognized teacher, speaker, and mentor whose work has reached audiences on four continents. After losing everything in 2008 and reaching a breaking point. He rebuilt his life through deep awareness and service. Eventually creating his widely shared happiness formula, give, grow, and gratitude. Anil has spoken on stages with world recognized leaders such as Les Brown, Richard Branson, Damon John, Sharon Lecter, and many more. His bestselling book Immediate Happiness has helped people transform their relationships, find clarity, and create meaningful lives. He has spoken for audiences as large as 10,000 appeared on Fox News, Sky TV, and at Harvard and iHeartRadio and his coach leaders around the world, including celebrities and heads of state. His mission is simple and profound. Help people develop the tools that they were never given so that they can lead richer, fuller, happier lives. In today's conversation. Anil walks us through the turning points that shaped his life from growing up in Kenya and London to becoming an optometrist to losing everything and ultimately finding the purpose and clarity that guide his work today. In this episode, we explore the moment his wife met his greatest fear with unconditional love, the insight that saved his life, and the formula that helped him understand why everything changed when he started giving, growing, and practicing gratitude. And why progress not perfection is his definition of authentic success. This is a grounded, generous, emotionally resonant conversation that will help you see your own life with new clarity.

Caroline: 3:19

Anil Gupta, welcome to Your Next Success. I have been looking forward to this all weekend long. We just talked last week and you have this beautiful thing that you told me of, if you're really trying to impact a lot of people, why would you delay our conversation and why would you delay releasing our conversation? Because there's people out there that need to hear this information, now. So, thank you for the encouragement and I'm super excited to have this conversation with you.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 3:51

Thank you for welcoming me on your show, and the content today will be life changing. It'll be practical and it will be immediate.

Caroline: 3:57

Oh, I love it. I love it. And I'm so excited for it. Now, one of the things I always like to try to help people understand is the journey that got people from, you know, until now, and the amazing work that you're doing and how you impact literally and millions, if not billions and billions of lives. So could you walk us back a little bit into tell me about your childhood. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? What did you love doing in that moment?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 4:33

I was born in East Africa, Kenya, and then, My father and mother decided that it wasn't a safe place to grow up, which it wasn't at that time. So we, moved to London and we lived in London for 35 years, and then we moved to a town called Celebration built by Disney in Orlando. So growing up in London, I'd never seen snow. And, it was a strange phenomenon. We thought it was cool. Not cold, but cool. And, we love to play sports. I was a big, cricket fan, so we play a lot of cricket, hockey, squash, badminton, soccer, so a lot of opportunities to play sports. Then from there, I went to optometry school, became an optometrist, and then in 2002, my wife decided we should move to Florida. And I said, we're not moving. I said, but she was right. And we did. And from there I started doing talks, five people, 10, 20, 50, a hundred, 500, 10,000 people, and started the journey of being the love doctor.

Caroline: 5:36

Lovely. Now, what was it that went into your decision to go to optometry school? And in your younger years, what did you think success was? What were you chasing?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 5:54

I really wasn't chasing anything. I, as an Indian. we, I was brought up with the thought that I was gonna be a doctor, so I always thought I was gonna be a doctor. And then, I, I didn't do very well in my exams, it's very competitive. And then one day I noticed I couldn't really see the blackboard. I thought, this is strange. I wonder what that is. I thought there's some disease I had. So someone said, why don't you have your eyes tested? Oh, I never thought of that. So I went to have my ice tested. I was talking to the optometrist and he was asking what I do and blah, blah, blah, and he says, have you thought of being an optometrist? And I thought, I haven't. Then I looked into it and I thought that would be cool, and that's how I started. It was just pure chance.

Caroline: 6:37

I think also that drive to solve a problem that you were experiencing that then opened your awareness to this whole other field and that person showing up in the right moment to give you that little bit of guidance and encouragement that you needed to explore something new. So, that's cool.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 6:56

And it's a wonderful experience putting the glasses on and to be able to see, a lot clearer and it's a big smile came on my face and I thought, oh, that'd be interesting to put that smile on other people's faces.

Caroline: 7:07

Now, I also was as I was reflecting upon this, in the last few days, you often hear the saying of the eyes are the window to the soul. And so as an optometrist you had to look into many eyes. What did you see, as recurring? Or, and because the work that you're doing now is helping people on such a beautiful soul level and holistic life fulfillment level, and I'm just curious, did you notice anything in the optometrist days of looking through eyes or were you so focused on just the sight?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 7:43

Did you use the word focus deliberately?

Caroline: 7:45

I did not, but it turned out to be that way.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 7:50

Yeah. So really, no, not really. I didn't notice anything. Everything was clinical, we'd look at the back of the eye, we'd look at for cataracts, any diseases, any conditions. So it, it was very practical and very physical.

Caroline: 8:06

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 8:06

but there was very little emotion in it and that's how I started doing what I did, because people would tell me their problems were at the end of the exam. I dunno why. And I would give them a solution and they would say, thank you. That was amazing. And I thought, of course it was, it's obvious. Later on in life, I realized it wasn't obvious to them, but it was obvious to me, which I realized was a gift.

Caroline: 8:30

Yes, and prior to optometry school, were you playing that role with, or not playing, but were you being in that role, in that position with your friends and your family growing up as well as providing the solutions and great advice.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 8:45

No, I really wasn't. I would see things and I would, tell people straight away, but I, the, I didn't know what coaching was in those days. I would just speak my mind and I always never, if I was speaking my mind, but no idea, we would never offer coaching or guidance turn was we would just keep it within ourselves.

Caroline: 9:03

Yeah. How did Celebration Florida become the target? Who, how did, out of all of the places, how did you choose that?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 9:14

So my wife went to a Tony Robbins event in Hilton Head, and she came back and said, oh, we gotta move. We gotta move. I kept on saying no. She said, look, Annie, I know where the kids will go to school. I know where we're gonna live. And I thought, oh, that's a big part of the problem. And, we have some friends living in Celebration and we lived with them for a while. We would come to Orlando maybe two or three times a year. My brother lives here. We have relatives here, we have friends here. So it seemed a natural choice, but it wasn't an easy choice, but it was a natural choice. And of course, the weather's amazing.

Caroline: 9:45

Oh, for sure. For sure. and to be in that, so close to the Magic, and people letting loose and enjoying time with their families and really trying to make good memories. I've always had positive, experiences that area. And so you start your, your business there and then a little bit about what happened.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 10:12

I was subject to, the crash in 2008. And I'd basically been gambling on the stock market and I'd lost everything. The house, the cars, all the savings had gone. And I had to tell my wife, I said, honey, something really bad has happened. And she looked up at me and smiled and I said. Why are you smiling? In my head, I was thinking, why are you smiling? I said, honey, I've lost the car at the house. The fees for the school, everything. And she said, honey, I knew something was wrong. You've been behaving strangely, which I had been. She said, I thought it was something serious. And I thought, honey, there's nothing more serious than this. She said, I thought you were dying. I thought you had cancer. And in that moment I thought, oh. I said, what about the money? She said, honey, I've never asked you for money. I don't care about the money. You still have me still have the kids. We'll sleep in the streets if we have to. And in that moment, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. So I felt shame. I felt guilt. I felt pain. I was suicidal. It was a tremendously painful time, and it just disappeared.

Caroline: 11:18

So it

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 11:19

And then I started doing events.

Caroline: 11:21

Yeah. To have all of that. And so you felt isolated. You felt scared to even admit to this beautiful woman who was your life partner, mother of your children, you were, how long did, were you trying to handle it on your own before allowing this love to permeate and help and change your situation.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 11:46

It was November. It was a Friday. I can't remember the exact date, but I'd lost everything, so I couldn't even trade anymore. So that was the end of it. I thought, I better come clean because, she's gonna notice something and I, I just can't keep it, within me anymore. I thought, let's just let it out. And it was a beautiful moment.

Caroline: 12:05

Absolutely. Just that like acceptance and she only saw you with love and possibility instead of any judgment, or any of those things. So then how did the transition from that moment and that beautiful experience then become that? Now you are a coach. Leading people all over the world. Ted Talk books, speaking on so many stages, impacting so many lives. It's like what happened to the business? And do you still live in Florida? Catch me up.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 12:39

Yeah. She said, what do you love to do? And I said, I'd love to coach. She said, go and coach. I said, what about the money? She said, don't worry about the money. And a friend of mine said, Anil, why don't you do an event? You've helped me. You've helped my wife. You're amazing. And I said, I'm not sure. He said, what are you not sure about? I said, what if no one turns up? He said, Anil, if no one turns up, no one will know. I thought that's great because I was so concerned what other people thought. So my first event was like six people, 7, 10, 20, 50, a hundred, 500, eventually 10,000 people. I read a bestseller book, TEDx, Fox News, Sky TV, ABC, NBC, CBS, iHeart Radio, Harvard. And everything changed. I've been invited to meet up with presidents, heads of state, spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama. I've coached people like Mike Tyson, spoken on stages with Les Brown, Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, Marcus Gaona, Damon John, Sharon Lecter, Kevin Harrington. But I'm on a mission to move, touch and inspire people because we need tools. We were never given tools when we were born. We were never given a manual. And once you have the manual, you can control life instead of life controlling you.

Caroline: 13:52

Right. You just kept doing the right thing, kept giving your inspiration and wisdom, and these other opportunities kept opening up to you or did you have your sight on? Oh, you know what I'd love to do is write a book and speak to a billion people and you know, did

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 14:08

I never wanted to write a book. It just came to me through a friendship. A friend of mine, I asked him what he did for a living and he said, oh, I help people write books. And I thought, oh, that would be pretty cool. He said, let me help you. And I thought, oh, okay. So he came to my house and he said, let's go in your office. I said, I'm not going in my office. And he said, why? I said, it's a mess. He said, Anil, that's the first thing we need to do. We have to clean up the mess. Then all of a sudden, all this content downloaded from all the experiences that I hadn't had many experiences. When you meet the right person who can guide you, it makes your life easier. So I had this beautiful mentor who helped me write this book. And from there, I did one thing, which is be so amazing that you cannot be ignored. And if you are ignored, it doesn't matter because you're showing up the best version of you.

Caroline: 14:58

I love it. I love it. I love it. Okay, so you had a mentor. you, again, you're listening to this possibility that's opening up in front of you. Then you cleared your physical environment to allow this clarity to come through, and you were able to then release this book. Okay. So tell us, and you've written many books or just that book, because I think you've done so much, Anil.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 15:22

Only three.

Caroline: 15:22

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 15:23

Yeah, only three.

Caroline: 15:24

books. All

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 15:24

Yeah, but that book was on my desk for a year. I'm thinking, who am I to write a book? He's got grammatical errors, he is got spelling, probably spending mistakes. But then someone said this to me, Anil, would this book help someone? I said, absolutely. Every day you delay someone is being hurt. So I published it.

Caroline: 15:45

And that book was The Happiness Formula?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 15:48

It's called Immediate Happiness. The, that's the name of the book.

Caroline: 15:51

And so I do want people to buy the book and tell us a little bit more about it.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 15:59

So it's a manual on human behavior. Why we get upset. Forgiveness is the express pathway to freedom. The past does not equal the future. Expectations. The more expectations you have in life, the more painful your life will be. So it's a manual so that you can control life instead of life controlling it. We were never given a manual. We learn from our parents and they're not necessarily the best people to learn from.

Caroline: 16:25

Amen to that. Not speaking of my own parents, I'm speaking of me with my children. I feel man, if I could only start over now and I can from this vantage point forward, but boy, if I knew then what I know now. They would be much better people. So

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 16:46

How old are your kids?

Caroline: 16:47

Their 16 and 19 at this moment.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 16:49

Okay, so if you get the kids on a one-to-one, ask them this one question, what could I do to be a better mother to you? What's one behavior, only one that you would like me to change?

Caroline: 17:10

Okay.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 17:12

See what they say.

Caroline: 17:13

Okay. And we'll work on that.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 17:14

Mom, I wish you would do this. Oh, really? Oh, I would love to do that.

Caroline: 17:18

Hmm, lovely. Now talk a lot about, choosing the right relationship, choosing the right partner, asking lots ahead of time and being very discerning. I'm curious, how does that translate and apply to work where of course, in an interview you get to have that dialogue and kind of, try to make the best data-driven decision. And then when you're plopped in the middle of a team on a project and you didn't get to choose all of those people, how do you show up authentically and do your best to work with everyone.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 18:01

Well, you know the answer. Be so amazing, you cannot be ignored.

Caroline: 18:07

Yes. Yes.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 18:08

They just show up the best version of you, and then life will take you on a beautiful journey And, do not give power away. Do not be concerned what other people think of you.

Caroline: 18:21

Yes. yes. And if you find yourself surrounded by people who don't see your amazingness and awesomeness, then go ahead and plan to check to work somewhere different over time or,

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 18:36

Always the number one rule is awareness. Have awareness, which gives you clarity. Clarity gives you focus. Focus gives you action. Action gives you results. Results gives you momentum, and momentum gives you everything. So if you're aware that your working environment isn't conducive to you being the best version of you, start looking around. Because if you don't look around, you're gonna be there another 20 years, and then you look back and said, oh my God, what happened? So, or, A, B, C, D. Always be collecting data. Look around, see what's available. Are you in the right profession? Are you in the right job? Are you in the right position? Are you right? Industry? So ask yourself quality questions and you'll get quality answers.

Caroline: 19:19

Yes. And I think and giving yourself the patience to just explore what comes up, right? Like you're saying, the awareness.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 19:29

Yeah, and be patient. There's no rush. There's nowhere to get to and be discerning on who you spend time with, who your friends are, because you are the, some of the people you spend time with. So if you've got great people surrounding you, they will elevate you.

Caroline: 19:46

Yes.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 19:47

If you don't, they will take you down.

Caroline: 19:49

How do you go about transitions in years or days and trying to discern of you wanna do, how you wanna be, or is it just constantly, every day you wake up and I'm gonna be so amazing.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 20:06

That's it be so amazing. You cannot be ignored and say yes. You know when someone invites you to speak, say yes. If someone invites you to do something that's uncomfortable, say yes, because that will make you grow, and that leads us into the happiness formula.

Caroline: 20:21

Yes.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 20:22

I develop this formula. After writing the book and looking back on why I had been so successful after being suicidal, and it was that formula is happiness is equal to G times G, the first G is you have to give your time, your energy, your love, your commitment, your joy, your gift, your money, not wanting anything in return. So when you perform an act of kindness, you feel good. The person receiving the act of kindness feels good. The person observing the act of kindness feels good. The person sharing the act of kindness feels good. The person receiving the sharing of the act of kindness feels good. So it continues on and on you. We never know the impact we have on other people, so give. The second G, you have to be grateful for what you have and not focus on what you don't have. So everybody look at your hands. I've got my hand, I've got a fractured wrist here. I just had to pull it out.

Caroline: 21:22

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 21:24

Be grateful for your hands. They've held the people that you love, they've fed you, they've looked after you. So be grateful for what you have and don't focus on what you don't have. And the third G is this. You have to grow emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, and financially. If you do those three Gs, life will become so much more joyful.

Caroline: 21:47

Imagine what your life would be like if your career aligned with who you are, what you do best, and actually fueled the life you want. At Next Success, we support all ages and stages through career transitions from students exploring majors or careers to job seekers actively searching or re-imagining their next move to professionals committed to self-awareness and leadership growth. Stay connected and explore what's possible at nextsuccesscareers.com and follow@nextsuccessmethod on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 22:24

Just do it.

Caroline: 22:25

Yes.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 22:26

And you'll be surprised how much growth you will get.

Caroline: 22:31

I love it. I love it. Yeah. I say there's not balance, there's integration. So if you design what you want your life to look like, then how can your career fuel that life instead of detract from it. that's the

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 22:44

You can curate and curate and create your life by making decisions through awareness.

Caroline: 22:50

Yes. And sometimes when the, beautiful human shows up, even though I was trying to work, if that is my value, to have that relationship be the most, one of the most important things in my life, then I shift. And I just

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 23:05

Explain that to me.

Caroline: 23:06

So let's say I've planned to work and I'm planning to edit something or do something or create some content and I'm in here working and then a child or my husband needs something and they see me, I'm in here working, right? And then they show up. Then before. Before the awareness, I would be like, I'm working. Come on. Don't come here. And now with awareness, I appreciate that I'm here when they need me and try to put my, not try ah, and then I shift my attention to their need, to be there.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 23:51

So I, I was coaching someone and they had a four year, I think 4-year-old, child, and they were working from home, and the child would come in and every time the child would come in, she would get upset because she's trying to work. Then I said to her, why did you have that child? She said, of course I want to bring love into the world, but you're not being loving then, are you?

Caroline: 24:16

Right.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 24:17

Then she slowed down. I said, what if every time your son comes in, it's an opportunity for you to take a break? Yeah,

Caroline: 24:24

That's beautiful.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 24:25

It's same situation, but reframe it if you look at it in a different way. So I have this rule if my office, door is closed, you do not disturb me. I'm filming, I'm on a podcast or I'm with a client. Okay, so you could have the same rule anytime that the door is closed. You can even have a do not disturb sign

Caroline: 24:47

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 24:48

If you put systems in place. It's all about systems. Put them in place and everything changes.

Caroline: 24:54

That's a good point. That's a good point because I'm, I'm thinking of when people are at work and they hadn't defined what they really wanted for their life, and they just become whatever the work needed, the mission, the vision, the values of here's what you need to do to get a raise, possibly, and here's what you can try to do to get a promotion. And then they become all of those things and they start feeling this tug and this, maybe not a alignment and definitely stress, whether that's showing up physically in their body or in their relationships. Or in numbing behaviors and all of that. They hadn't put a system in place to enjoy their life, to have that happiness holistically, and be able

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 25:42

We, we tend to be more, giving at work. But the reason we have upsets with families, we have more rules for them. They should understand. I've told them, a million times, why don't they listen to me? I don't feel hurt. I don't feel listened to, I don't feel respected, I don't feel honored, I don't feel loved. How many times do I have to explain to him?

Caroline: 26:04

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 26:05

So that's the problem.

Caroline: 26:07

Yeah, there's all these expectations that they should know.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 26:11

And attachments.

Caroline: 26:12

And the workplace could be the same, phrasing, but there's more grace and forgiveness with the work colleague.'Cause they haven't gotten all your emotional triggers and tethers in a knot. Yes.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 26:26

Yeah, you don't have the expectations. And, have the same attachments. That's why at Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, it's the most stressful time because so many people have expectations of all the relatives that are coming in, they inviting relatives they don't care about,

Caroline: 26:44

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 26:44

just to feel good about it. But don't do that.

Caroline: 26:48

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 26:48

How many more Thanksgiving dinners do you have? What if this was your last one, would you invite them? It's a hell no. Don't do it.

Caroline: 26:56

Yes. Yeah, we went through a period of having, which was quite lovely when my husband was going to get his MBA, he's so welcoming and inclusive. We had 75 people over to our house, for two consecutive years for that program, and I was in such a control freight freak phase I made the entire American Thanksgiving dinner and an entire Indian holiday meal all by myself, not allowing people to help me because I'm trying to do it all and everybody else had a lovely experience and I did not because I didn't allow myself to that. Now, fast forward to this year. I outsourced many food items to Whole Foods, picked it up, enjoyed time with, my beautiful sister-in-law, her family, their kids, some of their friends, and my in-laws. And we connected as people and just enjoyed and had a really fun time. We also had food, but that wasn't the focus. It wasn't the food, it was the, the enjoying the day. It was a relaxed pace. I asked for help. People gladly gave help and we all had a beautiful team work together. It wasn't, it wasn't something that you would post in a magazine or post on any social media, and we had a time just playing games and enjoying. So that was definitely something I had to, you have to let go in order to let in. That's just the beauty of the relationships and the people that was definitely,

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 28:32

So you shared a very important distinction. See, a lot of people are giving, giving, but they're not receiving. You have to learn to receive because when you don't receive, you're denying someone else the act of giving.

Caroline: 28:44

Yes. Yeah. And so many times, you know how many times people do come over and, oh, can I help with anything? Can I help with anything? now, meanwhile, I would not come ever, exhaust the list of things my kids could help with or my husband could help with. So just allowing the others to have that. That's beautiful.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 29:03

Do you have chores for the kids?

Caroline: 29:05

They have expectations. There was a time I had a whole binder, during C-O-V-I-D-I-I made a, checklist for the entire house, multiple pages, training, checklist, follow up, and then each person had three rooms that they had to do, in a week, in their own timeline. Now, there are still expectations. It's not, I'm, it's no longer so rigid. It's, I'm no longer so rigid that it has to be on I think it needed to be done. So it'll be like, Hey, your laundry is done. Please put it away before 10:00 PM this evening. I need the basket. That kind of a, kind of a thing. The grass is long.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 29:47

Okay.

Caroline: 29:47

Find a time that we can get that done because I, they have their own, school. responsibilities. They have some social life things that they wanna do, so it doesn't have to be, it needs done, but I no longer have to try to control everybody's timing if that makes sense. So do you have daily practices that you, from. Waking up and trying to be the most amazing person ever. What is your self care? What is your routine for being able to make that possible?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 30:22

So every morning I play three hours of pickleball

Caroline: 30:27

Wow.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 30:28

From six till nine.

Caroline: 30:29

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 30:30

Then I have coaching calls. Content, podcasts like this. Serving people, chilling, playing cards with my wife, going for a walk, getting some sun, you know, to, five, 10 minutes a day in the sun. Just chilling, helping, serving that. That's the number one thing is just serve other people.

Caroline: 30:50

Are your kids all grown up and out of the house these days, or how often do you get to see them?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 30:57

They're not grown up. They're 32 and 34, but they're not grown up. My son lives with us occasionally.

Caroline: 31:03

Nice.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 31:04

My daughter lives in Detroit, which is cold, very cold. And she has a beautiful son, grandson. So he keeps us filled with love and we live in this beautiful town called Celebration. It's like the Truman Show

Caroline: 31:21

Yeah.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 31:21

is probably the happiest place on Earth.

Caroline: 31:23

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. you become the place for them to travel for your daughter to leave the cold and come for holidays, I imagine.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 31:33

Yeah. She's coming tomorrow actually,

Caroline: 31:35

Oh, that's great.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 31:36

Next year they're moving to Miami, which is fabulous to looking forward to that.

Caroline: 31:42

Yeah. That's lovely. Yeah. That's what, a four hour everything in Florida. When I went a couple years ago and it seemed like whatever the time was of how long it should take to travel from point A to point B. For me, it became twice as long. Was just my opportunity to experience the traffic for anybody else. It was where I was like, oh, that's about four hour drive. Oh, okay, great. Yeah. See you eight hours later type thing.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 32:10

I'm a slow driver, but then honestly, the, compared to other cities, the traffic isn't that bad. Miami's, a little bit torturous, but it's a blessing. We're blessed to have great weather. We're blessed to have great leadership. We're no income tax. It's a beautiful state.

Caroline: 32:28

Yeah. Lots of people enjoy going there for sure as their escape from reality, and for you, that gets to be your reality. So that's that's quite gorgeous. Who are your mentors these days?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 32:44

So I love obviously Tony Robbins, Zig Ziegler, Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill.

Caroline: 32:51

I,

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 32:51

They're the main Richard Branson, they're the main ones. And then just reading, books like Think and Grow Rich, listening to podcast, motivational, videos. But we can, I pick and choose the best parts of what resonates with me from each, content creator. What resonates with me may not resonate with you.

Caroline: 33:12

Yeah. And I think there's different chapters where some things are more, in my awareness than others for sure. For sure. what's, what's coming up next for you? what, aside from this, I think the billion people target, what other things are you wanting to do in this one wild, crazy life? I,

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 33:35

I'm launching a, an online program, How to Find Your Ideal Partner Without Dating. It's called the Smart Select System. See a lot of people. Don't know how to find the right partner. They have six or seven relationships before they get married. Each and every one has failed. So why do they think the seventh or eighth one is gonna work? This system gives you a 95% success rate. I'm writing a book. The next book is called A Heart Map of Love, which will be an incredible manual of all the deep insights that I've procured over the last 27 years. What else am I doing? Lots of pickleball. And just spending time with family and traveling.

Caroline: 34:14

How did you even get interested in pickleball?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 34:18

I'm a tennis player. So someone recommended pickleball for me. I completely ignored them. I even bought a paddle and it, I didn't even play. I had the paddle for a year. I didn't play. Then one day someone recommended it to me. Then half an hour later, someone else said something. Then someone else said something. I thought, I've gotta go. And I absolutely loved it.

Caroline: 34:41

Wow. That's definitely awesome. I'm big on success, but authentic success. So how you define it, for a while I chased what I thought was my version of success, but it was somebody else's. How do you define authentic success for you in this moment?

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 35:01

So to me, success is making progress. If I'm making progress, I'm successful. That's it. Simple. See, when you change the definition of a word, everything changes. A lot of people have. I asked this question, in India there were 30 kids, about 30 kids in the class. Only two people raised their hands. I said, who's successful here? Then when I changed the definition, every hand went up.

Caroline: 35:26

Aha.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 35:27

It was a beautiful experience.

Caroline: 35:29

That's beautiful. Success is making progress. that's amazing. Anil, I want to thank you, you've, pack in so much wisdom and insight in such a very short amount of time. I can't wait to read your upcoming books and dive in even more, to a lot of your content, a lot of your things. And just thank you for sharing more of yourself and more of your insight and wisdom with us and our listeners today.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 35:56

Thank you for having me on the show. And for the listeners out there, this is really very powerful, practical advice. Just choose one or two bits and start doing it. Be so amazing you cannot be ignored. Remember, give, grow gratitude.

Caroline: 36:10

Love it. Appreciate it so very much.

ANIL GUPTA - THE LOVE DOCTOR: 36:12

Alright.

Caroline: 36:12

Thank you, Anil. Thank you.

36:14

Anil, thank you for sharing such a powerful, grounded, and hope-filled conversation. You showed what becomes possible when awareness meets courage, and how giving, growing and practicing gratitude can transform our mood and future. Your happiness formula, your honesty and your lived experience, give people tools that they can use right away. And your reminder that success is simply making progress. That is a gift. For listeners who want to know more about Anil, his books and his programs, visit him online and explore the tools and teachings he makes available to help people create meaningful, connected, joy-filled lives. If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who is ready for their own next success. Thanks for listening to your next success with Dr. Caroline Sangal. Remember, authentic success is yours to define and includes aligning your career to support the life you want. Thanks for listening to your next success with Dr. Caroline Sangal. Remember, authentic success is yours to define and includes aligning your career to support the life you want.