GQ South Africa – September 2019

PhotograPhy suPPLied by sashin govender

Building

a dynasty

SashinGovenderisoneofAfrica’s

youngestdollarmillionaires,abusiness

mogul,motivationalspeaker,mentor

andfounderofTheMillionaireStudent.

Herehetalksself-development,

mentorshipandwinninginlife

 THEDURBAN€BORN

ENTREPRENEUR

DESCRIBESHIMSELFASA

PROBLEM€SOLVER,andthis
washisapproachwhenhecreated
hisrstbusinesssellingchocolate
fudgeinhighschool:‘I solveda
problembycreatinga solutionthat
wouldgenerateanincome.’Today
herunsmultipleseven-gure
businessesinover 40 countries
andsixcontinents.At19,hemade
hisrstsixguresinUSdollars;
at21,hemadeseven;andat24,he
madeeight.ere’sa lottolearn

I’dratherbe

celebrated

forthesuccess

storiesI’ve

createdandhow

manylivesI’ve

impactedinstead

ofmy networth

risingabovetherest?

SG:Peopledon’tbacktheir

ability;theydon’tconquer

eachdayknowingand

believingthey’rechange-

makers.eydon’tbelieve

they’redesignedtowin,so

theyidoliseothersinstead.

eydegradethemselves,

whichdecreasestheirself

worthandcondencelevel.

GQ:Let’sdiscusschess

inrelationtoyourlife

anditsroleinyour

journeytosuccess.

SG:Chessis probablythe

moststrategicgamethat

allowsyoutothinkahead

ofyourself,it allowsyouto

bea visionary.e pawnis

theleastvaluedpieceatthe

beginningofthegame,but

onceit getstotheendofthe

board,it turnsintoa queen.If

youworkonyourself,investin

yourinteriorandnotjustyour

exterior,youcaneventually

becomethemosthighly

valuedpiece.

I don’tliveinthepastorthe

present;I liveinthefuture.

Myentirelifeis likea gameof

chess.Youcanplayit likean

amateurandthinkthreemoves

inadvance,oryoucanplay

it likea grandmasterwhere

you’rethinking 15 movesin

advance.Mentally,I’ma grand

master,I’vebeenplayingthis

gamefromtheageofsix,and

I’mfocusedonbeinga grand

masterinmylifeandhelping

othersaccomplishit,too.

GQ:What’sacommon

issueyoucome

acrossregarding

moneyandwealth?

SG:Peopleoenspend

moneyasfastastheyearnit

becausetheybelievetheyneed

toimpressothers.eychange

theirlifestylestobeonpar

withwealthierindividuals.

Cashis king,andmoneyin

thebankwillalwaysoutweigh

liabilities.Butwhenyoulive

beyondyourmeans,your

lifestylewillnolongerbecome

sustainable,whichwill

eventuallyleadtobankruptcy

andbacktowhereyoustarted.

• THOBEKAPHANYEKO

fromSashin,andwe’rehereto

getthewinningformula.

GQ:Mentorshipmeans

variousthingstodifferent

people,whatdoesitmean

toyouandwhenwereyou

introducedtotheconcept?

SashinGovender:A mentoris

someonethatyouneedtomatch,

modelandmirror.I discovered

myvirtualmentors– whohave

nowbecomegoodfriendsofmine

• throughYouTube.I watched
  andlearntfromindividualswho

masteredtheartofliving– Warren

Buett,RichardBranson,Marc

Accetta,BillGates,TonyRobbins,

myparents.I studiedandresearched

themdaily,andthenbeganto

articulateandemulatethem.

GQ:Whenyouenteredthe

worldofbusinessat18,did

youhaveanyideawhatyou

weresteppinginto?

SG:Yes,I did.I alwaysknewthere

wouldbethreephasesinbusiness:

prosperity,adversityandplateau.

I justdidn’tknowtheorder,and

I neverrealisedhowoenI would

havetogothrougheachphase.I

willtellyou,though,thatbusiness

is a rollercoasterride;it’sfullof

upsanddowns,challengesand

continuouslyquestioningyourself.

ButI neverentertainednegativity,

becauseI wasmorexatedon

personaldevelopmentforthepast

17 years,soit preparedmeforthe

adversity.Eightypercentoflifeis

psychological,20%is mechanics.

It’sallinthemind.

GQ:Whatdoesitmeantobe

oneoftheyoungestdollar

millionairesinAfrica?

SG:It’sanincrediblefeeling,but

I’dratherbecelebratedforthe

successstoriesI’vecreatedand

howmanylivesI’veimpacted

insteadofmynetworth,because,

whenyouhelpenoughpeople

getwhattheywantfromlifeyou

getwhatyoudeserve.Serviceto

manyleadstogreatness.

I wanttohelppeoplesothey

cantrulydobetterthanmeand

achievesuccessattheirpinnacle.

at’swheremyfulllmentcomes

from.I don’thavea moneygoal;

whenyouchasethemoneyyou

sink,whenyouchasethevision,

thepurposeandthelightatthe

endofthetunnel,youswim.

GQ:Whatdoyouthink

holdspeoplebackfrom

18 / september 2019 gq.co.za

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