Entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Thumbs Up Foundation Dr Hardik Joshi left his successful career a few years ago to live his dream and passion of being a motivational speaker, trainer and writer. In what turned out to be one of the most significant moments in his new life, Dr Hardik decided to write and publish his first book – How to develop a never give up attitude just a few years ago. There has been no looking back since then with the book going on to top the charts in the self-help category and selling more than 10,000 copies all over the world – a significant achievement considering that this is just his first book.

We were lucky enough to catch up with him for a few minutes to better understand his journey to the top and learn how he managed such an impressive feat. Here is what he had to say: 

First things first, when and how did you decide that you wanted to write and publish a book?

First of all, let me confess that I was not a born writer. After successfully overcoming the battle with the monster named DEPRESSION, it was my inner desire to make a difference in society by helping people. This desire was propelled further while talking to my friend Pam Packer from USA over the phone who had an intuition about me. She said, ‘Hardik, you will publish a book in a year or two’. Immediately after this, I started thinking seriously about writing and publishing a book.

So what was the idea behind your first book? What did you hope to achieve with it?

During the journey of my life till the age of 28 years, I observed that people have dreams but they do not have the courage to transform them in a reality. Additionally, a majority of them make a compromise with their passion by living an ordinary life. I believed that this type of mindset must be changed so that people can realise their true potential and make a difference in society. 

Have you targeted your book at a specific audience or is it something anyone can read and take back something from? 

I have not made this book specifically for a particular age group or demographic and perhaps that might be one of the reasons for its success. A student, an employer, a businessperson, an athlete, a musician, a scientist etc. can equally benefit from reading this book. The biggest takeaway for readers is the method to develop a strong mindset of not giving up on their dreams which eventually helps them solve any problem in their lives.

When you finally finished your book and decided to publish it did you predict that it would be received so well by so many readers? 

Just before starting the journey of being a Self Published Author, I had already started practising the visualisation of being a Best-selling Author. All I did thereafter was to chase what was in my mind already. I am grateful to the readers and the Almighty for making this dream come true.

Sounds like you are the living example of how having a never give up mindset can actually help one realise their dreams! But I guess the one thing our author community is dying to learn is what exactly does the road to success look like? Did you set your smaller targets and objectives to build on?

Honestly, I do not believe in this type of strategy. I mean why think small and set a tiny objective? The first milestone which I set was to sell 1000 copies in the first year and I achieved it in just a few months after publishing my book. 

Impressive! Going from 1,000 to over 10,000 copies as a first-time author is no small feat. What in your opinion are some of the critical aspects that helped your book become a success?

First and foremost, CONTENT IS KING. No matter how intelligent an author is, if the content of the book fails to touch the heart of readers, he or she might even lose their motivation in their journey by selling just a small number of books.

One of the things that worked really well in my case, was not only the actionable format of the content but also the fact that it is written in simple language which is fairly easy to understand.

Moreover, using real-life Never Give Up stories of an ordinary person who has achieved something extraordinary in his life by fighting against all the odds lets readers relate to the content and get on board with the ideas in the book.  This resulted in a lot of positive word of mouth for my book which in turn had a positive impact on the sales and reach of my book.

Interesting, I’m guessing all the positive word of mouth and the success of your book must have had a huge impact on your career as an international speaker and coach as well?

It has made a huge impact on my career because having a Best-seller Book in the arsenal always creates a positive impact on the mind of an audience. Everywhere I go, people recognise the fact that I have written a best-selling book and express their gratitude. 

Were you also able to use your personal brand as an International speaker and a Coach to build visibility for your book?

In the year 2015, I founded the Thumbs Up Foundation. The prime purpose was to spread awareness about mental health and to provide training to the employees of various organisations and students of schools, colleges and universities. Within a year, 10,000 people from 70+ countries had joined it in both online and offline. This has helped me to reach out to people globally and build visibility for my book.

Do you think that having a published book is a critical tool in every professional speaker’s arsenal?

I do believe that having a book in the arsenal of a professional speaker makes a difference but with one condition, that is, to provide quality content to the readers otherwise poor-quality spoils the speaker’s reputation. 

Before we conclude, what would your one piece of advice be for other aspiring authors in India?

The only message to all the aspiring authors of India and across the globe is, to never give up their dream to be an internationally renowned author and instead of trying to find shortcuts to success, a person should be ready to do whatever it takes for achieving the triumph ethically.