Minal: Why live an ordinary life, when you can live an extraordinary one!

No one really wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, “I’m going to identify my problems but I’ll give my power and energy to solutions that will make my life extraordinary.” And, while she didn’t actually say that to herself, Minal Deshmukh’s life, so far, illustrates how actions and solutions powerfully unlock the door to an extraordinary life.

Minal comes from a small village near Pune, where she grew vegetables on her father’s farm and sold them in the market since she was in Class 1. It was a hard life. The family survived on very little.

 As the eldest of the 6 siblings she also had to cook and take care of her grandmother while she was growing up.

In ordinary circumstances, Minal could easily have said to herself, “I can’t do much about my situation,” and settled for simply surviving passively. But she didn’t.

Instead, in addition to taking care of younger siblings, being her grandmother’s caregiver, growing vegetables and selling them in the market – she also went to school and studied hard, acing her subjects.

Minal scored so well that eventually, she passed highly competitive exams and got admission to engineering in the college of her choice.  I looked like Minal was on her way – what could go wrong?

The next obstacle was that her parents had no money for her education.

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

And this is where Minal had a choice. She could pay attention to the problem – the lack of money – and give up, or she could give power and energy to solutions that could make her life extraordinary.

She chose to take actions rather than wallow in defeat.

Minal, an 18 years old at the time, walked up to the bank, met the manager and showed him her mark sheets and the admission letter to the Cummins College of Engineering, Pune. He was floored by her marks and commitment and granted her an education loan for one year.

But that wasn’t the end of the obstacle course – now that she had entry in a prestigious college in the big city of Pune – where would she live? She had no money for that!

Minal Converts Obstacles Into Opportunities

She contacted the Students’ Welfare Association, and they helped her connect with a 90-year-old grandmother. In exchange for staying at her home, Minal did household work and ran errands for her.

And, she did so well in her first year of college that she got a merit scholarship. Her entire college fees were paid, and she got admission to the college hostel.

Minal rocked in college, passing her BE with distinction.

Life looked up – she was placed in Hewlett Packard when she graduated!

She met and married the love of her life, bought a home, and has a beautiful daughter.

And, she pays it forward by helping other students like her in her village, and today they are well placed, some of them are even settled in the US. Her village and parents are proud of her.

Life: An Unfolding Set Of Opportunities To Learn

So, was this the end of Minal’s quest for a quality life?

There’s always room for improvement, isn’t there?

Minal’s next big challenge was that she didn’t know the basics of money. In spite of a healthy salary, she lived from pay check to pay check, had debt and struggled with a home loan. She saw a post from Women On Wealth and the opportunity to shift from concerns about money to freedom and peace of mind became clear for her.

Money: Learning New Financial Skills.

Minal knew she needed to build her financial skills, and she joined Women On Wealth.

Since then, there has been no stopping her! The journey to financial security and wealth creation requires courage, commitment and time. And here are some of the results from her participation:

1. She knows exactly how much money comes in and goes out of her life. She is increasing her financial consciousness.
2. She has understood the pillars of financial foundation, and is setting it right
3. She has done her income tax planning, and has used her income tax saving strategies well
4. She has created a debt repayment plan
5. She understands how to pick good mutual funds with her own research, and
6. Knows how to build an investment portfolio without depending on her husband, father, broker
7. Is happy to participate and contribute to an active, dynamic community of women investors.

A Challenge: Make your Money Life A Masterpiece!

We’re so inspired by Minal’s journey and privileged to share it with anyone who needs a helping hand to look at obstacles as opportunities for growth. One of the learnings is that obstacles are those disheartening things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. And when you focus on your goals, magic happens!

So, here’s our challenge: if you have an issue that you’re committed to resolve but do not know how, come for a free session.

You know you want to!

Free Women On Wealth Session : WhatsApp at 9818540023 for more information.