From Burnout to Breakthrough: Rebuilding Life After a Health Crisis: Milesh L - The moment that everything changed

In this deeply personal episode of Eternal Paradigm, Milesh L shares his journey through a life-altering health crisis that became the catalyst for profound change.

After years working in finance and property investment, Milesh faced an unexpected and severe health scare—gallstone pancreatitis—that led to a five-month hospital stay away from his young family. This episode explores how he navigated physical pain, emotional struggle, and uncertainty, and how these experiences sparked a vital shift in his priorities and life direction.

Milesh opens up about the signs he initially missed, the moment he realised the severity of his condition, and the raw reality of being separated from his wife and children during hospitalisation. He reflects on how this forced pause gave him clarity about burnout, health, and the need to redesign his life with intention.

Beyond the health crisis, Milesh discusses the power of strategic planning and the invaluable support of his family in overcoming adversity. He also shares how his corporate experience in strategy helped him stay resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating the importance of adaptability and forward planning in both personal and business life.

This episode offers listeners an inspiring story of courage, resilience, and transformation, with practical insights for anyone facing health challenges, burnout, or life transitions.

Key Moments and Insights:

• Early Missed Signs: Initially mistaking heartburn for something minor, Milesh didn’t anticipate the severity of his symptoms until hospitalisation was unavoidable.
• Sudden Hospitalisation: Taken by ambulance with no prior warning, he spent five months in hospital, a period marked by physical pain and emotional challenge.
• Separation from Family: Being away from his wife and very young children during this critical time added emotional strain and highlighted the importance of family support.
• Diagnosis and Recovery: Facing gallstone pancreatitis and uncertain outcomes, Milesh underwent critical care, including a moment when sedation was a 50-50 chance.
• The Trigger for Change: The real turning point came once recovery began—the realisation that life needed to be lived differently, prioritising health and family over career ambition.
• Reflection on Burnout: Recognising he had been “driving fast without a destination,” Milesh saw the health crisis as a wake-up call against burnout and unchecked ambition.
• The Role of Support: His wife’s strength and his family’s support were crucial to his recovery and motivated his determination to change.
• Strategic Life Planning: Drawing from his corporate experience, Milesh established a clear, long-term life and financial plan, helping to r

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

I got to a point when I was in hospital where I was done. I was given up because I just couldn't deal with the pain that I was going through and whatever. And then something changed within a few hours that meant I was, you know, this was on the Friday it happened. I distinctly remember phoning my wife up and saying, I'm really struggling now. And then by Tuesday, I was out of hospital.

SPEAKER_01: 0:29

Welcome to Eternal Paradigm, human experience for the conscious explorer. Hello, welcome to Eternal Paradigm. Who are you? Tell us who you are. Hi,

SPEAKER_00: 1:03

everyone. I'm Milesh Lakhani. I am a property investor and have been in property for the last full time for the last almost five years now, albeit a landlord since 2001, 20 years. Makes you feel really old. So yeah, previous to property, I was in financial services for about 17, 18 years in the wonderful world and exciting world of pensions. And then took a change in career or took the decision to change in career after the moment that everything changed. And yeah, been in property since kind of 2015.

SPEAKER_01: 1:44

So this is still kind of serious stuff, right? Pensions, finance. property, it's pretty heavy going and being a landlord for 20 years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:56

Right. Yeah. So interesting, actually. So I came out of school, college, thinking, right, okay, uni's not for me. Just made that decision early on. And honestly, I walked away out of college going, right, I like working with numbers. So I ended up in a finance role, in an accounts role for a diners club, which is a corporate credit card. Then I moved into pension, the world of pensions. And I remember the person interviewing me saying, this is not accounts. This is nothing to do with accounting. Are you sure? I was like, yeah, yeah, just give it a go. 18, 19 at the time and stayed in the industry until 2016.

SPEAKER_01: 2:32

That is heavy. And so when they told you it's not about numbers and you went, yeah, it's cool. I'll give it a go. What happened when you got in there? How much of it was numbers related?

SPEAKER_00: 2:42

There was an element of it. So I started fairly kind of like administration level, where I was front facing with clients and doing some pension calculations and stuff. So I was quite happy. And I guess I had a bit of a hunger to progress and to you know, further the career and fortunately managed to work my way up the ladder, if you like, to a point where I was quite comfortable. And so then the numbers side of things kind of changed a little and it was more management.

SPEAKER_01: 3:16

Then it went into like, okay, I'm really doing this.

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 3:22

So tell me, because obviously the focus of this series is the moment that everything changed, right? So you've already said you walked out of, kind of college saying uni's not for me so that's a choice right yeah then you get into work and you're like I'll give it a go let's see what happens and before you know it you're in management um and as we said at the beginning as you pointed out you know landlord moving around in in the big stuff what was that moment for you when everything at like click just changed

SPEAKER_00: 3:59

The moment for me was a significant health scare, which was in June 2013, so just over eight years ago. Essentially, I woke up with some heartburn, thought Gaviscon would sort it out, and it didn't. It got progressively worse. I ended up in hospital with gallstone pancreatitis, completely unexpected. No warning signs previously. My little boy was two years old. My daughter was about three, four weeks old at the time. And yeah, I went off in the ambulance and came back home about five months later. Fortunately, I came back home, fortunately in one piece, fortunately with no serious kind of medication, which was a massive thing for me. But that five months was a rough ride for me, but more so for the people around me. my wife, my kids, my family, my parents, you know, everyone else. So that was the moment. And looking back, you know, prior to that point, like I said earlier, I was really ambitious, quite hungry to progress. And the way I say to people now is I had no destination in Sat Nav. I was just driving really, really fast, but I didn't know where I was going. And looking back, having experienced what I've experienced with my health stuff, like, Who does that? Why would you do that? But people do still, whether that's through fear or whatever else, I don't know. But yeah, so for me, it was that health scare, obviously coming away from it in one piece. I'll be honest, there were three occasions when things were pretty close and pretty scary, but managed to get through that, walked away from it. And just that forced... time to reflect upon us really. And it's at that point where like, okay, I'm on this rat race. I want to come off it. I want more time, more flexibility with the family, young kids and everything else. How do I do that? I don't think working in a corporate world is it. Always had an interest in property, So this was 2013. I had my first property in 2001. So I had a few by now already. And it was one of those things that, you know, like you really want to give it a go, but life just gets in the way. So I just took the decision that actually property is what I enjoy doing. And can we craft a career out of it? And yeah, that's the decision we took. Got educated, started buying, put a plan together to leave my job. And in October 2016, almost five years ago, that's what happened.

SPEAKER_01: 6:37

That is incredible. And, you know, the whole thing you said about driving and not having a destination, who does that? I think everybody's a bit guilty of that, right? Yeah. But while you were there in hospital, what were you thinking? What were your

SPEAKER_00: 6:57

thoughts? Rationally, not a lot, if I'm honest, because I was pretty drugged up.

SPEAKER_01: 7:02

Yeah, yeah. But

SPEAKER_00: 7:05

to be honest with you, the trigger was, so when I was in there, I was in there, I wasn't, I didn't have my phone. I just, the time just went, basically. I didn't feel like I had time to think. I was just so wrapped up in what was going on around me. I barely used my phone for that period. And the thought of me not using my phone for five months now is like, But when you're in that state, when you're in that condition, and when you've got stuff going on around you, then all you want to focus on is just getting better. So I wasn't distracted by anything. But equally, I didn't use that time or didn't think I had that time to think. So really, for me, the trigger was once I started getting better, that was the oh shit moment where it was like, right, okay, I can't just carry on like this now. Something's got to change. And it's in my hands to change that.

SPEAKER_01: 7:59

That's incredibly powerful to actually be in a place of understanding you're getting better and then go, I can still change this.

SPEAKER_00: 8:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 8:09

Because that was actually, that was the gap. That was the moment, right?

SPEAKER_00: 8:15

100%.

SPEAKER_01: 8:17

Because at that point, when you got to that crossroad, you could have gone, I'm a victim. You could have said, I am sick now. This is it. And where did that Because it sounds like from what you're saying that that's always been there, that almost like that courage to be in the face of it and to take that choice. Where do you think that came from?

SPEAKER_00: 8:40

Oh, that's a really good question. I don't know. I don't know. I think you're right, though. There's an inner drive, an inner... ambition, whatever it is, but it's there. And I remember when I was in hospital, everyone was saying, oh, age is on your side. This doesn't happen to people your age. And I took from that that actually, I've got to prove these people right, man. I've got to get through it. As far as career and stuff, I guess it links back to goals and ambitions and all that sort of stuff. So I had in my mind by age 30, not written down, nothing formal, just in my head, I had two or three things I wanted to do and achieve by the age of 30. I don't think I really put much effort into it, but now I understand that by having that thinking, there's some subconscious universe alignment that goes on. And guess what? I managed to hit two and a half out of three of those things by age 30. So there's always been that drive. Where it comes from, I couldn't tell you, honestly. I need to go away and think about that because, yeah, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01: 9:49

You know, also at that time, you said, you know, your wife had just had your daughter. She was only a baby.

SPEAKER_00: 10:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:01

And you had a toddler and life has just flipped.

SPEAKER_00: 10:05

Yeah, completely. So that was the strength that she showed and continues to show. Like I... If it was the other way around, I'd have crumbled 100%. And even in making the decision and thinking through what we're going to do differently going forwards and stuff, she was instrumental in that and probably a driving force in all of that. So without that, I think I'd have really struggled. And like I said, if she was on the other foot and it was the other way around, blimey, I'd have fallen away. Definitely. So it takes that strength in character and having somebody around me that has a belief and just keeps going was really, really important.

SPEAKER_01: 10:49

Absolutely. And it's really, really, really critical to be able to be in a relationship where when things go bad, you keep going. But when things are in a stable place that you're both able to be together to plan things. reflect and have those really difficult uncomfortable open honest conversations because that's what that moment kind of allowed to happen

SPEAKER_00: 11:20

but

SPEAKER_01: 11:21

again how were you guys in that process were you both like right we just have to deal with this and I know that I know that your wife's not here to talk right so I'm not going to ask you to speak on her behalf because that's unfair but What was that like for you? Because it's very raw.

SPEAKER_00: 11:40

Yeah, so I mean, going through what we went through, for me, I just felt like I was helpless. I couldn't do anything. And all I could do was try and get myself better. But how do you do that? I was in a position where I was, you know, being looked after by everybody around me, including her, including my parents in their own way. So I think for the character that she is, she just went into fight or flight and just... practical mode. Each day as it comes, thought about wider implications of stuff and actually thought it through on our own, which I think is phenomenal. I wasn't in the right state of mind or fit state to have those types of conversations. There was one time when basically I was, without going into too much detail, I was told that I needed to be sedated and it was 50-50. And the doctor said, all right, we need to do this. Who do you want to call? So I said, right, obviously my wife and my brother. And we had– I thought I had the final conversation. Now, just flipping that onto her point of view for a second, like we were married, what, four years? Young family, as you say. Like that's a lot to take in and deal with. And she did. And when I woke up, guess what? Who was there? She was there. So, yeah, so I think from– Her point of view, it was tough, but like I said, it's fight or flight. When you're put into a situation, you find this inner confidence, this inner strength, whatever it is, to just keep going. And yeah, yeah, credit to her and hats off. And obviously people around me, so my parents, as soon as I was in hospital, my parents moved in with us, which meant that my wife could come and see me every day with the baby. And she saw me every single day that I was in hospital. She came to see me, even if it was for half an hour. But that's credit to her. and to my parents for changing what, you know, their kind of day-to-day to accommodate. My brother, my sister, everyone was there, my in-laws, everyone. So yeah, it was a big pull on, from my point of view, it was a big pull on a lot of people to support us through it.

SPEAKER_01: 13:45

There's so much, almost like power in that support that allowed you to get to that point where it was like, even feeling helpless, even feeling all of that. You know, there was so much love.

SPEAKER_00: 14:01

Yeah, definitely. And I'll never forget it, the support that I've had from everybody around me. And now I'm in a place where actually, you know, I want to give back. And I think that's where that's kind of come from a little bit. You know, the time, the flexibility, everything. Not just for me, my wife, my children, but my wider family. I'm able to go and do things. I'm able to go and see my parents without taking half a day or doing bits and pieces like that where the job ties you down. I can just do it because I can, because I've chosen to.

SPEAKER_01: 14:34

Yeah, I totally hear that. The other thing that is kind of coming up for me while you're speaking is strategy. Okay, because I have a very strategic analytical mind, which is great in business. And yet, when kind of personal life situations happen, like you said, your wife went into fight or flight mode, but she also became a very strategic practical thinker, putting all of these logical steps into place. And it sounds like, you know, your life planning really started at that point.

SPEAKER_00: 15:11

100%. Yeah, absolutely. So Now, you know, we've got a clear destination in the sat-nav from every year from now until age 75 or whatever it is. Like, we've documented it from a financial perspective as well as a what do we want in life perspective. Yeah, which now, like, the thought of not having that, just, yeah, like, you're, you know, peeing in the wind a little bit and just muddling through life.

UNKNOWN: 15:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 15:41

which is cool and loads and you know there are people out there who are quite happy with that and fair play but that's not that's not how we work now

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

i totally hear that the other thing that's really kind of interesting is the whole thing the the practical steps that you've taken because for many people the moment where everything changed for them was the pandemic right whereas You've had, obviously in your planning, you probably didn't factor in a pandemic. No one did, right? Whereas, so your planning started well before that. So what happened when you got to the pandemic? What was the kind of, what was happening in terms of, I guess, you know, what was happening strategically and what was, how much had the pre-planning helped you at that stage?

SPEAKER_00: 16:36

Really good question, actually. And so one of the disciplines that we... Before I answer that, so where I come from in terms of corporate world and everything else, and this relates to business and life, is I have picked up a lot of knowledge, a lot of skills, loads of behaviours and stuff through corporate that I was... And that continued to be really keen not to lose. And so I was looking at what disciplines can I bring in to my little small business from a huge corporate And strategy was the one thing that I've brought over, one of the main things I've brought over. And so off the back of that, my wife was still working up until this year, actually, from when I went full time in property, so four and a half, five years. But one thing we did do is that strategy. So we used to have and we continue to have a quarterly strategy day where we're talking business and life. Business first, life kind of comes after that because that's the main focus of it with the backdrop of our longer term life plan. Yeah, so having the quarterly review was, or continuing to have that was important. The discipline of maintaining it was really important. We hit the pandemic. We were both trying to work. That brought its own challenges with a couple of kids and homeschooling and everything else. So we kind of found our feet a little bit and it took a little while and it was tough. In all honesty, it wasn't easy to get into a routine whereby I was doing the kids in the morning, would do a tag team at lunchtime, and then I'd go and do some work in the afternoon and vice versa. So once that settled, which took a little while, we were then like, okay, what am I actually doing when I'm upstairs working? Like, you know, I can't go out. So we put together, I put together a plan and basically looked at all elements of my business and all of the people within the business that I'm associated to or linked to. So basically looked at the whole property cycle, like estate agents, mortgage brokers, solicitors, vendors. What impact is COVID having on all these people? And where can I shift or change or do stuff differently to continue to keep going? And that plan was really, really useful because it just brought clarity to me. And it got to a point where, you know, I think it was about six months in and we decided... month three we're going to do stuff differently and basically start working with what we call sourcing agents people who will go and find you a property you pay them a fee and then the deal is yours so we branched out and opened out to those guys and it took a few months of finding those people speaking to those people to then get into into a few deals and then we bought three deals within three months um in or agreed those deals in october september yeah q4 last year whilst we're pretty much in the thick of COVID. So we just, because from my point of view, because we had the plan, because we had the strategy that enabled us to then do some more planning on situation and then change accordingly. In the absence of all of that, it would have been really, really difficult. And then as the world started opening up, you can start to do stuff differently and get back to an element of normality. So loads of lessons learned. One thing there was a lot, obviously, people's take on COVID is very different based on their experiences. The one thing I say and continue to say to people is I would never have chosen to have as much time off with my family than COVID gave us. So that can only be a good thing. It's about how you look at it. And unfortunately, there are situations where Families might have broken up off the back of it. You know, people have lost, we've lost a lot of people through COVID. So there was a lot of grief along the way as well. And again, I think for us, for me, that helped with perspective. As sad as it is to see these people no longer with us, it forces you to look back and step back and just review things, as well as the formal strategic process. bit that you do, right?

SPEAKER_01: 20:40

Yes, I'm giggling to that, but yes, totally. I hear you. But again, it's the whole thing. There was a lot of, even in your personal being, your corporate experience, your life experience, in your relationship, there was so much insight, knowledge, wisdom, and skill that to be able to open up to the flexibility, the adaptability and still stay on plan. That takes a lot of discipline. I mean, if we break it down to someone, you know, who's even trying to eat healthier, it's so challenging. So hats off to you for that. That is truly incredible. So tell me, obviously, we're at a very different stage now. Where are you at now? And when you... kind of sit here and reflect back daily and kind of almost time travel forward what are the things that come up for you? So

SPEAKER_00: 21:43

I guess it's worth saying now in February of this year I randomly ended up back in hospital for two weeks and that did throw me for six so our The foundation of our business is what we want from life. And so our aim is that the business will give us what we need to have a good lifestyle. And so the foundation is what do we want from life, financially and not, right? So the first thing for me, going back a little bit, was me getting out of the job, which we managed to do in 2016, October. The next thing was for the business to support us enough so that my wife could leave her job as well. And COVID actually helped with this decision. So we were financially able to do it for probably a couple of years. And we did this thinking around COVID and it just got to a point where we were like, why aren't we doing this? Let's just explore the scenario of it happening and how it might look. And so we did that. And just before Christmas last year, I took the decision that she was going to come on board. It was literally three days before she was due to finish her job that I went into hospital. So you've probably gathered that I'm a bit of a planner. So we had done business roles document. We'd done personality tests to make sure that we know what our strengths are and what our developments and weaknesses are so that we We know to stay out of each other's way on certain things. So all of that pre-planning was done and it came good because it got to a point where I was off the radar because I was dosed up and wiped out. So she had to hit the ground running. And it's because we had all of those things that I think made life a little bit easier for her to kind of deal with not only me being in hospital, the kids are a little bit older now, and it took us both back. to where we were kind of eight years ago, but obviously quite different. So yeah, so that happened. And I guess that was another point with COVID, with the loss of people that we had, with the backdrop of what happened to me eight years ago, it was another, wow, this actually can happen anytime. And so I was really keen to understand the cause of what happened and blah, blah, blah. And fortunately, I'm told it was linked to some surgery I had eight years ago that kind of crept up and ended up where I was but those two weeks were almost a shortened version of the five months I had and I got to a point like I got to a point when I was in hospital where I was done I was given up because I just couldn't deal with the pain that I was going through and whatever and then something changed within a few hours that meant I was you know this was on the Friday it happened I distinctly remember phoning my wife up and saying I'm really struggling now like and then by Tuesday I was out of hospital Of all of the drugs I was on, I was on a significant amount of drugs, like all sorts of opioids and all sorts of stuff. So again, that was another reminder, I guess, of focus, helps to refocus and stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 24:52

So can I ask, as you reflect on this, because I work with a lot of clients on wellness, health, and what is it that you weren't paying attention to before that happened? uncomfortableness and the pain creeped in.

SPEAKER_00: 25:11

What do you mean health-wise? Yeah,

SPEAKER_01: 25:13

what is it that you weren't allowing yourself to feel or experience within your experience that you feel kind of got you to this point to put you back on track again? I

SPEAKER_00: 25:25

guess health-wise there were signs, symptoms that were there for probably a few weeks before that I didn't realise and it got to a point where it got to with me being in hospital and stuff. I guess the thing that slipped maybe was taking my health for granted, which everybody does, like it or not, we do. And yeah, it could be that. But what I'm told is that one of the operations they did, I basically had a pseudocyst on my pancreas of all places, having had pancreatitis before, that was being bled into. And so what they were saying that over the years and years after doing the surgery, there was a little pathway that ended up where we were with the cyst. But the pain from that was the same, if not worse, than what I experienced previously. So, yeah, the first week was just about pain management. So, yeah, to answer the question, I guess if I was to look back, I probably took advantage of health and eating like I want to, not like I should. It's probably, yeah, probably one of the things. But although the doctors, surgeons, consultants were just like, yet again, you're just unlucky and ended up where you are, which is what they said to me eight years ago.

SPEAKER_01: 26:40

When you hear that from medical professionals, you're just unlucky, what does that feel like?

SPEAKER_00: 26:48

Not nice. So without going into too much detail, pancreatitis, there's two causes of pancreatitis. One is alcohol. One is not. And I was the not category. So I saw people... alcohol-related come in, yes, it's an addiction, and yes, you need support and help with that. But some people were purely just, it was self-inflicted. They walked in, they're in for two weeks, they got better, and then they walked out, and I was just sat there. To the point where I said to my consultant, what have I done? And it did make me challenge a lot of stuff afterwards, like religion and why us and all of that. We went through all of that at the outset or after it happened the first time. But yeah, the lesson I've learned is you dealt the hand you dealt with. You can control it to a certain extent, but it's about how you react to it. And that's critical for me. And sometimes you can end up in a position or a place where you're kind of wallowing a bit and that happens. And I've accepted that I need that. but it only happens for a day or two and then you snap yourself out of it and get on. And it's really important to have the discipline, the drive, whatever it is, to not only step away from it and see that you're behaving that way, but then also do something about it. And it's the latter that I think is the toughest bit.

SPEAKER_01: 28:12

It's incredible because being in that place and seeing people who are in a place where it's self-inflicted, whereas it's total opposites. Right. Which then opens up this whole kind of dialogue of questioning. But the why. And yet it brings you back to this point of acceptance. And so it's when you're saying I'm allowing myself to wallow, I'm going to snap out of it. That is actually it sounds so critical in this whole dialogue. experience.

SPEAKER_00: 28:46

Yeah yeah and even since then so without going into the health too much I don't want it to be a whole health show but I've been diagnosed I was diabetic type 2 diabetic about three years ago diagnosed and after this spell they've actually diagnosed me with type 3c diabetes which nobody's heard of it's quite new symptoms of type 2 treatment of type 1 so I'm basically on insulin which I was one in the morning anyway so talking about change and how you react to it. What I took really badly was the fact that they were quite straight with me and said, you need to manage this disease by medication, not by diet. When for the last three or four years, it was drummed into me that diet, exercise, and you should be able to get rid of it. So that was quite a big blow. And not only that, you now have to take injections every time you eat before every meal, which for people who have been doing it forever, they're there and they're doing it really well. But from my point of view, it was a big thing. I have to think about when I'm eating. I have to think about, oh, yeah, okay, I've got to measure my sugars, and then I've got to do my injections and stuff. So this is where I learned. Like I said, only a few months ago, I learned that I will have a little wobble, but then I'll get out of it. And then the next thing was, okay, you need to now count your carbs, and then depending on what you're– keep your carbs low, count carbs, and then based on that, then do your injections and stuff. So, again, another one. And Asian diet is very, very, very carb-heavy. Nobody's fault. It's just what we eat. And so that took a massive change in the way we're looking at food, basically. Absolutely. You look at what you're eating, and it's like carb there, carb there, carb there. So I've taken a massive shift on the diet side of things as well. But again, when I was told those pieces of information– I did have a little wobble for a day or two, but then I snapped out of it. And I suppose what I'm saying is it can be on any scale and it's okay on any scale. Even if it's having to queue up to go and get petrol and that annoys you, you can have a moan about it, but get over yourself and move on. Sit in the queue or choose not to. That's one thing that's come up since I got better and stuff was choices. I choose. I want to be in a position where I can choose choices what I do wherever possible. And you've got to own it. Bad stuff will happen, but it's how you react and it's your stuff to own.

SPEAKER_01: 31:19

High five to that. Totally. Totally. I'm listening to you, but to me it also sounds like you're clearly here to show that anything's possible and even with the wobbles, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00: 31:36

Yeah, 100%. And, you know, my... The reason I'm doing this, I guess, is because if people can walk away with one thing that is a trigger or is a little bit of a thought-provoking thing that they take away from it, I'm more than happy with that. I've had to go through quite a lot to get that enlightenment, to get for that trigger. The trigger was pretty significant for me, like, life-wise. So if I can do one thing to stop that for anybody else, then... That's been done. Well, happy. Yeah. And it's about giving back.

SPEAKER_01: 32:12

Yeah. So tell me more about that, because obviously now in terms of what you're giving back, you've said how the shift in the choices you've made in terms of business life balance allows you to give back to your nearest and dearest. But what's the bigger vision in the giving back and how does the business play a part in that?

SPEAKER_00: 32:36

Yeah, cool. OK, so. In my longer term goals, I want to be supporting a... I want to be doing a significant charity project. I don't know what that looks like yet. I don't know how it's going to form or anything like that yet. I just know I want to be doing something. Where does the business play a part? The business allows me to do that. So... We're building the business to get to a point where I don't need to be in the business, I need to be on the business. And that's always been the plan. Time and flexibility is the most critical thing. And once the business is to a point where we've got time and flexibility financially, as well as having our own time, that's when I want to be able to do these other things. So, yeah, two things, significant charity project, sharing my story because I think it's a story worth, for people worth, for people to listen to and there's some worth in it. And financial education in schools is something that I don't think is as strong, solid as it could be. But up until now, I've just been doing my own way of giving back, whether it's talking in schools about how I've got to where I've got to in terms of business. I gave back to a local community and I was a governor at one of the local schools, was there for a few months and thought, might as well do the big job. I'm here anyway. So I did chair of governors for about four years. And yeah, so I'm doing in my capacity now what I can to give back. interesting to say about family and stuff I don't see that as giving back I see that as duty you know my parents are getting on they're down the road I've chosen for that to be to stay that way and will continue to do so that's something I feel I should be doing like

SPEAKER_01: 34:31

absolutely

SPEAKER_00: 34:33

I know individual situations and people are different and everything else but for me that's that's really really important

SPEAKER_01: 34:41

so from this point onwards with everything that you've experienced and kind of lived through. What are almost like your three top kind of bits of advice? And you've been kind of sharing them as you've been talking. But if you were to kind of just give your three big hitters, what would they be?

SPEAKER_00: 35:02

This might sound a bit blunt, but own it. You've got to own it. You find yourself in situations, you've got to step back from it and look at yourself first before you look at other people. So I'd say own it. You choose. And that's quite powerful. You do choose. You might think you don't have certain choices, but trust me, if you think about it long enough, you do. And it's the not wanting to think about it long enough rather than thinking you don't have the choice, if that makes sense. And just gratitude. So one thing, three words that work for me every single time is I get to, and it's one of my old bosses told me this actually, I get to, I get to wake up in the morning, I get to open my eyes every morning. But you can take it as deep as that, you know, you wake up, I get to wake up. It just gives you that sense of gratitude, really, that you've got your friends, family around you. Unfortunately, there are always people who are not as great, as fortunate as you are. So it's about knowing that and valuing that and understanding that, really.

SPEAKER_01: 36:07

So where can people connect with you? Where can people find you? And how can people kind of learn from about being in the property game and benefit from all of your insight and knowledge?

SPEAKER_00: 36:20

So I've got a Instagram account. So Milesh Lakhani Property is where you'll find my updates. I'm on there a few times a week. So the best way to connect with me is on that, on the DMs. Have a look at the content that you see on there. Give us a follow if you like it. And then, yeah, just feel free to get in touch. I also do coaching, mentoring as part of... What I do as well, linked to the giving back really, but more, it was more of a gap that I found myself in when I was working for myself, having worked in corporate for so long. That people progression thing is something I really missed. It's kind of bridging, selfishly bridging my own gap, but helping others along the way. So yeah, any interest in that, obviously just send me a DM. I've got a Facebook page as well, Millesh Lakhani Property. Similar content on there as well. So again, reach out. Facebook, Instagram, and be happy to have a chat with anyone.

SPEAKER_01: 37:16

Amazing. Thank you so much. Absolutely

SPEAKER_00: 37:19

incredible. You're welcome. That's good. Thank you. Some thought-provoking stuff for me in there as well, actually.

SPEAKER_01: 37:25

Amazing. It's the only way.