Gargi Arya

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, at the age of 13, my life was thriving. I enjoyed every moment, excelled academically, and had supportive parents and friends. However, a sudden 180-degree shift occurred when I lost someone I loved, not due to death but because of ego clashes within our family.

One morning, I woke up to the realization that the people I cherished were no longer a part of my life. The bonds we once shared had disintegrated, and accepting this reality proved incredibly challenging. Every day, I found myself questioning and crying out to God, asking, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Little did I know that this sorrow would spiral into severe depression over the course of a year.

Life felt suffocating, and each day was a struggle. Bedtime became a forced routine, and the desire to not wake up the next day lingered. I used to wake up with swelling eyes and my parents would wonder what happened to her. Night after night, tears streamed down my face, yet I kept my struggles hidden, even from my parents. I became like a walking talking zombie who had no purpose in her life and all she felt was empty. A loss of trust in people led me to develop a limiting belief that everyone was destined to leave, prompting me to distance myself from those around me, destroying valuable friendships in the process.

I still remember those days when I used to sit on the bed, looking outside the window and asking the Universe — “Is there no one who can help me get out of this? Is there no one in this world who can understand my pain?” And I decided that once I am out of this, I will never let anyone go through the same. I still remember the days when I used to cry, shout, and scream when no one was at home because that pain was too suffocating!

Despite wearing a seemingly content smile, I was shattered and exhausted inside, feeling hollow. Then, one unforgettable day, as my family watched a movie together, overwhelming emotions surged within me. Unable to share my feelings openly, I retreated to the bathroom and locked the door, contemplating suicide.

In that dark moment, a voice within me intervened. It wasn’t an external plea to move on; it was an internal scream, declaring, “You can’t kill me, Gargi.” The echoes grew louder, reminding me of the pain my mother endured during nine months of pregnancy and questioning how I could abandon my parents. It was a pivotal moment, my “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” moment.

I made a life-changing decision — to take 100% responsibility for my life. From that day, my mantra became “No Blaming, No Complaining, and No Excuses.” For the first time, I began living for myself, ultimately reshaping my destiny.

To make a long story short, I redefined my purpose, found my identity, and embarked on an extraordinary journey.

Hello, my name is Gargi Arya! At 17, I am India’s Youngest Certified Life Coach, LOA Trainer, Certified Ho’oponopono Healer, NLP Practitioner, TEDx Speaker, the author of four books (The Lion-Hearted Soul, Law Of Attraction, Poetry Is Fun, Donald’s Diary), an International Speaker for Adjoa HTC (with online conferences in Ghana, Spain, the United Kingdom, Nigeria during COVID), the Founder of Quantum Leadership Academy, a Success Strategist, Miss Instagram Queen (Coach and Consultant), and one of the Lead Trainers at Monk School and Navjyoti India Foundation.

I am on a mission to help women ignite their inner champ, maximize their greatness, and monetize their message!

Remember it’s in the matter of moments that your life is designed and it’s in the matter of moments that your destiny is shaped. The way you treat your life, your life will treat you back in the same way. Would you agree?

Didn’t I have limitations?

Didn’t I have the dream stealers around me?

Didn’t I fail?

Were there no people to judge me?

Yes, my friend, I faced all of it — I faced rejections, a lot of them. I faced judgment, I faced criticism, I had days when I would cry thinking why the hell is this not working? Why are people misunderstanding my dreams? Did my parents trust in me immediately? No way!

Here’s some fun I would like to add — when I told my parents, relatives, and friends that I wanted to be a coach, they used to laugh at me and told me — “You won’t be paid for it, that’s just for social service”, “Don’t become that motivational baba or sort of guru” and believe me it hurt a lot in the beginning but did it stop me? No way!

My dream was bigger than these problems and negative comments and the one reason I am whoever I have become today is because of COMMITMENT. As I stayed committed to my words, I stayed committed to the journey I wanted to walk on and I am still designing it every day, I stayed committed to my studies and passion — being able to balance both required a lot of sleepless nights and I still go through the same, all I kept focusing on was my efforts, energy, time and being able to learn from the best coaches in India.

What I have learned from Sidz is that a good coach is someone who can produce results for their community members. Right now, I don’t want you to only see how I fought my battle but also how I helped my community members.

Laxmi Dubey, a mindfulness mommy coach, after joining the academy, gained confidence as a coach and closed a deal of 1.5 lakhs at one go. While I was on a call with her, she received an additional 37k.

Priya Garg, my first client, initially rejected me, thinking how can a 15-year-old help her overcome depression. However, she came back, invested in the program, got her dream job, formed a beautiful relationship with herself, and underwent a complete transformation.

Vikash Kumar, a mindset coach, earned 40k in his first webinar after structuring his content. He is now impacting lives in both the online and offline space.

Sarita Kumari, another community member, came in as a shy, introverted person in the tribe. After going through intense training and committing to change her life, she is now a certified life coach. She creates videos, posts them on Instagram, reaches out to people, has written a book, and accomplished so much as she tapped into her true power.

Likewise, I have many more success stories of my students who are not just designing their lives but crafting their message, putting it out into the world, and leading everyone together as a community to make a true difference.

I am not sharing this to impress you, but to impress upon you that if I can do this at the age of 17, you can achieve it too. Initially, it all feels as if no one understands our dreams, it’s okay to go through that phase, but one thing I have always kept in my mind is Mission First, Community Second, Me Third.

And as a coach, here are the 3 things that kept me grounded and rooted in my vision of building my own community called Quantum Leadership Academy and being able to impact lives, creating crazy results for my community members (group as well as 121 coaching), and achieving the mark of 3 lakhs+ at the age of just 17.

‍Your Why Must Scare You!

Why should your “WHY” scare you? It should be so big that it should create goosebumps in you and your mind should go all over the place, your little voice trying to yell and shout at you “You Can’t, this is unbelievable, no one has ever done that before, how can you?”

When I started, trust me, I faced a lot of challenges:

1. I didn’t have the confidence to record videos
2. When I did it for the first time, the first comment was a criticism “Who wants to listen to you little motivational speaker, go, study, drink milk, and sleep!”
3. People laughed at my dream of becoming a life coach and impacting people’s lives
4. Being able to manage my studies and passion at the same time was the biggest one
5. The webinars where I had no sales
6. Those days when I felt all alone
7. Getting judged by people and hearing all the backstabbing talks

So much more! But did it all stop me? No! I kept going, I kept pushing myself through the ups and downs.  What kept burning inside me was Blair SInger’s Message when he told me — “You are going to face a lot of challenges as you progress on the path that you have chosen for yourself, people are going to judge and criticize you a lot but if you stay true to your goal, if you stay true to your ultimate core message, you will create a crazy future for yourself and the world would be ready to receive you and help you grow and go big!” and that is what kept going inside me.

‍Your Environment Is Greater Than Your Will Power!

Does your environment inspire you or expire you? That’s another question to reflect upon. When we talk about the environment, I am not only talking about the physical space but also your emotional and people’s space!

1. Physical Environment — In my home, I have created my own magical dream corner where I keep my books, the statue of Ganesha (a symbol of spirituality for me), Mic, and Camera — which is more like a home studio for me. Keep decluttering the old things from your place to not get attached to the things and keep adding new things to embrace change.

2. Emotional Environment — Have you ever wondered why sometimes, we just don’t want to clean our surroundings and we procrastinate our work? That’s a sign that something is going on within you that you are not able to cope with and that’s why now it’s showing up in your physical space.

3. Remember you are the sum of the five people you surround yourself with and if these people are the negative ones, remove or reduce spending time with them. We unconsciously start modeling the ones who are around us and that’s why be with the ones who motivate and cheer for you.

‍Be Kind On Yourself

One of the things that kept me rooted in my goal was that I am kind to myself,

Even when no one believed in me, I kept on believing in myself,

Even when I had no shoulder to cry at, I kept being my own best friend,

Even when I was judged, I never took those arrows to my heart.

Even when I was told by one of my close relatives that I couldn’t be stable in my life, I kept going.

When others slept, I took the flight,

Even when others shot me with their words,

Even when they cut me with their eyes,

Even when they killed me with their hatefulness.

I still rose like an eagle ready to soar high!

All the answers you are seeking out in the world, they are already in you. All you need is the sight to see and when you tap into the power of the real you, your life will start changing and you will feel it.

Life is a series of ebbs and flows, filled with highs and lows. During those challenging moments when it feels like the world's weight is on your shoulders, take a gentle breath and remind yourself that you are doing the best you can with the resources you have.

My story is incomplete without mentioning my parents’ support and one guru who changed my life and gave me the right path — Sidz, I look up to you in the same way I look up to my dad, thank you for helping me reach where I am today, it would be impossible without your support as you showed me how easy it is to create a revolution with my message, I love the whole ILH family as it gave me the wings to fly even more high. Words will never be enough to thank Sidz and the whole ILH for the impact they have created on my life, it’s like when you get a home like ILH, you will never get addicted to any distraction.

The Universe is huge, All you need to ask yourself is how big are you ready to play? Just believe that you can and I am sure you will go far and beyond your imaginations and expectations! Don’t die with the music still in you.

‍You don’t need to create a revolution in anyone’s life except on your own, because then the movement spread on its own to the masses!