Anand Sukhadia Shares 5 Life and Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned from Ayahuasca

Oftentimes, the most important life and entrepreneurial lessons come to us after years and years of hard work and sacrifice. However, there are some substances that can act as shortcuts, giving us insightful tips in just one intense experience. One of these is surely ayahuasca, a psychoactive drug from South America traditionally used for shamanic ceremonies and as a spiritual medicine.

Anand Sukhadia, the founder and director of om.lifewellness, a modern recovery spa located in Jersey City, first tried this substance in 2014. According to him, since then this psychedelic has taught him a lot about how to live a righteous life and be successful in his business. These are the five main lessons Sukhadia learned from his last experience with Ayahuasca. 

1. Everything in life is temporary

Even though this is something we all know, we often act as if we had unlimited time. The truth is that, as Sukhadia puts it: “Change is the only constant in life.” Even though this may be scary at first, it is also a reason to be grateful for what we have and not give too much weight to our daily struggles. As entrepreneurs, we often tend to make every little failure bigger than it actually is. Whenever a launch doesn’t go as well as we expected, we jump to the conclusion that we are going bankrupt, failing to see that this is only a temporary challenge and we will soon get out of it stronger than before.

2. Have fun in life 

According to Sukhadia, another simple but fundamental life lesson learned during his last ayahuasca experience was to not forget to have fun in life. Entrepreneurs often tend to get too absorbed in their daily job and forget to fuel their souls. Unfortunately, this can be extremely draining and often leads to burnout.

Sukhadia thinks it is fundamental to dedicate some time every day to relationships, business, or social activities that fuel our souls. “The only thing you cannot get back is your time, and it’s important to realize if something is draining or fueling your soul,” said Sukhadia. 

3. Never deeply identify with your ego 

We all tend to have a clear image of who we are and who we want to be. For instance, many business owners at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey tend to picture themselves in highly successful careers to boost their confidence and motivation. However, there are some downsides to it too. According to Sukhadia: “When we too deeply identify with the ego or create such a strong identity of who we perceive ourselves to be, we are limiting our perspective and therefore will only get the same type of experiences we’ve had in the past.” 

Deeply identifying with your ego may make you reluctant to change and prevent your business from growing. Be open to change and try to get out of your comfort zone from time to time. This will help you see different aspects of your personality, learn more about yourself, and grow as a businessman. “Magic always lies on the other side of comfort,” said Sukhadia.

4. Always treat others with love and respect 

This may seem easy, but it is probably the most difficult lesson to learn. Treating others with love and respect is particularly difficult when we do not like the person in front of us. Whether it is a colleague who tried to exploit us in the past or a client who complained about our product, always remember that you do not know what people have gone through in their life or what happened to them even in the moments before you had an interaction with them. “Everyone tries to do their best in life, and it’s important not to take anything other people do personally,” said Sukhadia.

Once you learn to not take things personally and treat everyone with respect, regardless of their behavior towards you, you will be able to create a wonderful network of people that will help your business grow exponentially. 

5. Don’t be too hard on yourself

“As entrepreneurs or highly ambitious people, sometimes we have the tendency to focus on what we still need to achieve or if something doesn’t go perfectly, we beat ourselves up,” said Sukhadia. Paradoxically, when it is a friend of ours coming to us with a problem we often show way more compassion and understanding. Next time you realize something is not working in your business, instead of beating yourself up, think of how much you’ve already achieved and be grateful for what you have built up till now.