Imagine being able to remember 7 decks of cards??!! Nishant Kasibhatla uses his unique memory ability to train people in maximising their brain power and productivity.
What’s your story?
Many years ago, I heard someone say, “one of the best things that can happen to a person is their passion becomes their profession”. Well, that happened to me and I am so happy about it. As a teenager, I used to read a lot (mainly non-fiction books) and I came to know about the world of memory techniques. With tons of practice and lots of curiosity, I ended up creating and breaking many records in memory (memorising the sequence of 7 decks of playing cards, memorising a number consisting of 1944 digits, memorising 1200 binary digit numbers and so on). Then I participated at the World Memory Championship and became a Grand Master of Memory (GM). I am the only GM in Singapore, and later in 2011, I broke a Guinness Record in memory. I started teaching people these memory techniques when I was in college. I am doing the same 20 years later! Of course, now I teach more than memory techniques – how to learn, how to focus, how to read faster, how to achieve peak mental performance.
What excites you most about your industry?
It’s very exciting to be in the speaking/training industry where I not only get to make a difference in other people’s lives, but also get to meet people from different walks of life, learn new things and experience different cultures by travelling all over the world.
What’s your connection to Asia?
I was born in Hyderabad, India. And then lived in New Delhi for 7 years. I visited Malaysia to participate in the World Memory Championships in 2003 (this was the first time these championships were held outside of the UK). During that trip, I visited Singapore and fell in love with the country. Three years later I moved to Singapore and have been living here in this amazing country.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Without a doubt, my choice is Singapore. It’s an amazing country with so many business opportunities. Also the fact that you can easily travel (for business and relaxation) to many countries in the region is a big plus point.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
I got this from Napoleon Hill’s motivational book ‘Think and Grow Rich’, “whatever the mind of a human being can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
Who inspires you?
People who achieve extraordinary success by beating all odds really inspire me. Some of my favourites are Helen Keller, JK Rowling, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Stephen Hawking and Oprah Winfrey. These people are proof of Napoleon Hill’s quote above.
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
I recently was studying how people like me (topic experts) are launching online businesses by offering their programs as online courses. It’s mind-blowing to see the scale at which these launches are organised. For professionals like me, I believe going online is a fabulous way to scale up the business, and at the same time reach out to more people around the world. I am working on it now.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Create a detailed business plan much earlier in my business life. For the first 5 years of my business, I was just ‘winging it’. When I created a proper plan, my life was dramatically different.
How do you unwind?
Spending time with my wife and son. Listening to music. Watching movies.
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
India, for a couple of reasons.
1. I get a chance to meet up with my friends and relatives.
2. India is an amazing place. Great places to see, awesome dishes to taste and diverse traditions and customs to know and learn from. I think the Indian tourism board’s tagline for tourism in India says it all, ‘Incredible India!’
Everyone in business should read this book:
‘Screw it, let’s do it’ by Richard Branson. It’s a short book, and very inspiring. You not only get to know about the story of Richard Branson, but also learn about his simple and profound ideas as to how one can be successful in business and in life.
Shameless plug for your business:
1. Companies
Organisations in 20 countries across 5 continents have relied on my talks and presentations that are mesmerising, memorable and message-driven. Through my programs, I have helped hundreds of thousands of people, helping them challenge their limiting beliefs and achieve greater effectiveness. I deliver keynote talks and workshops for companies in ‘peak mental performance’ areas: Learning to learn, memory improvement, speed reading, razor sharp focus, motivation and success.
2. Students
I also conduct workshops for school students (Primary 5 to Secondary 4, Grades 5 to 10) in the school holidays. These workshops have helped students to achieve better grades, ace their exams and find joy in learning. More importantly the students learn “how to study” – which unfortunately many students simply don’t know.
3. Individuals
Once in a year, I conduct a public workshop for individuals. It’s called Boost Your Brain Power. In this workshop, the participants learn my step-by-step formula on memory, speed-reading and focus.
Please visit http://www.remembernishant.com/ for information.
For free peak performance resources – videos, PDFs, articles – please visit http://www.remembernishant.com/resources/
How can people connect with you?
Nishant Kasibhatla, Certified Speaking Professional
Website: http://www.remembernishant.com/
Email: Nishant (at) RememberNishant (dot) com
Phone: +65-64022310
Twitter handle?
memorynishant
—
This interview was part of the Callum Connect’s column found on The Asian Entrepreneur:
Callum Laing invests and buys small businesses in a range of industries around Asia. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is the founder & owner of Fitness-Buffet a company delivering employee wellness solutions in 12 countries. He is a Director of, amongst others, Key Person of Influence. A 40 week training program for business owners and executives.
Take the ‘Key Person of Influence’ scorecard <http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/scorecard/>
Connect with Callum here:
twitter.com/laingcallum
linkedin.com/in/callumlaing
Get his free ‘Asia Snapshot’ report from www.callumlaing.com
