At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Neelam Mehta for an exclusive interview with us. Neelam is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Coach, Consultant, Mentor, Influencer and Change Enabler. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Neelam:
Talk us through your background and your journey, please;
A daughter, wife, mom and Life and Leadership Coach. I was an above-average student in school but college was a turning point in my life.
I discovered my favourite subject that’s psychology. Understanding human behaviour and emotion also attracted me. I finished my master’s in clinical psychology and was supposed to fly abroad for my higher education in neuropsychology.
As I was studying I also learnt graphology (handwriting analysis) to up my skills. But destiny had something else planned for me and I felt really sick and couldn’t finish my studies.
Later, I got married and became a full-time homemaker. I always felt incomplete of not being able to finish my studies and have an independent identity.”
After 10 years of my marriage, my husband motivated me to resume my studies again. He supported me in my journey to find myself and my identity. I finished my life and leadership coaching from Coach for Life (USA) during the lockdown.
It was an amazing experience. I learnt so much about myself and what is that I really want from life. By the end of the course, I knew I had to get this available for people like me and not just have this on the Corporate level.
Coaching is an amazing experience and everyone should have a coach as a partner to achieve and understand what they want in life so have a more fulfilling experience.”
I believe in the mantra – you can start late, look different, be uncertain and yet succeed if you put your heart into it.
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Coach’?
I always knew I wanted to do something. One of my friend suggested me to try coaching for my ownself to know what missing in my life. When I did my life coaching session I knew I want to take this forward as my career. I knew, I can really help people feel and inspire them to be what they really wanted to.
I knew there are many people who want to do so much in life but not having someone to motivate them to push them thru their journey they don’t even try.”
So I really wanted to create awareness regarding coaching and get it into the mainstream field. Nowadays everyone just thinks they need a counsellor when they just need a little push a little nudge and a safe space to really feel vulnerable and heard and I knew coaching helps you with it.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
As a person, my biggest challenge was Fear of Failure. I always thought what if I start something and I am not able to deliver my best or what I promised for.
I always had a habit of reading books. So one of the quote that motivated me was “If you aren’t living your life for yourself then who is going to live it for you?”
It pushed me to think and helped me realise that I am the one who is stopping myself from being my highest version. With coaching, I understood that true freedom lies in our challenges, our vulnerabilities our struggles and our fear. Once you embrace them and accept yourself you are unstoppable.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
> Growth mindset
> Taking responsibility for our actions
> Believing in yourself
> Being comfortable with the unknown
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
For me success it’s not something materialistic, it’s more of how I have grown from my past version and trying to reach my higher version.
These are a few keys to my success as a person:
(a) Accepting and loving myself.
(b) Not waiting for closures
(c) Standing up for myself
(d) Resourcefulness
(e) Taking small steps toward your goals
(f) Celebrating life
What advice would you give to our readers?
I would love my readers to know “There a people less qualified than you, Doing things you wanted to do, Simply because they decided to believe in themselves”
Believing in yourself is the key to everything. You can learn as much as you want but if you doubt yourself no one will be able to help you. You are your own motivation.”
Anybody can walk with you but the point is to reach somewhere you also need to walk. In the story of your life don’t be the victim but be the hero of your life.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
As a life coach, receiving positive feedback from those who have been inspired by my social media content and coaching sessions/programs gives me a great sense of satisfaction and motivation.
The knowledge that my guidance has facilitated positive shifts in my clients lives fills me with a sense of pride, as I view their success as my own.
Witnessing my clients’ breakthroughs is an immensely gratifying experience for me. It energizes me to continue delivering high-quality content and coaching services, and to offer even more value to my clients.
Their progress and achievements serve as a testament to the efficacy of my approach and inspire me to push even harder to help them reach their goals.”
In conclusion, being a life coach is a truly rewarding experience, and it is immensely satisfying to see my clients thrive and succeed. Their success drives me to be the best coach I can be, and to continue delivering top-notch coaching services and content to help them achieve their goals.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
