When did you realize that you were in the wrong field?
It was my last year of college and like any other college student, I was also riddled with doubts and anxiety. I was about to become an engineer and I was supposed to feel great but inside I felt anything but that. I felt like being an engineer didn’t fit me, that I was born to do something else.
How did you get your passion and what was your reason for pursuing psychology?
I started exploring various career options like working with NGOs, teaching slum kids, joining Aam Adami Party, trying out for the Indian Navy, etc. but nothing felt right. I had realized that during the entirety of 4 years of IIT Delhi I was never content with what I was doing. The feeling of uncertainty about my future never left me.
Even after exploring so many career options nothing made sense. By that time my time at IIT Delhi had come to an end and I got placed at a good company with a good salary. From the outside everything looked perfect but, on the inside, I felt uneasy and I was also depressed.
I was not unfamiliar with the topic of mental health. Few people in my family had struggled with mental health issues. Many of my friends had confided in me about their issues and being at IIT you hear and see a lot of people struggle.
My surroundings lead me to my passion, which Is psychology.
I got very curious about mental health and started reading up on different topics of mental health. I also wanted to understand psychology by helping my own fellow peers, so I started conducting workshops in my former college. During this period when I was slowly discovering my love for psychology I was on a break and had quit my job.
After quitting your job, how did you manage everything else?
Things got hard financially and it was hard sustaining my education by myself without any support. My family and friends were also skeptical about what I was doing. My dad told me that I was wasting my time and my degree. All of these circumstances caused a lot of uneasiness and anxiety in my mind. This was the most exciting yet the most trying period of my life.
To sustain me I started taking home tuitions and my workshops in college were going really well so professors asked me to take them officially. I had met a couple of psychologists in Delhi who helped a lot and told me about different courses in psychology. I met one particular clinical psychologist who really helped a lot. I attended several of his training and found out I liked counseling and wanted to study more about it. I also helped him with his startup and got a lot of insight into starting a business.
How did you start Coach For Mind?
I soon completed my master’s in psychology while also taking a few clients. I was at a very good place in my life. My clients were really happy with me and recommended me to many people. My schedule was always full and everything was starting to fall into place. Even my family fully supported me and my dad was very proud.
The next stage was starting my business venture, Coach For Mind, through which me and my team now work with individual clients and provide group training programs (for Corporates and Educational Institutions).
Any final message for the audience?
Starting everything from scratch sounds very scary and tiring but it can lead you to your ultimate happiness. Every day is a new lesson for me and every client a new perspective. Getting to your goal is learning every day, never stopping. You just have to find that fire inside of you and harness it.
Feel free to reach out to us for counseling and psychotherapy sessions from our trained psychologists, and psychotherapists.