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 Archana Singhal for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Psychologist, Therapist, 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 Archana:
We are aware of your contributions to the ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey, please;
My professional journey as a counsellor and family therapist started with my inbuilt desire to help others deal with issues our society did not acknowledge existed.
After I left my job as an educator at a well-known public school in Delhi, my life went through several transitions, like being a wife, a daughter-in-law and a too-soon mom.
Despite the family set-up wasn’t conducive for me to do something for myself, my bent towards being a forever and keen learner kept me going and here I am.”
I am a lifetime member of the Counsellors Council of India and a council member of the WICCI-National Psychological Wellbeing Council.
As of now at Mindwell Counsel, I work with varied age groups globally and strive to make people grow as a person and deal efficiently with their mental health concerns, eventually in an independent manner.
How did you discover your passion?
As I mentioned, I am a keen learner. During the time I was teaching, I realized counselling was something I would love to do but I guess there’s right time for everything. I started with it a little later.
Meanwhile, I learnt the Chinese language and joined a family business too while going through all major life transitions.
It was difficult to do everything yet it pained me to see how people are so very insensitive towards mental health issues.”
My natural listening and helping skills and the desire to break the stigma that revolves around such issues drove me to take it up as a profession.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I agree there’s a lot of stress in this profession with other drawbacks like slow change rate, dealing with painful process of working through problems itself and the emotional toll, loads of record keeping and paperwork involved along with low pay rate, yet I would choose to do this every day.
That’s because all this is worth it due to the improvement and positive changes I am able to bring in lives of fellow humans eventually.
This immense satisfaction and sense of fulfilment of being able to bring transformation are what keeps me going.”
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My biggest motivation has been my attitude of never giving up. I had my own share of failures and disappointments in life but that somehow fueled me to try harder.
Also, I wanted my kids to see me doing what I love and live for myself too along with for others. This feeling became prominent when my younger one, my daughter was born.
Human nature is complex and the task of understanding and simplifying it must be a life skill, necessary for all to lead a happy life. I am glad I am contributing to the field of mental health services in some way!
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
> Being mindful, kind and courageous.
> Never giving up and coming out stronger in adversity
> Practicing self-love and working on my self-growth.
> Taking extreme ownership and responsibility for my actions.
> Ability to take risks & venture into uncharted territories.
> Setting and guarding my boundaries.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
My motivation comes from determination and discipline. The motivation to work hard and practice and stay disciplined comes from the desire to master my skill to keep learning something new, and my genuine enjoyment for my purpose. I am good at setting boundaries and know how to guard them too.
I read a lot, I meditate and being a trained yoga teacher has helped me myself a lot. I am in a habit of taking micro-breaks, that helps me maintain a balance and shun burnout I keep the inflow of positivity high so that focus is retained always.”
And above all, being the reason behind someone finding their way in life and getting a breakthrough is what keeps me going!
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
– Consistency
– Passion with vision
– Willingness and determination to step out of the comfort zone.
– Setting and prioritizing goals
– Courage
– Learning from mistakes
– Never give up attitude
– Discipline
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
(a) Learn from people you admire. He who learns from his own mistakes is smart. He who learns from the mistakes of others is a genius.
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.
