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 Gouri Patil for an exclusive interview with us. Gouri is a Leader, Entrepreneur, Coach, Mentor, Trainer, Consultant and Change Enabler. She is the Founder at Manasa Guidance. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Gouri:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
My professional journey spans across the Aviation industry (working inflight to being a trainer), to being an educator and presently a Counsellor- Career and Personal in my venture MANASA GUIDANCE.
Counselling and Soft Skill Training are two niches that I have always been passionate with. This is something that I have always enjoyed doing and feel fulfilled with. When you do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work. I can continue doing it over and over”
My qualifications in the field of Career counselling include Green Belt certification for Global Career Counsellor from the University in association with UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) as well as certification for Basic and Advanced REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy) methods of Personal counselling with Dr. Minnu Bhosale of the Institute of Human Technology.
The trainings combined with relevant work experience have been instrumental in the creation of Manasa Guidance – a one-stop solution to go from Doubts to Decisions regarding course, career, and more.
Touched the clouds, delved into the minds, explored knowledge and information, landed safely in the lap of guidance! Well, that is a brief description of my journey till now.
Over the years I have taken career breaks for family. During these times I have upgraded my qualifications- Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management (PGDHRM), taken courses, and attended seminars/webinars on topics ranging from Neuroplasticity, Personal Development, Life Coaching, Financial literacy, Building and sustaining business to name a few.
Learning is what keeps me motivated”
How did you discover your passion?
Providing solutions when approached with problems, disentangling knots (literally) patiently, bringing about a change in one’s life and mindset through conversations, active listening, being a finisher made me realize the things I most enjoy.
When my clients mention the happiness and clarity they experience due to a change in their mindset, start looking at different options objectively, challenge their limiting beliefs through the conversations in our sessions it makes me feel fulfilled.
I keep updating myself so that I can give my clients the best answer they are looking for to their queries.”
There is a constant dialogue in my mind or search for how to better the situation for myself and those around me. Counselling – whether career and personal, as well as soft skill training or Life skills training, allows me to do that.
I truly believe happy individuals make happy societies and in turn a Happy Nation!
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Challenges spring up in every aspect of our lives. Some we anticipate, some come out of nowhere.”
My goal is clear that is to assist as many students, parents and professionals as possible to make informed choices regarding their courses, careers and to build their personalities through life skills training.
Setbacks are inevitable. What pushes me is the awareness that many people are waiting to benefit from the guidance and support I can provide.”
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
This quote aptly describes my motivation! However, I also strongly believe there is a lot to learn and be motivated by people around you.
My family demonstrates this by doing what they like, giving it their all, making changes where required, getting up and moving on after a setback.
Watching the house-helps be happy in their limited means, laugh about their problems makes you realize the privileges you have and a reminder to give it your all. That’s a reminder to be grateful for what you have”
The journey of my students and clients is the greatest motivator for me to keep going inspite of disappointments.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Some of the activities that I believe have shaped my thinking and helped me grow as a person over the years are:
> Self-reflection
> Self-awareness
> Reading various topics from spirituality to biographies, motivational and fiction books
> Building a growth mindset
> Looking at challenges as opportunities to learn and grow
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Success for me is a journey, not a destination. Success can mean different things at different times to different people.
For me, some of the keys to success in any area of life would involve:
– Communication
– Respect
– Alignment of action to goals
– Time management
– Emotional Quotient
– Problem solving skills
– Physical & Mental well-being
– Attitude
What advice would you give to our readers and to those aspiring to do something similar?
Would like to share my thoughts rather than advice.
Like fingerprints each one of us is UNIQUE. We have our strengths, areas of improvement, skills, talents, and attitudes. We hear it often, read it on social media regularly, still fail to internalise it and that is – YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH!
Understanding your strengths and areas of improvement gives you the tools to better yourself for yourself. If you love and respect yourself you can do it for others!
A simple analogy – Instructions inflight to wear your oxygen mask first before putting it on an infant or another person! Only if you are fine can you help others.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Everyday is a new day. People have been at the heart of everything I do. There are new questions, new challenges, unique solutions, new ways to effectively communicate ideas and deliver training to bring about the desired change, all of which are exciting.
In short, meeting new people regularly, building roadmaps for careers, motivating them, challenging thoughts, belief systems, building healthy processes, following the journey of successful clients, all make it a fulfilling journey
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.
