Episode 63 | Mindset Matters with Meera Sharma

Sophia: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Boss It Podcast. Today, I am extremely excited to have Meera on the show with me. And you just heard from her intro, she is spectacular. She is all in, and she's talented. She has all the things going for her. But I want her to get a little philosophical with us. She's going to tell us what her mantra is, and then jump right into her story. So hello, Meera. How are you doing today?  

Meera: Hi Sophia, I'm excited to be on the show. And I love to just begin. you just did then. What weights make them feel great during the week. I love it.  

Sophia: Yes. Well, you're spectacular. I'm a fangirl, for sure.  

Meera: So nice. I love what you're doing as well. 

Sophia: So tell us, is there a mantra or a slogan or something that you tell yourself on a regular basis that keeps you motivated and keeps you going? 

Meera: So I have some affirmations and stuff. I always put this on my social accounts. I'll put my daily affirmation. But like my personal quote that I love, it gets me through life, and most face me is rejection is redirection. And I think it's because I feel like you need some time, especially when I look back at life, I feel a lot of thoughts in the past couple of years. It's a pandemic that has hit off in the past year, sorry. I have been doing a lot of reflection on life. And I feel at the time, something might not work out. But when you look back, actually, that was such a good thing. It didn't work out because it's redirecting you. So always say that word. I want everyone to know that no matter what you did, it might not be working out now, but you'll get there and it's all good. And it's just like a change in how we view failure. Like It's not really a bad thing. It's just a learning curve. It's all about the mindset.  

Sophia: I love that. Rejection is redirection. And as you said that, immediately, I had even flashes of my past. And the crazy story, I won't get into mine right now, but that is so true. That is spot on. I'm going to definitely write that on my post-it wall. That's fantastic. Okay, so tell us, maybe you can even allude to this mantra. What is your story? How did you get into developing a new platform? And you can talk a little bit about that. You have a podcast. So give us, it all. Tell our community what you're up to. 

Meera: So basically, it started years ago. and I used to all my friends who always need motivation. And they'd always come to me, and I would just like, this one's going down. And they're like, oh, should I be doing this? I'll just be like, oh yes, you can do it. Be that little pep talk. It's just something I've always been about. And from now, I thought to myself, 'Ooh, what's going to happen when I'm not around or when I'm not with my friends, et cetera?' So I was like, let me just write a book and pull the quotes. And so I did that, and I've got a book called The Little Book of Sass on Amazon. And it's basically, the idea is you open up a page when you're feeling down or you need that kick of motivation. And there's going to be a quote there that will just remind you that you're the boss, and you can get on with it and do everything you want to do. So from there, after that, I ended up going on this television show in the UK. And then on the back of that, I ended up getting quite a lot of press and loads of things of writing articles on representation, motivations so that was kind of like became my niche. And so, fast forward to this year, I was like, pandemic com fancy happened last year. 

Sorry. But over the Christmas holidays, normally I'd go away for Christmas in the fario. This time we were all at home, and I was like, you know what? I'm not going to waste this time at home. I'm going to make the most of it. And I'd been wanting to sell my own website and platform for years. And my book, and I actually was like, no, I've got the time now. It was a perfect opportunity. And it's actually when people need it the most because we've all been through such rubbish. We all just need that kickstart to get us back into the real world. So that's why we launched my website, The School of Sass, which is basically teaching us how to channel that in a sass. 

And what I'm talking about sass, I'm talking about being self-assured, spirited and strong, bold, rather than any negative connotations with the word. So from there, I did that in January, and it's all about letters, articles on there to keep you motivated. And then I've also got that truffle aspect when the world started to open up now. Because I think I wanted it to be relatable to the woman I am as well as my friends and what we all like to show our interests. You can enjoy traveling, you can enjoy the style, career-oriented, side hustles, that kind of vibe, all that on there. And then I relaunched my Instagram page as well. So there is more information on there with ways to stay self-assured, spirited, boulder, et cetera. And then into June 2021, the opportunity came up to partner with Rukus Avenue and Dash Radio to have my own show. So of course, this would be great. And yes, now I've got my show on there every Monday at 11:00 AM PST. It's called The Sass Life, and I interview women in their journey in various industries. It's just to see how they've got to where they've got to. So I interviewed, Amanza from Selling Sunset to Sydney Commons to so many different ladies. And it's just a great way that keeps me inspired as well. And it's just a great way to show people out there that you can't achieve your dreams. You just need to believe in yourself and channel that inner confidence. So yes, that's where I'm at right now.  

Sophia: I love that. I love that. And it all came from the desire to motivate. And your friends, obviously, your ability to do that. So there's no doubt that you'd be able to do it for more than just your inner circle. You can do that with all women. And I love that you've opened up your platform on all the media channels, including Rukus Avenue and Dash, which is great because, for anyone who doesn't know, Rukus Avenue Radio is the largest South Asian online radio station. And South Asian women, I feel we need to really give ourselves those pep talks because perhaps we didn't have that in our formative years of elevating our status and being able to accomplish anything. It wasn't the fault of anybody, it was generational constraints. I had placed women in those situations, but now that we're coming out of that and we are considered equal in the workplace, and we're being able to go through and finish our post-secondary education. We, no doubt, have to elevate this generation and any generations coming. And that. So you're working all on mindset and the platforms will list out all the platforms at the end so people can give you a follow on Instagram and check out your website. And then, if you're listening to Rukus Avenue Radio through the Dash Radio app, you can catch her at 10:00 AM PST. So, you can fix your time zones in there. So that's fantastic. And I know you don't want to touch on it too much, but just to give our listeners perspective, you are doing this on the side at the moment. This is not your full-time career.  

Meera: Yes, so this is my side hustle because I think it's been really great to keep myself occupied during the pandemic as well. And it means I can help other people outside of that. So it's just something I enjoy doing. I like to keep myself busy. So I was like, you know what? This is a great side hustle to have. And I'm also actually training to be a life coach as well. Expand the platform, so I do like to keep myself really busy. 

Sophia: I know. I'm doing life coaching as well. I think because what happened was, well, I had another platform, and I'll just go quickly to that. But I had another platform on Instagram. It's my own personal. For years, people kept asking me if I was a coach, and I didn't understand because I was working full-time in the hospital. And I was like, I wasn't in that world. I was like, I don't know what they keep asking me if I'm a coach. And then I realized, when I looked at the layout of my spread on Insta I was like, image, quote, image, quote, image, quote. And then I was like, oh my gosh. 

Meera: Great for your platform as well. Everything you're doing, it just makes sense that you do coaching as well because you do loads.  

Sophia: I know. Don't ask me yet because I don't know what I'm up to half of the time. 

Meera: Well, you have a kid, and you're doing everything else, and that's great.  

Sophia: Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I think any type of life coaching will help elevate your entire platform because a lot of what we do is we have to motivate individuals. And having that training will help you give better tools to really elevate. And that's what I found through my teeth, like through what I'm learning as well. 

Meera: Exactly. Yes, so interesting. The stuff that you learn, I'm like, ooh, that's a great way to look at things. It's great for yourself because you just talk and open all your knowledge. 

Sophia: Exactly. I felt like I'm coaching myself now. Maybe I should go to therapy, but I feel I can do this, and this is working out fine too. 

Meera: Exactly. Yes, that's so interesting. I've actually really enjoyed that. So I just thought that it's actually the perfect time. Like you say, to just go deeper into stuff and help people on an individual basis because I've done mentoring in the past, which is obviously a completely different thing. And I was like, actually on the back of that and go into like career coaching and things. There's so many fish you can go into in coaching.  

Sophia: Yes, you can pick any like, I don't want to say niche, but you can pick something very specific and say, I'm going to help individuals in this line of work as a life coach, and base your whole entire platform on that. So I love how you're, moving in that direction. It's so beautiful. And just giving back to the community, I think is something that we all need to do a little bit more. And again, being a minority, I don't know how many people have taken on that vehicle of work. In my area, we're in Toronto, it's not as I'm sure there is, but I haven't seen many in the public eye who are of South Asian descent and background taking on that line of work. We were really in the traditional roles still.  

Meera: Yes, it's true. I feel like the wellness industry, in general, is quite a Caucasian phase that isn't many women of color in it. So that's why it's quite interesting, which I'm surprised. Especially when you look at the history and the culture in the east and stuff, especially when it comes to, things, I have ages and stuff. It's all about a healthy mindset and yoga and things like that.  

Sophia: I think Ayurveda and yoga and all are looked at as very spiritual and not so much as a career. Where a career would be like, you're becoming a doctor and that's your wellness.  

Meera: I think it's a lot to that. A lot of people, you're right, go down the doctor, lawyer, or the most stable business careers.  

Sophia: Yes. Dentists, pharmacists. And when you watch Netflix, I feel like we're watching a Netflix series and they had representation, but all of the South Asian women were either scientists or doctors. 

Meera: Yes. I feel like they need to move away from that because I don't see much on representation and television and movies. And I'll give it that America is getting so much more back because, obviously, you do get different storylines. Jameela Jamil is always playing an interesting character. Mindy's is being a doctor as well, and like the Mindy shows. So it'd be great to see more. All of a sudden, Disney is doing quite a few. I saw this one with the gal who's a DJ for kids. So I think that'll help the generation, and realize they can go into other career paths.  

Sophia: Yes, exactly. My youngest wants to be in Hollywood right now. So I'm a little concerned about that. But we'll see what happens. 

Okay, let's go into advice time. Give us one piece of advice you wish you knew prior to starting your entrepreneurship journey.  

Meera: Okay, so prior to career and entrepreneur in general, and I think what I tell my younger self and what I tell everyone is don't be afraid to just put yourself out there, and ask for things. Because I think when I look back, I'm not saying go out to people and say, I want this, or get me this job and stuff like that. They wouldn't need to be doing that like if you don't put yourself out there or you don't send that email or you don't apply for that job, how are you going to know whether you're going to get it? So I think it's just doing it and having that inner confidence to know that yes, you can do it. You don't need to think that you're only less than such and such. And you know, you just go in for those opportunities. I'm putting in the hard work. It's the key. 

Sophia: It's so key. And I think, again goes back to all of your upbringing in your formative years about how, perhaps you did get this image of yourself as being less than, and that's why you don't feel worthy of even placing yourself in that opportunity. I have the quote behind me, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take." And that by chance, it's behind me. But there are other quotes that are just basically saying, 'You'll miss every shot that you didn't take.'Things like that, right? 

Meera: Exactly.  

Sophia: So I love that.  

Meera: If I can note the life mantra, actually, I'm one of those, it's better to just do it than think, oh, what would have happened if I'd done it? Well, if you've done it, at least, you know if it didn't go well. Or maybe you shouldn't have gone on that crazy trip, but it was fun and you got a story.  

Sophia: That's it. It's all about the journey. And I think in entrepreneurship, we all think the destination is the goal. But really it's the experience and the personal growth you get when you're on the journey. It's definitely not an uphill climb the whole way. You're going to have a lot of valleys and a lot of pitfalls. And how do you overcome that and grow from that? So that's fantastic. Take the shot. Take it. Why would you wait?  
 
I have to say though, sometimes people will jump in and they're not prepared. So I do say make a plan. Like, don't be haphazard. Like, have a good strategy.

Meera: Yes. Like no way you want to go. I think goals and plans are so important. So it's having those goals, like having the end goal, and then having a plan on how you're going to get there. But being able to pivot so you don't have to be so restricted in the sense of, 'Oh, this is my plan. And something must say something.' Let's say the pandemic happened, obviously. So a lot of us just do messages because you can't do public speaking, you couldn't do any of that. So you don't just panic. Oh, it's all over. You think, okay, how can I pivot this to do something else? 

And obviously, you've got digital, social media, and all the platforms. So you just have to pivot your plans basically, or if you wanted to try something like wanting to travel loads. Again, we're all restricted but you don't think, oh, it's the end. Or you can do all your research where you want to go, and then when the world is opening up now then you can go. I think, definitely, agree. Your goals and planning, don't just wake up and be like, I'm want to become this and just walk into it. You need to have a plan and some ideas.  

Sophia: Yes, exactly. A plan, I think, for many individuals listening, if they're considering a side hustle and don't just quit your nine to five. Yes, don't.  

Because you know, you will have those, unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic or anything. Pick us to pick something. As for us, with Walmart, we got shut down twice. The products were sitting on the shelves. so, those are things that we wouldn't have expected, but we pivoted and just, as you said, you do have to have a strategy. But has a vision, I'd love that you have that vision and then you have that plan to get to that vision. That's wonderful.  

Meera: Exactly. Also, I think people have sometimes an idea that goals can only be set to start the year. And once it's set, if you can't do anything, but you can actually change them every week. You can change them and add to them, they can change so much. You don't need to be so fixed with it necessarily. 

Sophia: And you're leading right into the next question. How do you set your goals? Do you do goal setting for yourself? And how do you manage the time around your goal setting? 

Meera: Yes, I am a femme who believes in goals. So I'll have my big goal and my end goal. But then I'll break it up into different goals, so I fit into smaller goals. And I think that's key, because some people, when you have this big goal, it's like, ah, how do I get there? And if you feel overwhelmed by it, then you're not going to put in the work to get to it. So that's why, I think, it's really important to have your goal and then break it down into smaller pieces. And then even when it comes to weekly things and slot it into your week, let's say your goal is to grow your following on social media. Let's just say that's a goal. So you then would set aside time, look at your week, look at your schedule, and if you're doing this on the side and working nine to five, then find a day, maybe it's on a weekend, or in the evening where you've got some time and literally set aside that time. And then in that time, work on that like content planning, scheduling all your posts, et cetera, et cetera. So then you're never going to be behind. 

 So I think that's when it comes to goal setting, it's really important to have your goal and then look at your schedule and be realistic about it as well. If you're really busy and if you, let's take the example, you got kids and you're doing all this other stuff and working, then you have to be realistic in what you can do. So it's better to do smaller steps than taking a big step and then feeling like, oh God, I didn't do it. And then you give up. If you take those small steps, that's going to motivate you more to keep going.  

Sophia: That is so key. I have to say, so many people overload their commitment. And then they feel like they suck. But it's not that they suck, its situation is not... Yes, you can't do everything and you have other priorities. We don't live in this work silo. Especially with the pandemic, everyone was sitting on top of each other at home.  

Meera: It's not healthy as well.  

Sophia: I know. And I used to set it so well like break it down into smaller pieces. It could be even with the social media example, you can't schedule all the posts at once, so just schedule two. And then do a two a day because you could steal that hour however long it takes you to do a post. That smallest chunk of time when maybe the baby's sleeping or, you know what I'm saying?  

Meera: Yes, exactly. Working around your orient is you're working around your already their schedule, and then you'll put it in the other things you want to do. And then you won't feel so stressed by it. That's why I think I like having a schedule and having a routine. As a goal in a plan is really important because that's how, even when I speak to a lot of women on my show and stuff like that, that's how they've got to where they've got to, because you do have to have that level of organization in it as well. You can't just be like, oh, I want to do all this. And then it's like, well, you're not really setting aside the time to do it so how are you going to get it done?  

Sophia: I think, and this is what I've started doing as well, basically if I have a to-do list, the to-do list has to be scheduled into the calendar.  

 What's a good example? Like I have to do a couple of deliverables for the team, and they're on the to-do list. But if I don't have the to-do list item, like scheduled today at 3:00 PM, so an hour to do this to-do, it ain't getting done. So it gets blocked down. 

Meera: That's such a good idea. Yes, I think blocking things out on your calendar, having your note, your to-do list, and like spreadsheets and things like that, or just Google docs. It's just a great way to stay organized.  

Sophia: Oh my gosh. Yes. So we talk a lot about it here. I use a project management tool. We don't have to use that. You can even use a Google sheet or whatever, and you just make your tabs. You put it down. I liked going digital because then I can share if somebody decides to jump in and help. I mean, not everyone is there yet, but once you start scaling, you're going to want to be on the cloud. And then you can access it anywhere as well like on your phone. I like having paper too. I do. have a paper agenda. I don't know if you have a paper agenda as well.  

Meera: Same, like a hookup, but once inside of me, what I need to do. And I think it makes you feel good as well, you got a big to-do list and by the end of it or halfway through the day, it's like, oh yes, I ticked all that off. 

Sophia: I love it. And their serotonin dopamine is released every time you check something off. So even if it's not on the book, write it down and cross it off. Like say, you decided to go for that walk. That wasn't scheduled, and you're like, I took the walk.  

Meera: Exactly, because you'll feel good about it. And then you'll just motivate yourself to do more, and you'll get more done.  

Sophia: Massive action and momentum. And that also leads into our next question for you. All about mental health. So we talked about keeping everything in check and keeping yourself motivated. What do you do for your personal mental health? Is there something that you do regularly that keeps you in check?  

Meera: Yes. I used to be the worst of this. I want to be completely honest. Before the pandemic hit, I was very much like going to work, commuting, et cetera, et cetera. And then on the weekends, I was either working on side hustles and trying to do everything. And it was like, well, I wasn't really prioritizing stuff that I should be prioritizing. I think no one needs to have been out in terms of for no one. So what I do know is, I will literally have my moments of self-care, whether that's, I start my day with exercise. Because I think something like exercise or yoga is actually a really good self-care. It doesn't necessarily mean going and having a bath soak or whatever, or like getting your nails done. But, obviously, that self-care. But if you're not that kind of person, then exercise is a great way. So I always start my morning. I don't turn my phone on when I wake up. I'll do my workouts, love Sydney Common's workouts, so I do them. And then I'll do that some yoga, and then obviously get ready. And then when I start my work and day, that's when I'll turn my phone on and I won't reply to messages. Do you follow that? Because I think morning and have your morning routine sets the tone for the day. So that's really important to me. I do have me throughout the day. Sometimes I'll break my day off if I'm feeling a bit like, I'll go for a walk. I think like fresh air. Especially if you live near nature, it's just a great way to go outside. Even like a 15-minute walk to clear your heads, do that. And then I'll do reading and stuff. Obviously, I've got the TV shows that I enjoy watching because I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm not saying, it's funny the whole day watching Netflix. Because you know how some people are like, oh, you can't watch television or you're not going to get anything done. You should be working on your goals 24/7. I'm just not about that. You don't need to do that. That's just no. So yes, they're the things. And then meditation, I am a firm believer in positive, affirmations and stuff. So that's how I do it. And then on Sunday, I try to set some time to myself where I can just read a book or watch some YouTube videos or something that I enjoy for myself. It makes my mind rest.  

Sophia: Yes. I love that. And it's all about like you said, letting your mind rest, having that ability to turn off that frontal lobe executive firing at all times. Although it's always firing, you don't need to put the pressure on. They don't have to go into over-boil mode. So I think, yes, that takeaway is like anything that makes you feel that you can rest because even when you exercise, you're getting that form of rest. 

Meera: It's good for your body as well. And I think that how you start your morning and even like how you go to sleep as well. A morning and bedtime routine should be good because I also enjoy doing gratitude. So write out five things that I'm grateful for before I go to sleep, and that's another thing to just make you feel better before you go to sleep. And then, yes, I always turn my phone off at a certain time at night. Don't get into the habit of sometimes you can see work emails or sometimes you can start replying to friend's messages, and before you know it's your whole evening is gone. You've got to be quite disciplined, and I've definitely gotten better at doing that.  

Sophia: Oh yes. When you schedule things out, then you don't spend the whole day on your phone and watching YouTube or Netflix, you say, okay, well I'm closing the laptop, turning off the phone, or whatever it may be. And I'm going to spend time doing this from 8:00 PM onwards. So whenever you feel like you're turning off for the day. as entrepreneurs, we do get into the habit of working late hours, working constantly. I know many people who are listening have a tendency to respond to their emails as soon as they come in, and respond to their text messages, respond to their direct messages or DM's and Instagram. And I say, don't do that. I say, really schedule the time to check your emails, schedule your time for your Instagram. So that way you can take that restful time, like you said, to go for that walk without interruption, or watch your Netflix show without interruption. I love that, that's beautiful. And of course, I'm a yoga too, I'm a meditator so I totally get all of that.  

Meera: I love it. Yes, because I think with phones and social media and stuff, that's given this instant reply culture. And I think we can feel, like, oh, someone sent us a message. We must reply. But I think it's totally fine not to. If you're not wanting to reply, then you don't have to. No one's forcing you. I actually read a really interesting book called How To Break Up With Your Phone, and this is just so good. How being on your phone all the time, is bad for your brain and things like that.  

Sophia: I love that. Meera, this was so great. Thank you for coming on and sharing all your wisdom with our community and with all the listeners. Before we sign off, is there anything else that we should know, any other takeaways, anything else that you feel that would inspire, that would motivate the audience that's listening?

Meera: Well, I just want to say much of thank you for having me on the show. I've really enjoyed chatting with you. I think you're doing great stuff. Also, I want to say, and then apart from that, I want everyone listening to know that if you've got a dream, you've got where you want to be in life, don't feel you can't get there. You can. Just put in the work, dream big, and have to set those goals, and you'll be fine. Yes, I guess social, feel free to follow me on social, @theschoolofsass on Instagram. And then my own one is @meerasharm. And then theschoolofsass.com for everything also is on there as well.  

Sophia: Fantastic. I'm going to ensure that we have all the hyperlinks to her Instagram, to her web page, and you have two Instagram accounts. So they have your Instagram account plus your show's Instagram account. And you guys can catch her every Monday, you said?  

Meera: Yep, at 11 AM PST.  

On Dash Radio, on Rukus Radio station. 

Sophia: Thank you again for joining the show. Guys, remember to make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all. And we'll see you guys again next week. Take care. Bye.