Untether Your Life

85: Dr. Seema Desai - Transformational Success Coach on Gratitude, Finding Calm in the Chaos, and All Things Happy and Human

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There's a concept in Eastern wisdom tradition called sangha, which centers on the power of community. When I launched Untether Your Life two years ago, I had no idea what an incredible sangha awaited me with the podcasting ecosystem.

Connecting with fellow storytellers and content creators has led to impactful collaborations. It's exposed me to life-changing frameworks, and it's given me many a good chuckle. One of these podcasters is this week's guest, Dr. Seema Desai.

Seema is a transformational success coach and speaker, who helps high-achieving leaders go from stressed and overwhelmed to productive and fulfilled.

She's the author of the book Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides and co-host of the Happy and Human podcast. Seema recently served as Co-President of the Austin chapter of the influential non-profit Pratham USA, which aims to create learning equity for underserved children in India and globally. In a former life, she was also a dentist.

We touched on so many incredible topics in this discussion, including:

  • A revisiting of the famous Steve Jobs quote that "you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards;" understanding what to do in the present, when all those dots seem like a giant, jumbled mess.
  • Finding “Calm in the Chaos” (which, interestingly enough, is the title of Seema’s course)
  • Seema’s book Connected, which introduces the concept of guides and guards to help us tap into our intuition and higher selves, while better understanding the survival mechanism underlying the frantic, fight-flight state we often find ourselves in.
  • How Seema applied the "guides and guards" framework to parenting with her own children.
  • The background and mission of Happy and Human, which Seema and co-host Dinesh Melwani launched to amplify voices of the South Asian diaspora, and share the powerful life lessons they've picked up as parents, coaches, attorneys / dentists, yoga experts, surfers, and incorrigible goofballs.
  • Seema’s decision to transition from a career as a dentist to a transformation success coach and speaker.
  • The pitfalls of “checkbox syndrome” / “if then fallacy,” and how this myopic external focus yields an imperfect path to happiness.
  • The evolution of South Asians’ image in the United States, from one-dimensional spelling bee champion “robots,” to thought leaders with a “seat at the table.”
  • The power of simple, everyday practices like gratitude, curiosity, and focusing on our breath

    • To learn more about Seema, please visit her at drseemadesai.com, check out the Happy and Human podcast, or connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn.

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    Untether Your LifeBy Nikhil Torsekar & Shelly Sood
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