The truth is, it can be exhausting to have a neurodiverse family, regardless if it's you or another member of your family.

In addition to the regular day-to-day challenges of managing a family, there is also a need to balance appointments, adjust to difficult social settings, deal with the expectations of others in a way that many people would not be able to understand.

But also, you don't want to complain. You don't want to admit that it's hard because you don't want people to think you can't handle it. It leads to people's pity, their avoidance, and especially their unwarranted advice.

In today's very personal episode, I talk about the challenges we've experienced as a family to share our experiences, in the hopes that, if you also have a neurodiverse family and you're too scared to admit it, you can find solace in knowing you're not alone with your challenges.

If you would like to learn more about how to change your narrative, please contact me at www.sarahkhan.org or via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org

Do you ever think, "I know I should be happy, but..."

One of the cornerstones of determining the gap between where you are and where you want to be and building that bridge, is determining what makes you happy.

Not because you need to be happy all the time.

Not because you're not grateful for your life and the things that should bring you happiness.

But because being able define it plays a part in understanding how to access it.

In this episode, we chat about the need to compartmentalize our energy as it relates to being low vibe and high vibe (without the woo woo foo foo) and how to determine what brings us happiness when we need to access it as a tool.

If you would like to learn more about your narratives and what's holding you back from getting where you are, I have two new client spaces open for you to book.

Book a complimentary call at www.SarahKhan.org to learn more.

Often the concept of active listening is thrown around a lot because we recognize that listening is important.

However, true listening goes beyond active listening to empathetic listening. Also the differences may seem small, in fact listening from the place of empathy shifts the exchange of communication from speaker and listener to connection and understanding.

In this episode, we blast through what is known about active listening, and go into detail about how to become a more empathetic listener, as listed below.

If you would like to know more about how to become a more empathetic listener, send me a DM on LinkedIn:

www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org/

Forever grateful,

The Depressed Mom Boss

To become an empathetic listener, you will need the following.

1. Know your intention. The intention is not to listen but to connect. 

2. You need to stop multitasking and focus on the one thing– the speaker.

3.  Pay attention to body language. Empathetic listening is a whole body experience which can actually prove intention.

4.  Be non-judgmental. There is no place for outcomes, assessments or evaluations with empathetic listening. Just create the space for the speaker to share.

5.  Be patient  because empathy and patience are in the exact same sphere, so to be an empathetic listener, you need to be a patient person that is fully present.

6.  Honour the awkward silence. Tolerate it because silence is trust.

7. Stop paraphrasing because it usually isn’t for the benefit of the speaker, but for our own benefit for US to process the information.

8. Don’t make it about you. Empathetic listening isn’t about you. It’s about them.

In this episode, we chat about how the simple phrase, Be Good", became the basis of the insecurities of rejection and how that followed me into entrepreneurship.

We touch on RSD, Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, which in itself isn't a disorder, but a cluster of symptoms sometimes associated with mental health and ADHD, and how kindness can impact that feeling of rejection.

If you would like to learn more about how your narratives can be affected by kindness as your lens, please send me a DM on linked in,

www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org/

Diversity is a huge subject and it is as much about finding our similarities as it is celebrating our differences.

However, what is not spoken of a lot, are the constraints that sometimes exist coming from a different culture, and it's not always because of the new culture that we have moved into, but the one that we have come from.

In this episode of Confronting, I share a talk I had given to a network of budding, female entrepreneurs that were immigrants about the importance of mental health on overall wellbeing.

If you would like to chat more about some of the challenges that you experience, and the narratives that you have as it relates to coming from another culture, send me a message on my LinkedIn to book a complimentary 30-minute call.

Sometimes it's hard to know if the way that you present yourself in public is the true face of who you actually are. Depending on situations, we change our faces to reflect what we want others to see and although we aren't trying to be deceptive, we are also not being honest with others or even ourselves.

In this episode, I talk about perfectionism, and how that was another face of my mental illness. However, I only realized that after coming to terms with the fact that a painful event was not the story I had to live my life by.

If you would like to know how to change your narratives, please send me a direct message on my LinkedIn at Sarahkhan-org.

In this episode, The Narratives We Cling To, is the second installment of last week's episode, The Face of Comparison (here is Part 1 of this conversation: ).

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/91VWGGSurIb

I discuss how we compare ourselves to others because of a narrative we've told ourselves, with the uncomfortable possibility that we're doing it on purpose to keep us down.

We dive into a very personal example for me, recognizing that what we think is the root cause of the comparison, may be something else entirely different.

Please comment on, rate, review and share this episode, so that others can benefit from the info that I share.

If you would like me to help you determine and change the narratives that don't serve you, send me a DM on my LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org

Comparison is a topic that is brought up in the personal growth and development world.

Regardless of the work that we do on ourselves and trying to have a positive mindset, the outwardly meek, yet inwardly the most arrogant issue we have is comparison.

To some, like myself, it's a another face of my mental health issues.

In this episode, we're going to talk about comparison, diving into my mindset because of a mastermind group I am a part of, that 'comparatively, everyone is more successful than me'. Absolutely no one in the group has ever made me feel less than them, and while I know that, I still have a tendency to paint my picture as such.

Trigger Warning In this episode, there is a very brief discussion about ending one's life.

Description:

In this episode, I share one of those times in my life, being sandwiched between the needs of my young son with autism and my aging mother with neurological decline, and how my business and more importantly, my mental health were the casualties.

If you or someone else you know suffers from mental health challenges, please reach out to a professional for support.

Here are some free resources to access immediately:

Cornell University College of Human Ecology: The Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery

Kids Help Phone

Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868

9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline (Canada)

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

For First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples Hope for Wellness Help Line (Canada)

Call 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free)

Wellness Together Canada

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:

Mental Health America

If you would like to know more about changing your narratives so that you prioritize yourself first, send me a message on my LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org

Feeling like a fraud is talked about often in the personal growth and development space.

Often it seems like no matter how much we work on ourselves, this keeps popping up.

On this episode, I share my experiences when I was a teen and when I was today-year's old as it relates to playing a sport, and the realization that it's not about ignoring the story of telling yourself you're a fraud. It's about having the resolve to do SOMETHING, in spite of feeling inferior.

If you know anyone who can value from what I talk about, please share. And please rate and review on your podcast platform of choice.

If you would like to learn more about how you can determine the stories you tell yourself, like feeling like a fraud, send me a DM via my LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkhan-org