Lessons Learned with Komal

In this week’s episode, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, New York Times Best-Selling Author shares with us the power of surrounding yourself with people who see the bigger you, how connecting to your identity is a superpower, and how you have permission to want more in your life and work.

[2:03] What does it take to be the first domino? Rooting into our identities in order to take the first leap

[8:40] Luvvie shares why who you are is your Superpower, and Komal and her discuss why it’s so important for you to ask for what you need 

[18:53] Luvvie shares with us why she values being herself and doing what she wants more than anything, and Komal tells us how leaning into the ability of “not being liked” can transform your relationships with others

[27:08] Luvvie makes a case for getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and how being yourself can be a revolutionary act that can change your life 

[31:00] The Power of Community - How community can help you believe in, and see yourself

[35:00] - Members of our community discuss why it is important for us to give ourselves permission to want more.

It’s been a year since the pandemic hit, and we all are trying to make sense of life as much as we can right now. This series focuses on the lessons we’ve learned after this year of quarantine, sharing insights and wisdom from our guests of The Next Right Step program.

For part one, Komal interviews Minaa B, licensed therapist and boundaries expert. In this episode we learn how to create strong boundaries and how to honour ourselves and those we love in the process. We also explore how to navigate boundaries with work, how to navigate the fear that can come when creating and sustaining boundaries and more.

Part One: Boundaries Are Self-Care with Minaa B.

• [4:50] - Komal shares her TNRS interview with Minaa B about boundaries and self care. They talk about what boundaries are, the five dimensions of self-care, and how you can connect with them to set boundaries in your life.
• [12:46] - Minaa B. tells us how setting boundaries can create guilt, and even safety issues in some cases. She shares some advice on how we can work through guilt, and what we can do in circumstances when things feel unsafe. 
• [17:00] - How we can change the way that we respond to circumstances and other people rather than changing our boundaries, and how we can stand up for them. 
• [22:35] - How we can choose who to trust when considering who we are going to in our life when we are looking for validation, support, knowledge, affirmation, or different considerations when it comes to what is on our heart. 
• [30:51] - Boundaries around work and energy management: what does it look like to do this during a pandemic?
• [41:13] - Implementing new boundaries with ourselves and others can be anxiety-inducing. How we can work through the fear that comes with change, and continue doing things that are good for us?
• [47:00] - Komal and Minaa share what is next in their lives and careers.

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: @komalminhas 

Instagram: @lessonslearned.co 

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is hosted and produced by Komal Minhas. Produced and Visual Designed by Renira Naidu. Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran. Music by Smith the Mister, Soyb, and Amine Maxwell.

• [9:06]  – How do you go about changing something that is already in motion? How do you stop the inertia? Komal shares what the last 3 months have been like for her and why she decided to take time off to restructure her company, team, daily habits , and recover her physical and psychological wellness. 
• [12:25] – Komal shares what she did to rebuild her life 
• [18:32] – Komal shares how she was able to re-focus on her business and found her way to the next right step in her life, and what that looked like for her.
• [23:45] – How you can get clear on what matters to you, what you are willing to show up for, your personal mission, connection to your culture and identity, purpose and your bigger why.
• [27:00]– How if you are in a season of hardship right now, you can trust in your North Star and capacity to show up for yourself.

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: @komalminhas 

Instagram: @lessonslearned.co 

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is hosted and produced by Komal Minhas. Produced and Visual Designed by Renira Naidu. Content by Daniela Ochoa. Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran. Music by Soyb and Amine Maxwell.

Join Komal and Tejal Patel aka@TejalYoga and host of the “Yoga Is Dead” podcast this week for a chat about reclaiming wellness spaces, embodying our identities, and fighting for social justice. 

Here are this week’s time-codes: 

5:10 - Tejal shares with us how she views her role as a yoga teacher that brings the lens of social justice to the wellness space and is trying to create a more resilient space in the yoga world

“I teach yoga in a way that is not of the mainstream. There are so many people that are craving spaces that do more than just teach movement, and there are people trying to understand yoga in terms of philosophy and a way of living.” - Tejal Yoga

10:11 - Tejal shares with us how she reconciles truth-speaking in a space that isn’t necessarily ready to hear it yet, and how she finds the strength to speak her truth. She also shares more about what it’s been like to reclaim space through her yoga practice

17:16 - Komal asks Tejal to share her experience creating ABCD Yogi, an online interactive community that is grounded in social justice and hosts takeovers from the South Asian community of yoga and mindfulness teachers every five days

22:03 - Tejal and Komal reflect on this past year together, and how it has revealed many truths to them individually. Tejal also shares her experience getting her birth chart reading done, and how it helped her feel affirmed in the identity that was interpreted for her in the chart of the eternal student, teacher, and philosopher.

28:30 - Tejal and Komal have a conversation about the four aspects of relationships in yoga and the importance of your relationship with yourself. They offer advice for how you can shut off the external world, reconnect with yourself, and root back into your truth. 

Head to www.komal.com/54 to access this week’s episode, journal prompts, and art!

“On this path, no gain is ever reversed and no effort is ever wasted. Only a little of this work can undo great suffering and harm.”  -Bhagavad Gita

Thank you for tuning in! If you feel inspired, share your thoughts about this episode with me by tagging the podcast @lessonslearned.co on Instagram and using the hashtag #mylessonlearned!

Until Next Time!

Love, Komal

If you want to get to know more about Tejal, @TejalYoga, and her work, visit:

https://www.instagram.com/tejalyoga/ 

http://tejalyoga.com/ 

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/trainwithkomal

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.

This week, Komal interviews Cassandra Lam, Co-Founder of Cosmos, a community and space for Asian womxn to care for themselves, their community, and their world. Tune in to hear them talk about how you can begin to reconnect to your identity, inner guidance system, and spirituality. 

Here are this week’s time-codes: 

[ 3:29 ] - Reconnecting with our identity and spirituality 

[ 11:57 ] - Stepping Into Our Truth and Tuning Into Our Inner Guidance System 

[ 17:53 ] - Creating Space for Self-Discovery

[ 28:14 ] - Celebrating Ourselves No Matter What 

“What I needed to do before I could begin tapping into intuition and inner knowing was remove the noise , and assess in my life what was going on. I had to ask myself how I could have more awareness of what was working for me, and what wasn’t.” - Cassandra Lam, Lesson 53 of the Lessons Learned Podcast 

Thank you so much for tuning in! I hope that this episode inspired you to take some time this week to enjoy solitude and reconnect with yourself.  Head to www.komal.com/53 to read this week’s blog and download the weekly wallpaper + journal prompts that will help you tap into your inner knowing.  

Thank you so much for tuning in! Until next time... 

Love, Komal

If you want to get to know more about Cassandra and her work, you can get to know her more at: https://www.instagram.com/cassandthecity/ 

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/trainwithkomal

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.

Join Komal for a powerful conversation with Eddie Ndopu, an award-winning activist, humanitarian, public intellectual, and global advocate appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Sustainable Development Goals. They discuss what it means to live a phenomenal life, to lean into possibility and potential, and to stand tall as we enter rooms and spaces that formerly excluded those of our identities.

Here are this episode’s time-codes: 

[3:15] - Eddie shares his story, and why he believes he is the embodiment of possibility 

[14:50] - Never Giving Up On Yourself 

[26:41] - Eddie and I discuss what embodied resilience is, how Eddie is looking to this next decade of his life, and what is calling him forward in his activism, life, and work.

[30:26] - Finally, Eddie shares with us his dream of going to SPACE. Yup! You read that right! Eddie literally wants to go to space!

“Possibility isn’t something that we chase after. It is the force and the divinity that lives within us. We are possibility. We are the possible.” - Eddie Ndopu, Lessons Learned Podcast, Episode 52

Thank you so much for tuning in this week! I hope that Eddie’s powerful words inspired you to chase after possibility, and not settle for anything less than spectacular for yourself. 

Until next time! 
- Komal 

If you want to get to know more about Eddie and his work, go to: 

https://www.instagram.com/eddiendopu/  

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thenextrightstep.co

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.

In this episode, I interview money expert and founder of @HerFirst100K community Tori Dunlap. We talk about building confidence with money, getting out of the ‘scarcity’ mindset, past the shame and judgment that we place on ourselves when it comes to finances, and tell you the ways that financial literacy can change your life. 

Here are this week’s time-codes: 

[4:22] - Tori talks to us about her own relationship with money and how she built the confidence that she has now with how she operates with it.

[9:05] - Money Stories: Shame and Judgment When It Comes To Money 

[16:10] - What is the Money Scarcity Mindset? 

[24:07] - How building financial literacy can change your life, and how you can get started.

Head to www.komal.com/51 to read this week’s blog and download the weekly wallpaper + journal prompts where you will do an exercise recommended by Tori, and reflect on your first memories with money… (Psst.. It can reveal a LOT about your relationship to your finances!) 

Thank you so much for tuning in! Until next time... 

Love, Komal

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

If you want to get to know more about Tori Dunlap and her work, you can visit her website at: 

http://www.herfirst100k.com/ 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/trainwithkomal

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.

Here are the time-codes for this week's episode:

[8:30] - Sarah shares how she is planning for this winter stretch + the birth of her new baby 

[11:26] - How strong the glamourization of hustle is in our culture and how Sarah has learned to advocate for herself and establish boundaries 

[14:26] - Sarah shares what her journey has been like watching her body change during this pregnancy after already having gone through a beautiful and intense relationship with her body before 

[19:56] - Komal and Sarah discuss resiliency, and how it means learning to advocate for yourself and to communicate your feelings, emotions, and boundaries

[26:45] - Komal and Sarah discuss mentorship and the ways that women can support each other in the entrepreneurship 

[37:35] - Inspired by Glennon Doyle, I ask Sarah: “What Breaks Her Heart’ and what she feels her larger purpose is. Sarah shares more about the cause of her mission to empower women.

If you want to get to know Sarah and what she’s up to, check out her Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/thebirdspapaya/

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/trainwithkomal

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com. 

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.

lHere are the time-codes from this week's episode: 

[7:42] -  I tell you why I think the Biden-Harris win is representative of the return of empathy and vulnerability.

[9:15] - I reflect on my partnership with Mitch, how genuinely loving, caring and supportive it is, and what it meant to see Kamala Harris and her husband together, an interracial couple in the White House, and their love for each other as representation for us. 

[14:19] - I speak about Kamala Harris’s family and the way that they focused on education and excellence, and how it inspires me to think about my kids' future and what that can look like.

[18:08] - I tell you what I see Kamala Harris embodying and how I make meaning out of it in terms of just remembering who the f*ck I am and where I come from and what I'm here to do.

[19:00] -  I share what you can do to make the meaning of this Biden-Harris win, and how you can look at the last four years of your life and write out what changes have happened for you. 

[24:17] - I tell you about my upcoming planning retreat “Your Best Year”, and why you need a space to make sense of what you want next, and why “Your best year” digital retreat on December 5th and 6th is exactly that place.

If you aren’t already, be sure to give our podcast a follow on Instagram @lessonslearned.co account where we will be sharing weekly resources and advice for you to chew on life’s lessons. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/komalminhas 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lessonslearned.co 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thenextrightstep.co

To submit a lesson to be discussed on the show, or to submit a potential guest, visit: www.komal.com.

Head to www.komal.com/49 to read this week's episode blog, access the weekly downloadable art, and journal prompts!

Lessons Learned is produced and hosted by Komal Minhas.

Artwork, Brand & Social by Renira Naidu. 

Content by Daniela Ochoa.

Video Production and Audio Editing by Madison Foran.