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

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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