The Self-Help Podcast with Deepali Nagrani
Hi, I’m Deepali — a speaker, storyteller, and proud mom to a wonderful one-year-old. I live in Victoria, BC, Canada, hands down the best place to live!
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to public speaking. It lights me up in ways I can’t quite explain. I’ve always sought the stage, longing for a space to say something that matters.
Then one day, I realized: if you can’t find a stage, build one.
This podcast is that stage. It was born not just from my love of words, but from one of the hardest chapters of my life. At 32, after one of the toughest chapters of my life, I discovered something worth sharing: my voice, reshaped by truth and tenderness.
Here, I speak from the messy middle of motherhood, healing, identity, fear, hope, and everything in between. It’s not perfect, but it’s real. If you’re craving something genuine, something that feels like a deep breath — you’re in the right place.
Let’s speak the truth. Let’s find meaning together.
Welcome to the stage I built from the feeling of always wanting to be on one.
I’m so glad you’re here.
The Self-Help Podcast with Deepali Nagrani
5 Powerful Mindset Shifts
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We go deep on reframing pain into purpose, choosing obsession over balance, and letting action lead confidence instead of waiting for confidence to arrive.We start by flipping the script from “Why me?” to “Why not me?” and explore why every comeback story gives us chills: strength is forged in the fire, not in comfort.
Expect practical prompts, clear examples, and a push to take one imperfect step today with what you have.
If this episode sparks something in you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a quick review. What’s the one shift you’ll practice this week?
https://www.deepalinagrani.com/
Want to be a guest on The Self-Help Podcast with Deepali Nagrani?
Send Deepali Nagrani a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176231960508769160fda8526
💛 Thank you for being here.
If something in this episode spoke to you, I hope you carry it with you — or share it with someone who might need it too.
I'd love to hear your story, your thoughts, or just how you're feeling after listening. Reach out anytime at deepalinagrani23@gmail.com
🌐 For more stories, resources, downloadable freebies please visit:
www.deepalinagrani.com
🕊️ This is just the beginning.
Take care of your body. Be gentle with your heart. And never forget — your story matters.
Let me ask you something. How many mornings do you wake up and feel like you're just going through the motions? You scroll, you rush, you smile when you don't mean it, you check off boxes, and yet deep down you know you're playing smaller than you're meant to be. I know that feeling, I've lived it, and the only thing that pulled me out was shifting the way I thought. Not my job, not my circumstances, but the mindset. Hi everybody, I'm Dipali. I am a speaker, a writer, a woman who's learned how to rise from the ashes. I have walked through fear, loss, and somehow came out louder, softer, stronger all at once. This podcast is my unfiltered diary. A place where we peel back the layers, drop the mask, and just talk about what it really means like to rebuild your life from the inside out. So today I'm giving you five powerful mindset chips that snapped me out of autopilot and into the ownership of my life. And as I share them, I want to I want you to ask yourself, where am I stuck? Where am I shrinking? Where do I need to flip the script? How do I go about turning the table? Are you ready? Let's go. Stop asking by me and start asking why not me. Here's the thing: we go through life secretly believing there's some unwritten contract that says things should be easy, smooth and fair. And when life throws us curveballs in Ness, maybe heartbreak, rejection, failure, defeat, loss, we immediately go into the victim mode. Why me? Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? But please pause for a moment. Really think about that question. Why not you? Why shouldn't you be the one life chooses to test, stretch and shape into something extraordinary? The truth is, every single person that you admire, every leader, artist, change maker, your parents, your friends, say a survivor, an influencer or innovator, you know what they have in common. You know it. They didn't get a free pass from pain. They got hand-aid struggles, and that would have broken most people. But instead of sinking, they asked, consciously or unconsciously, what if this is here for me, not against me? What if I can build something out of this? Think about it. Why do we love comeback stories so much? Why do those reels and posts get millions of views? And why do we get inspired? Why do we get chills when we hear someone rising from the rock bottom? It's because deep down we all know the strength isn't born in comfort, but it is born in fire. So here's the reflection I want you to sit with today. Where in your life are you still stuck in why me mentality? Any any area of your life it could be. Where is that you find yourself saying, Why me? What puts you in that mode? Is it at work where you feel overlooked or undervalued? Is it in your relationships, your friendships, where the same patterns keep repeating? Or is it the dream that you've quietly buried simply because you told yourself a thousand times I'm not good enough? And also told yourself, okay, I don't know, I know what I want, but I don't know how to go about it. Or by telling yourself, ha, it's too hard, too late, or not realistic, and you know, I'm too mediocre to pursue something like this. That why me energy keeps you small. It keeps you stuck in a loop where life is happening to you and not for you. But the second you flip the question, why not me instead of why me, something begins to shift. Why shouldn't you be the one to step up at work and take on the challenge nobody else wants to? Why shouldn't you be the one to begin talking in a meeting or take an initiative when you see everybody else is trying to hide? Why shouldn't you be the one in your family who breaks the cycle? Why shouldn't you be the one who writes the book, starts the business, share your story, heal the wound? Because here's the truth. Someone has to. And maybe, just maybe, it was always supposed to be you. Life is nudging you. Get out of your comfort zone, come out of this shell. So the next time life throws you a curveball, catch yourself in that. Why me spiral? Pause for a moment, take a breath and ask instead, why not me? That one small reframe doesn't erase the pain, it doesn't invalidate your feelings, but it gives those feelings a purpose. And from purpose you'll find power. Your power, and that will become your strength and your superpower. Then is balance. We've all heard this saying, try to balance it all. But you don't really need balance. What you need is obsession. Let's be real. How many of you are chasing balance right now? I know for myself, I can speak for it. I've been trying to juggle career, health, family, child, hobbies, friendships, self-care, podcast, all and all at once, and with a smile blasted on. But I want you to be honest. How is that going? I tried balance in my 20s, up until in fact a few years ago. And you know what balance gave me? Mediocrity. I was not great at anything that I was doing. Half-hearted energy in too many places. Trying to be friends with a lot of people, overcommitting myself to be a part of social settings, and not really truly looking inwards and asking what brings me joy and what fuels me. But obsession, on the other hand, obsession gave me purpose, it gave me progress, obsession gave me results and it gave me growth. Now, here's the uncomfortable path. Are you willing to get obsessed to sacrifice being socially acceptable for being extraordinary? If you have to be extraordinary, you have to let go of other labels that you're trying to catch on the way. To say no to things that drain you so much, so you can say a resounding or screaming yes to the things that lights you up. So here's my question: What's worth being obsessed over in your life right now? It could be your health, it could be the time that you spend with your partner, your kids, it could be work. If you don't know, maybe that's your first clue. Then we come to the waiting game. We always keep waiting for maybe some opportunities to come and pick us up. For a leader to identify us, for us to be really discovered, but that's the truth. No one's gonna come. Right? So stop waiting. No one is coming to save you. This one stings really closely, but lean in no one is coming. Not your boss, not your partner, not your parents, not even that influencer or coach that you secretly hope will pick you up for a speaking opportunity. No, they will not. I spent my life, I spent many, many years waiting. Waiting for the perfect moment, waiting for someone to say, the Pali has your chance, go rock on the stage. This is your mic. No one came. I have been waiting for the stage that I've been secretly hoping to be on for years and years, and that has been the theme of my life. Until one day it dawned on me, if you cannot find a stage, you better build one. That's why you're listening to me now. So ask yourself, why are you waiting right now? Waiting for clarity before you move, waiting to feel good enough, waiting to feel like you gotta have all the answers figured out. Trust me, you will not have it all figured out until you actually go and do it. And even then, we will have a few untouched questions, and that's fine. Waiting for more money before you take the leap, waiting for that perfect hairstyle before you turn on the video. Please, waiting for permission before you pursue what you want, stop it. Here's the core truth. And also a little route. Waiting is just fear in disguise, and I know all of this so closely because I have lived these in action. And the longer you wait, the rustier your dreams get, the farther away you go from them. So here's a quick challenge. What's one thing that you've been waiting waiting on that you can start today? Imperfectly with wherever you are and with whatever you've got. Then comes the fear and the myth around rejection. Rejection really is not a wall, it's a filter. Let me tell you, rejection used to destroy me. A know from someone I admired, oh my god, I would replay it in my head for weeks on and on and on. A door slammed in my career, it'd spiral into okay, I'm not good enough. But here's the shift: rejection isn't a wall. Rejection is sometimes redirection, it's a filter. It's like saying, This isn't your room. But you have another room, all that you're gonna do is keep walking. Think about it, how many of you are still stuck on a rejection from years ago? It could be a breakup, a failed job, an interview, a project that tank, a business idea that didn't work out, a business where you suffered nothing but losses. How much of your identity is still attached in that moment? What if instead you saw it as a filter? That person, that job, that opportunity wasn't meant for you. Because the right ones won't need convincing. So ask yourself, what rejection do I need to reframe right now? What closed door am I still banging on instead of noticing the one that's already open? And play to win, not to avoid losing. Be honest, how often do you play defense with your life? You choose the safe job, the safe role, the safe partner, the safe goal, the familiar friends, familiar environment. Not because you're excited about them, but simply because you don't carry the risk of failure. Let me tell you something. Playing it safe is, and as strange as a contradiction it sounds, it is, playing safe is the riskiest thing you can do. Because one day you'll wake up and realize you've never even took a shot. When I started finally, after a lot of courage and convincing myself, when I started playing to win, speaking when my voice shook, putting myself out there when I felt unqualified, those moments changed everything. They became my anchors. That's when everything started to move. So, where are you still playing not to lose? I know that feels like such a familiar diluty to me, playing not to lose, sitting in an exam and being sure not to fail it. Failure is such a big thing in my mind, and I'm sure for most of you as well, right? Where are you tiptoeing through life instead of sprinting and running towards what you want? And more importantly, what would it look like if you finally played to win? So let's recap. In this episode, we discussed about creating a shift from why me to why not me. So you stop asking why me, you get obsessed, you stop waiting, you reframe rejection, and you play to just win. But don't just nod alone. Don't just say, oh that was inspiring. Ask yourself which of these five shifts do I need to include in my life most right now? Which one stung the most? Which one felt home? Which one made me uncomfortable? That's the one to start with. Because your life doesn't change when you hear wisdom, it only really changes when you act on it. We've all heard this, right? No amount of listening to motivational videos or audios on the internet is equivalent to going to the gym and actually working out, right? Because you sure are motivated and inspired, but that's not getting your ass off the couch and onto the treadmill. Do you want to keep sleepwalking or wake the hell up and start living wide awake? It's your move. You've been listening to the self-help podcast with Me, The Polly. This is the place where we turn reflection into real life change. If something here made you think, smile, feel sweet, just please take 10 seconds to rate the show. Your words mean more than you know, and it will help this little corner of the internet grow. And before you go, remember the best self help is self action. So go take that one small step today. I will be right here cheering on you, and until next time, thank you and bye bye.
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