Prioritizing self-growth is a choice not everyone can make but for 25 year old Shubham Agarwal, it was always clear to focus on self. Born and brought up in Bihar, Shubham moved to Delhi for college.
In his free time, he likes reading books, cooking, and traveling. Interestingly, he’s into dancing too.
As someone who’s self-aware, Shubham started focusing on himself and realized that he put a lot of pressure on himself due to some of his drawbacks. A courageous move that not all make for themselves.
“My drawbacks such as my big ego and huge expectations from myself were interfering with my career and personality.”
During such self-exploration, Shubham also found out that he had a fixed mindset and wasn’t open to experimentation. He did only things he believed in and nothing beyond that.
“As I’m not a very open person, no one knew what I was going through. It was then when I decided to reach out for professional help.”
There was no eureka moment for Shubham that he needed counseling. He realized overtime and finally connected with Ananya Bhattacharya, a counselor from YourDOST, his institute’s emotional wellness partner.
Although he’d made a decision to seek counseling, he still did have his own hesitations.
“I was skeptical about the counselor as to how they would be.”
But as a clear and goal-oriented person, Shubham was determined to be better and continued his sessions with Ananya.
“I could feel that she was very good at her work. She made me feel comfortable and heard me out. She was very professional.”
As suggested by his counselor, Shubham started journaling his thoughts which helped him. He could feel that the rigidity and fixed mindedness that he once had about everything, becoming flexible.
Speaking of how Ananya supported Shubham, he shares how once something happened where he wanted to talk to her the next day itself. He dropped a message to her as well as an email to the YourDOST team and was able to talk to her and feel better.
“I’m really thankful to Ananya. We’ve worked on a lot of my issues and she’s been a constant support all this while. She’s been prompt and accommodating with messages.”
The best quality of Ananya that stood out to Shubham was that she didn’t sugar coat and was straight forward.
Looking at his overall progress, Shubham calls it getting ‘better’ and a solid 5 on 1 to 5 improvement scale. He’s in such a better place that he encourages others to seek support because it’s okay.
“Sometimes seeking help from those who are trained for this can help you make a positive difference in your life.”
Shubham’s Warrior Tips:
1. The best part and worst thing about counseling is that it’s a slow process but worth it
2. Be patient with the process.
3. Take a chance for yourself.
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