Work Life Balance Importance and How To Achieve It With Arushi Soni
Work life balance importance is a recurring theme in the 31st episode of The Homework Help Show. Podcast guest, Arushi Soni, shares her journey from growing up in India and moving across continents to achieve her goals.
Arushi Soni’s early life
Arushi grew up in Shimla, India and got her degree in dental surgery from Subharti University. Her father was in the Army which meant she got to travel a lot. Traveling with her father would later lead her to start a travel blog to share photos and location recommendations that she only used to share with her friends.
After moving all around India and the world, she finally settled down with her husband where they moved to Canada to pursue professional achievements. Arushi now resides in Toronto, Ontario working as a dentist.
Besides ensuring job success, Arushi has also found a good work life balance. She tells us on the 31st episode of The Homework Help Show how to prioritize hobbies as she also runs a successful blog and Instagram page as a content creator on top of living her dream of becoming a dentist.
Making Big Moves
Moving to a different country to pursue career success is one of the biggest risks a person can take. But given her affinity for travel and the support of her family, Arushi along with her husband made the move from India to Canada. Their move was also during unprecedented times and she recalls getting her prerequisites and licensure exams to practice dentistry late in Canada due to COVID.
Arushi’s determination and fearlessness during her move allowed her to know how to balance work responsibilities. Before working as a dentist, she started to become a dental assistant and a patient treatment coordinator at a clinic. Not only that, she also works in retail as a store manager. Work life balance importance was key for Arushi to maintain her physical and emotional health while working two jobs and running her blog while navigating a new country.
Understanding Work Life Balance Importance
Eastern Kentucky University Department of Psychology professors Jaime B. Henning and Yoshie Nakai, wrote a study on the importance of continuing the conversation about work-life balance. In recent years, the borderlines between work and personal lives have become more blurred due to advances in technology. These new technological advances have made it easier to engage in work regardless of your time and location. Especially since the recent COVID-19 pandemic has increased work-from-home or remote working stations. What used to be a 9 to 5 schedule is slowly turning into 24/7 work weeks.
Learning how to achieve work-life balance is important so that there are less work-life conflicts. When life and work collide, it results in low job and life satisfaction, low career commitments, higher turnover rates, and it even affects your mental wellness with increased rates of depression. All of which affects workplaces on a larger scale by lowering organizational productivity.
Workforce diversity is also changing. There are now more female workers, single-parent employees, and even individuals working past the retirement age. Studies like the one written by Henning et al are critical to the process of understanding work life balance importance. By using applied theories and psychological principles, we can improve organizational effectiveness and the well-being of employees. Essentially, in learning how to achieve work-life balance, employees and employers are both able to thrive.
Dentistry Dreams
Coming from a family of doctors, Arushi Soni, also envisioned herself taking on the family career path. She recalls thinking of what kind of doctor she wanted to become, whether it was to become a cardiologist, a gynecologist, or surgeon, all she knew was that she wanted to pursue medicine as a career.
As a child, Arushi remembers one of her first words was “orthodontics”. She had braces as a kid which meant plenty of trips to the dentist. Arushi recalls her dentist that she’s been visiting since she was in the ninth grade to have amazing work ethics and how professional he looked in a white coat. Even the tools and the work environment fascinated her. That was when Arushi realized that she wanted to make a living creating beautiful smiles and making her patients happy.
As Arushi started her dentistry program, she realized even more how important it was to have a good relationship and build trust with her patients. She would often hear patients say they didn’t want to go to the dentist and sit for hours. Arushi says she had to practice patience, calmness, and even have a sense of humor to keep her patients entertained and wanting to come back to her regularly. She has really mastered keeping her patients at ease and making them feel better just as she had envisioned herself doing.
Since the podcast was filmed, Arushi is now practicing dentistry in Canada and is on her way to realizing her long term goal of setting up her own practice.
How Can I Balance My Hobbies And Work?
By realizing work life balance importance, Arushi has found the perfect solution to living her dentist dreams and still being able to travel. Traveling started as a bonding experience for her and her father. While she was away for college, Arushi’s father would be posted in a different area as well and they would travel to different provinces in India or she would go and visit him.
With Arushi’s interest in sports and her and her dad being adventure junkies, they would often go on expeditions, trails, river rafting, and parasailing. She remembers a trip she took with her father to a valley in East India. It wasn’t a commercial destination and not a lot of people even knew about the area. She documented the trip and took photos to later show to her friends who were so intrigued about where the valley was. It was then she realized that she should start blogging her travel experiences. She would blog about what she saw, the people she met, and how she felt during her travels. She has since traveled to the Maldives, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, and it further ignited her passion for traveling.
Arushi realized besides dentistry, she also wanted to become a full-fledged travel blogger. She even shares how to travel on a budget and has run her blog for six years. She wanted to change the perception that in order to travel you needed a lot of money. Traveling is less about the destination but more about the experience.
For Arushi, she was able to balance more than one of her passions and has done so successfully. One thing we can learn from her is that if you’re truly passionate about something, doing it will hardly feel like work.
More Ways To Achieve A Work-Life Balance
According to a Harvard Business Review article, achieving work-life balance is not so much an achievement as it is a cycle. This cycle is highly achievable by just following these five steps:
1. Reflection and De-normalize Unhealthy Habits
Getting rid of habitual unhealthy patterns especially regarding work and your personal life is hard without taking a step back. Break away from toxic cycles by asking yourself what the cause of your stress, imbalance, and dissatisfaction is. How is your work life affecting your personal life and what changes can you implement? Realizing work life balance importance is the first step to achieving it.
2. Being In Touch With Your Emotions
Once you’ve become more self aware and you’ve diagnosed the source of your stress, you can now focus on how it makes you feel. Are your feelings around work and your personal life making you sad, angry, agitated or resentful? Some respondents from the Harvard article realized that their lack of work-life balance caused negative emotions. Once you are made aware of your emotional state, you can easily determine what changes are needed to remedy the negative emotions caused by your lack of work-life balance.
3. Re-evaluate Your Priorities
Now that you’ve reached cognitive and emotional awareness on the matter, you can see your situation from a better perspective, thus you are able to determine and reevaluate your priorities. Whether it’s taking a step back from work and pouring more of your energy onto yourself, your family, or social life, you’ll be able to adjust your new priorities. If you’ve realized the need for better work-life balance, that ultimately means your old ways weren’t working. As you grow, you always need to reassess and readjust your vision to match your true calling.
4. Finding Healthy Alternatives
Improving your current work-life situation will take time and some experimenting. For balance to be achieved, you must be willing to try new things and solutions that you might not have considered before. If your new priority is to be more present at home, that will mean you need to set boundaries for yourself when it comes to your job. If you’ve been accustomed to rarely taking breaks or even working on weekends, find ways to delegate or reallocate your time used for working to spend more time for you and your new priorities.
5. Make Necessary Changes
Admitting to not having work life balance isn’t just solved by realizing the lack of it. Action ultimately is needed after you’ve reassessed your situation. Make a plan and see it through. Work-life balance is possible, all you need to do is find a way that works for you.
Listen In To Arushi Soni’s Full Interview On The Homework Help Show
Learn more about work life balance importance from Arushi herself by watching the episode on YouTube or listening through Anchor FM, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!
In learning how to find the perfect work life balance, relinquishing some of your workload could help you get back some of your personal time. Students can often get caught up with classes and rarely get to have any leisure time because of piling homework. Whether you need custom-written essays, PowerPoint presentations, need help editing or proofreading your work, Homework Help Global is here for you!
FULL TRANSCRIPT FROM OUR PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH ARUSHI SONI BELOW
Arushi [00:00:02] I hate the dentist. I don’t want to be here. I want to get out of chair as soon as possible. Yeah. But by the end of the whole journey, once I saw the transformation in myself, I was just like, I want to do this. I want to make a change, a positive change in somebody’s life. Like if I do it this way, I would certainly input that. I want to do this. This is something I would want for a living to be able to create a happy smile.
Lesley [00:00:36] Hi everyone, and welcome back to The Homework Help Show Student Influencers podcast. I’m your host, Lesley, and today I’m with Arushi. So welcome and thank you for joining us today.
Arushi [00:00:47] Thank you for having me.
Lesley [00:00:49] So usually we get started, we do some get to know you demographic kind of questions first. So where are you currently located and where were you born and raised?
Arushi [00:00:59] I have had a wonderful journey, like I’m just 28 years old and I’m turning 29 this year. And I’ve traveled all across India, so I was born and brought up in Shimla. That’s like the north part of India. And my dad was in the Army and he retired as a colonel. So I got a chance to be raised all across north, east, west and south from Jammu and Kashmir to New Delhi, the capital city of India. Now to east being in Assam in Shillong, that’s earlier. And then I was in West and Rajasthan and had a brief time to stay in Gujarat. And then we went to Bangalore. That’s Karnataka, part of South. So from there, I’ve been raised everywhere. And then I moved. After getting married, I moved to New Delhi. I stayed there for two years and then my husband decided to move to Canada. And we had a rollercoaster journey here as well. Being new immigrants, finding a job, finding an accommodation for ourselves. And initially we weren’t able to find a lot of accommodation being like we would emphasize about our jobs. So we changed our cities from Mississauga to North York to – we went to Hamilton, and then we moved back to North York, now we’re currently at Bayview. So for one year we have been here and I’m like, I like it so far I’ve been blessed to come to this country. Yeah.
Lesley [00:02:23] Yeah. I mean, did it take you kind of a long time? I know that sometimes it takes quite a while to get everything organized and kind of find your footing in an in when you come from anywhere to Canada. So did a kind of take a while for that or?
Arushi [00:02:41] Yes, it did. Coming from a medical background, I’m a dentist from India, so I had to go undergo a licensing and I’m still undergoing the licensing procedure. So finding a career that I can do, I’ll get into because dentistry is what I knew and that’s my forte getting into a new band and would have been challenging. So my husband and his family and my parents have been very supportive. I took up the NBDE examination. I challenged their dental assistant board examination and became a dental assistant, and I’m currently working as a dental assistant applying for dentistry at the Food Credit again in Mississauga and apart from that. Now due to COVID due to reduced working hours, I’m working as an office manager with an optometrist. So yes, it is been challenging for me to balance both things and it’s all because of the licensing procedure. I know it’s a long way to go, but but I’m very happy and fortunate that I’m still in my field and doing what I love to.
Lesley [00:03:47] Yeah, that is kind of yeah, like that is kind of the issue sometimes is you kind of have to recertify, basically get recertified and retake all of those tests and stuff, right?
Arushi [00:04:01] That’s true. So I’m prepared for that. That’s not the problem. But the thing is, yes, it’s time consuming. And my exams have been getting delayed because of COVID. But then it’s just been a year. I’m focused to achieve that goal.
Lesley [00:04:18] Yeah, that’s I know. I mean, it’ll be so satisfying when it’s all done and when it’s all set to go. It’ll be kind of a relief.
Arushi [00:04:25] Yeah. It’s a shocker. Yeah.
Lesley [00:04:28] So did you. So you obviously went to university in India. Which school did you go to?
Arushi [00:04:34] So I went to Subharti University, that’s in Uttar Pradesh, and I did my graduation. I started in 2012 and finished. In 2015, it’s a five-year course in India to become a bachelor of dental surgery. And in this whole five year course be the first initially as a foundation is where you are taught medical and dental anatomy and the medical, like everything about the medicines. And then the third year onwards, it’s all about dental, dental materials being ready for future, prosthodontics, orthodontics, biology, everything. So I got a chance to have hands on experience with the patients we had, like pure time and then a clinical time where we used to treat the patients and be supervised by our professors to enhance the skills clinically. And in the final year, we will be we know how to work independently in a clinical setup as to make us ready for the real world.
Lesley [00:05:33] Okay. Yeah. So it’s kind of like all a dentistry program that kind of puts everything all into the the same like, program.
Arushi [00:05:44] Yes, everything in the same program. So I know it’s different in the U.S. and Canada that you have to have prerequisites and that you go for a science and then you do your graduation and then you go for like a DDS program. But India, it’s more like you pass the 12th grade, you challenge the examinations to get into a medical or a dental school, and then you undergo a five year program, that’s like, it has everything in one type of program. So it’s a professional course. And once you are certified, you are a Bachelor of dentistry, dental surgery, and then you are ready to work as a full fledged dentist. And if you wish, you can like go for your master’s. That’s a three year program to specialize in a particular field.
Lesley [00:06:28] Right. So the master’s would be something you would specialize in. So like a certain aspect of dentistry. So like I was trying to think of an area, but I was like, I don’t know anything about dentistry.
Arushi [00:06:39] I’ll just I’ll give a brief idea. So dentistry is divided into nine parts.
Lesley [00:06:45] Okay.
Arushi [00:06:45] And so we have community dentistry. We have to do pediatric dentistry to do with like dental specializing, to do dental work on kids. So that’s a full field in itself. Then we have oral maxillofacial surgery where you can treat the full freeze and any procedure to do with head and neck. So those are like proper like surgeons on surgery, extractions and everything. Most people who get there cavities and root canal treatments. Or cavities, then go to an orthodontist. And then there’s periodontists who go for the gum diseases. Then there’s prosthodontists who go for their dentures or their implants or something like that. There is like a lot of things that there is or the underlying diseases. So yeah, like not to miss out. Then you have radiology that’s very important, something that’s not visible to the naked eye, you have to find it pretty fast. So like that, every specialization is important to dentistry and so are the people who are into it.
Lesley [00:07:51] Yeah, I didn’t realize there are so many different areas of dentistry.
Arushi [00:07:56] Yes, it just it is intimidating. Like initially I would like as a 12th grade student, I was like, Oh, it’s dentistry, it’s only about the teeth. But once I got into the school and once I started to know more is when I realized, oh, it’s not just one aspect. It’s you have to think so many ways.
Lesley [00:08:18] Now, because now and I’m thinking about it too, like that makes sense because some aspects of, of like to me that would make up dentistry would be like obviously taking care of your teeth and stuff. But then there are like surgical elements to it and all kinds of stuff like that. So like it is interesting to think about that.
Arushi [00:08:38] Yeah.
Lesley [00:08:39] What? What made you get into dentistry? Like, did you kind of always wanted to be a dentist, or was it something that you kind of chose a little later? How did you end up on that path?
Arushi [00:08:51] That’s an interesting story. So as a child, that’s the first word came out of my mouth was orthodontics, because that was my first interaction with a dentist was with an orthodontist who did my braces to have this beautiful smile. So he fascinated me a lot like I used to. I was just in the ninth grade that time, and my one and a half year old that I had been I had regular visits with him. I loved the way he worked, his work ethics, the way he dressed up in that white coat. He looked so handsome. Also and the work culture and the way he managed time, the instruments and everything and the environment in itself was so neat and clean that it just intrigued me that I want to do this. This is something I would want for a living to be able to create happy smiles and make people happy once they leave. Because as soon as a patient sits on a chair, the first thing they say is, I hate the dentist. I don’t want to be here. I want to get out of the chair as soon as possible. But by the end of the whole journey, once I saw the transformation in myself, I was just like, I want to do this. I want to make a change, a positive change in somebody’s life. If I can do it this way, I would certainly aim for that. And also, like I come from a family of doctors, so I was always into it like, I want to be a doctor, but do I want to be a surgeon and do I want to be a gynecologist or maybe a cardiologist or something like that? But I wasn’t sure. But dentistry was something I was sure from right from the ninth grade that I’ll be honest. I know.
Lesley [00:10:25] Well, that is something that, like even just someone’s smile can have such a big impact on their own, their confidence or their self esteem. And you hear people all the time like, Oh, I don’t like smiling in pictures because they don’t like my spot, my smile. So it is probably really nice to be able to kind of help out in that aspect and say, Hey, I can help you feel more confident and feel better about yourself.
Arushi [00:10:52] That’s true. That’s true. Like it just like beauty or anything just enhances multiples.
Lesley [00:10:58] Yeah, definitely. That makes total sense. And that’s a really great reason to want to do that because, you know, a lot of people would choose a profession in the medical field, obviously, for one of the obvious reasons would be because the pay is really good. But with those kind of professions, you kind of have to be passionate about helping people to to really be able to make a difference in that way. So that’s a really good thing. Yeah, So that’s a really great reason to do that. So what kind of advice would you give to a student who maybe is starting to think about a career in dentistry or even is already maybe in their first year and not really sure what to expect?
Arushi [00:11:43] So with my experience, I would say I wasn’t aware enough because I don’t have a lot of dentists in my family or I don’t have that much interaction with the dentists that how the real world is and how the industry and any other thing is all about. But the thing was, once I got into it, I knew it’s not just about studies, it’s not just about doing that work perfectly mastering and remembering and memorizing everything. It’s all about your physical fitness too. It is a demanding job. You need to be up and about and you need to be reading all the time. You need to be updated with the technology. Like when I started, there was not so much awareness about having a perfect aligned smile and nowadays, which is so accessible. We have smile and what not in these developed countries, so that is not so accessible in other countries still. But you have to know both aspects, not just theoretically, but what is coming with time. So you need to update your knowledge and be prepared to be physically giving it all because it’s a tedious process. You’re looking on a very small working area. It’s not a lot of space that you have. It’s a limited amount of space. Like I have a very small job and I know it’s gives us a hard time. Keeping the patient motivated to be in your chair for an hour and a half for a cavity filling. So you need to be a good, have good person skills like you should have a personal communication skill. Have rapport with the patient building, build their trust in you. So all these things should also be in a mind if a person is choosing this career, it’s not only about making money. I know people do choose careers based on that, that okay, I put a certain amount of hours and I would be making this, but also with added responsibility that it’s not just doing your work, but you’re doing it correctly and ethically.
Lesley [00:13:47] Yeah, that kind of I now that I kind of think about it, that is like it is I mean, obviously someone’s mouth, like you said, is not a very big area. So having to kind of train your hands and your body to just kind of focus on that one small area for an hour or two at a time is probably pretty sore on like your muscles and stuff, too, I bet.
Arushi [00:14:12] Lots of.
Arushi [00:14:14] And these are like famous do have like for like the tendinitis and the cervical problems. That’s very common with the dentist for sure, because you’re bending and you’re like because every body is different. Not everybody can like keep their mouth open for that much amount of time. And you have to like, make your way through to treat them because, yeah, you have to make them comfortable as well as you need to get the work done in that amount of time. So you should be prepared. Yeah, and that’s the main advice I would give anybody that, be mentally prepared to keep your body healthy. If your body is healthy, your mind and everything will automatically be healthy.
Lesley [00:14:52] Yeah, that’s true. And I mean, like the body and the mind are so connected to right?. So it’s I mean, if you’re if your mind is or if your body is exhausted, then your, your mind’s going to quickly follow and vice versa. So just being up on all of that, but also to I think that’s also an important point of knowing, an important skill of knowing how to make people feel comfortable because like you said, not a lot of it’s pretty common for people to not enjoy going to the dentist.
Arushi [00:15:21] So that’s the most common line. I feel like a person would just come to a chair and say, Oh, I hate the dentist, I don’t want to be here. And when you start on that note, if you’re not mentally strong or a positive person, then things cannot go right, right? And you have to build that relationship with the patient that he comes back to you. He trusts in you that you can treat and do a proper treatment plan for them, because it’s not just about one filling or just one cleaning. You need to work on different aspects in a mouth too. So yeah, you have to have that patience and yourself and but I would say the calmness in yourself to deal with that situation and have I think a dentist should also have a sense of humor, to be honest, to keep them entertained for that long amount of time. Yeah, you should be.
Lesley [00:16:14] Yeah I think that would be super helpful. Like, I mean, I know like my dentist is kind of pretty, just like straight personality, kind of just like, gets in, gets out, whatever. And I feel like it would be a lot more ease. It would be a lot more comfortable to have a dentist who actually just is has a bit of a sense of humor just to make you, like, laugh a little bit. And because everyone feels a little more comfortable when they’re when someone can make them laugh.
Arushi [00:16:43] Totally, totally agree on the idea.
Lesley [00:16:45] Or even just.
Arushi [00:16:46] Being like with needles.
Lesley [00:16:47] Yeah, well, I mean, those need are large and I mean, I’m someone who is not comfortable with needles and terrified of needles. And so every time I’ve had to get a cavity, it’s just like. Like you’re just terrified.
Arushi [00:17:04] Yeah.
Lesley [00:17:06] So that’s probably a challenge, like having to come at someone with this huge needle that they’re terrified of and trying to figure out how to make them not panic because obviously they have to stay still at the same time.
Arushi [00:17:22] Because it’s like I guess it’s a small, intricate area and the machines that you’re working with, like the hand instrument and the motor and everything, they have a rotation as fast as that of an airplane, if I would say so. You’re working on with tools with so many vibrations you don’t want the patient to like, close. It’s going to be a disaster. So yes, you have to make them so comfortable that they trust and they keep their mouth open for that long amount of time and you get the work done on time. So, yes.
Lesley [00:17:52] And I feel like that’s a skill that you kind of have to develop on your own. They’re not going to just teach you in class how to do that. I feel like you have to kind of develop your own way of doing that.
Arushi [00:18:02] Yes, But like I said, every human is different. Every every patient is different. Everybody’s nature is different. So you have to have a good judgment that would be like something that comes within a person. If you’re aware of your surroundings, if you’re aware, how can you just make the situation better? How can you just like make a read through their mind? What what’s making them anxious, even if it’s just talking about common things or something, that you can talk their way out because 90% of the time it’s just talking and then the problem’s gone.
Lesley [00:18:38] So kind of what are some of your I know that we you kind of did touch on this a little bit. What are kind of your short and long term goals? I’m assuming the short term goals are kind of getting that finishing up that certification here in Canada.
Arushi [00:18:51] Yes, that’s my short term goal for sure, to get my license to work as a dentist. And then with my long term goals, I would certainly want to have my own set up. That’s my dream. I really want to have my own set up, be a businesswoman, and run the whole thing by myself. So that’s my long term goal, maybe in five, six years. But yes, that’s definitely my plan.
Lesley [00:19:16] Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a good it’s pretty it’s always good to have something like that to work toward, especially since you did kind of come here and and give yourself kind of like a a fresh start, so to speak. So you that is a really, really good starting point for that kind of thing because you can you can do whatever you want.
Arushi [00:19:33] Every country works in a different aspect. Dentistry doesn’t change much, but then the work environment and the policies and everything else does. So working as a dental assistant and a patient treatment coordinator, I learned a lot about how to run a dental practice. So those are the things I would say. Even if I’m not working as a dentist, I’m working as a patient coordinator or a dental assistant, I’m still learning how to run a clinic. So those things I can keep to myself and then use them later in my life and whe I have my own practice. Nothing goes to waste. And I say this to everybody that nothing that you do goes to waste.
Lesley [00:20:10] Yeah, I always agree with that. Like any skill you learn, even if it’s not really relevant to anything, it’s always helpful and you’re always going to be able to do something with it. Right?
Arushi [00:20:22] Right. Definitely. And the other job that I work with, as the store manager, I’m able to do like the retail part, but I meet people from different ethnicities. So it’s I’m not limited to my own people. I’m like interacting with more multicultural people. I’m able to understand their likes and dislikes and how a person thinks, so I will tend to learn a lot when you talk to people honestly, like a lot about Canada is something that I learned not from Google, not from watching YouTube videos, nothing but from interacting with people. I didn’t get a lot of chance because we came in July and then the lockdown happened and I’m not I couldn’t interact much, but then whatever amount of time I could interact with them on work or at a store, I would just make most of it by talking to them because the culture and everything is what you learn from meeting people, that’s for sure.
Lesley [00:21:19] Yeah. And another thing too, is like the job that you’re doing now will also really help you because if you do open your own practice running a dental practice, it’s probably a lot like running a business. So you’re going to have that experience. Know how to help you with that later, which is really great too.
Arushi [00:21:41] True. With everything right from how to have a setup, to your sterilization, to managing your inventory, to managing a staff, the payroll, everything is every skill is important to run a practice. It’s not just about the dentistry, but being a good businessman as well at the end of the day.
Lesley [00:21:59] Yeah and organized.
Lesley [00:22:00] Yeah, exactly. Because it I mean, it is basically like it’s not the same, same thing, but it is a business at the end of the day. So that makes total sense.
Arushi [00:22:10] You just do it. In work, you’re giving a service. But yes, you have to have a balance.
Lesley [00:22:18] Yeah, definitely. So when you were taking school and or in university in India and I’m not and I’m obviously I’m not super familiar with what it’s like to go to university in India. But while you were there, did you kind of have did you do any kind of extracurriculars or were you involved in anything else while you were a while you were doing your degree?
Arushi [00:22:43] Yes. So like with the college, we had a program that was specially focusing on the underprivileged people around our university. So we had a lot of villages and rural areas where we used to take our like we had a van which was modified into a moving dental clinic. So we would go volunteer like we would in batch of fives every other day. We would shuffle up and go to different areas to give them services and also educate them about basic oral hygiene. A lot of people weren’t foolish enough to come to the city and get the treatment done, So our college took the initiative to make them aware and to treat them. So that was one main part I was involved with and I quite enjoyed doing it. And also I learned that how these people are like still meeting their ends and not having to focus on their health, like oral health still has to be. We had certainly a lot of awareness about oral health and that was one part that I really liked educating them about how important it is to have a good oral health in order to have a good body health. So that’s what I did in college. And then after I came here, I very much like being working and being able to educate the patients again and yeah, just being part of learning the culture and telling them this is right for you, this is not so. You should avoid these habits.
Lesley [00:24:14] Yeah, that sounds really fulfilling and rewarding. And also to like, yeah, like a lot of people don’t realize how connected your teeth are to your overall health and all other like so many other areas of your health are directly connected to your teeth. And I think I feel like a lot of people, if they don’t have that education, they don’t really understand why it’s so important to go and take care of your teeth or just like, okay, it’s just my teeth. Well, now it’s not really just your teeth.
Arushi [00:24:46] It’s not you people. It’s like, suppose I give an example, they have a gut issue. They would definitely show signs on the teeth. The teeth would be brittle, they would break easily, they would chip And either they would have like yellowing of teeth, but they wouldn’t realize it’s something to do with their gut vice versa if they’re smokers or they are into substance abuse or something like that, that would show signs in the oral mouth. So it can be oral cancer. So that’s like extreme of it. And there are oral lesions which can cause irritation or burning sensation in the mouth, and these things can lead to different other health issues later on. So educating them about how they can improve on that is actually satisfying. And I have seen people going into tobacco sedation programs and such, like over a period of one year, and they have seen a drastic improvement. And that has been the opening warning that could change somebody’s life, not just like creating a good smile for them, but overall health as well.
Lesley [00:25:50] Yeah, so kind of helping them on the inside and the outside just. Yeah, everything. Yeah, that’s that’s pretty awesome. Did you work as well when you were in school?
Arushi [00:25:59] So I worked after I finished school, so I worked up as an intern in my college itself. And then we used to be posted to different departments and they could do the specialization and focus on that one particular area. That’s how I learned a lot. And after I graduated, I worked in a Goldman Sachs setup where I had almost like 100, 150 patients per day. So I got a lot of exposure that happens in Dehli itself. And then I walked into a private practice where I learned more about the cosmetic part of dentistry where people were more interested in, of how the teeth can look whiter, brighter and have those kind of things. But yeah, it was like I could do the treatment part and the cosmetic part.
Lesley [00:26:45] So you kind of worked in a few different areas to just kind of give yourself a more well-rounded approach. So you kind of dabbled in a little bit of everything.
Arushi [00:26:53] Yes, that’s what my aim was like, because dentistry in India is evolving, it’s always been evolving and like right now the cosmetic part, they are going into veneers, Invisalign, which is all about having straight beautiful smiles. It’s all about having like tooth jewelry and stuff like that. And also like Botox is being introduced. So it’s not just limited to the teeth, it’s more now head and neck. It’s about your overall features and like balanced faces. So it’s it’s interesting. It’s like I said, evolving. And there’s so much scope to learn so much.
Lesley [00:27:31] You have actually been hearing a lot about Invisalign lately. Just a lot more people mentioning it more often. So, I mean, that’s that’s probably true.
Arushi [00:27:40] That’s true. One interesting fact I would like to tell is it’s not about always having a straight smile, but having a perfect occlusion. So a lot of people get misled into, oh, if your teeth are perfect, if your teeth are straight, it’s it’s the right thing to have. No, you should have a perfect occlusion if teeth are touching each other. The main, like I would say, the role of the date is to grind the food properly. People don’t understand that if you are not able to chew properly, you can have other problems like a TMJ problem or like people that are headache. Like that doesn’t make sense. Why do you have a headache? They want people to like figure out, Oh, it’s because I’m not able to have a proper bite. Those things show when you’re aging and it gets worse. So having a proper teeth alignment helps you have a proper occlusion. And so a person should actually focus on like the productive part, for instance, like having a perfect occlusion alignment of the teeth rather than the smile. But yeah, it’s okay if people will learn we have to educate them.
Lesley [00:28:51] Yeah, because it’s so basically just because your teeth are straight doesn’t mean that they’re like they might not mean they’re quite properly aligned or vice versa. Like just having straight teeth is not really the determinant of how healthy they’re. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say.
Arushi [00:29:09] But that’s, that’s what I’m trying to say because I would say, like even the social media misleads you to these gimmicks like having whiter teeth or they don’t realize like over whitening of the teeth can lead to teeth sensitivity. If you are like saying, I want to get my teeth whitened, it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to want them in different sessions. But at the cost of if you’re going for cheaper products and not by the professionals, they end up making the teeth even more weak instead of making them look healthier, they actually turn out to be weaker. So people have to do some research. It’s you shouldn’t just go by what you see in a magazine or you’ll see yourself, I’m getting this done of promoting that done. And then you should actually consult a professional, a dentist, to tell them if it’s even required or not. Because this is the thing. Like a lot of ethnicities, we have different enamel and concentration, so a teeth turns out to be yellow. When you start aging, it doesn’t mean it’s not healthy. It’s just that the dental part is getting more darker and that’s when your teeth turns out to be darker does not mean that you have to get the whitening. But yeah, that’s the thing that you have to make the patient understand that, that it’s not all about the cosmetic, but also about the function too.
Lesley [00:30:32] Like it’s always not. Just pretty white, shiny or shiny, a bright white smile. It’s about how your teeth actually function.
Arushi [00:30:41] Yes.
Lesley [00:30:42] Again, it’s you know what? It’s really interesting to kind of think about that, because we always think about how, you know, the the beauty standard that the media kind of pushes on people. And it’s always this beauty and it’s always whenever people talk about it, it’s the biggest thing people talk about is always like body image and, you know, certain ideal body types. But it’s kind of like what you’re saying is kind of making me think about how that concept of that applies to so many other things that you don’t really realize that those beauty standards damage so many other areas that we don’t even realize It’s just so widespread.
Arushi [00:31:20] Yes, that’s true about the role of like being professional. That one has to work on being making people more aware and not get into that wrapped up. Yeah. Yeah.
Lesley [00:31:30] And not just get distracted by just really wanting to have white teeth instead of and then going and buying like the cheapest teeth whitening on sale at the drugstore and then ripping the enamel on teeth.
Arushi [00:31:43] You would be like, I’m brushing my teeth so much. And then instead of like having whiter teeth my gums hurt because that’s wrong brushing technique. So you tend to, with time, understand like all insecurities control. So the beauty standards and everything to keep up with it, people just go to them.
Lesley [00:32:03] Definitely. It’s definitely an important point to consider. So while you were doing all these things when you’re in school, did you kind of have like, how did you kind of balance everything you were doing? Because I’m I’m going to go ahead and assume that dentistry is not a light program to take. So how did you kind of balance all that? Did you kind of have like a time management routine or a steady routine that you tried to stick to, or what did you kind of do to keep yourself balanced?
Arushi [00:32:29] So the first thing that my parents made sure that I’m not in a hostile setup that was like just 5 minutes for my college so that I have more time to myself rather than traveling back and forth from home. So my morning used to start usually at seven in the morning and my college was at eight. So I would have like get ready to have my breakfast and then head to my college. My college used to finish by four and we had a program which had a lot of assignments, clinical aspect that we had a guota like in the sense you had deadlines to meet. You have a number of patients to do before you could pass at certain criteria. So all of that made us more sincere, more organized and diligent, and we started to have time management in place from day one. Like finishing on time is when if, if we are finishing, I’m like, Suppose it’s a calving situation, I’m making up to it. But if I’m able to finish it by the end of one hour, our grades won’t be put in. So all of that from right from day one of my class, if I remember correctly, it’s like I’ve always been stuck with, It’s this hour. I need to get this done as soon as possible. And yes, having a good diet and everything else added to it. Then like work balance again. When I came to this country, back and back in India, we had help. We had house help. We had the parents and everything to take care of that aspect. But once we moved here, that was a challenging part, managing home, managing my work. And then on the weekends I used to take my certification courses. So that’s when I felt that, yes, having time management, having my finances managed and having a work life balance is essential to have a peace of mind. By the end of it, you just don’t want to keep working and struggling and being not able to be productive. Nobody wants that because you have to be 100% to be 100% do your studies and 100% at home as well.
Lesley [00:34:29] Absolutely.
Arushi [00:34:30] Now, my husband has left. He has managed used to make excess. I mean, I was pretty bad at it initially. But then he taught me like, okay, that’s this is your goal. This is what you want to pay for education. This is what you want to do for a miscellaneous maybe eat out or anything. You have to budget it.
Lesley [00:34:47] Mm hmm.
Arushi [00:34:48] Because money is limited, time is limited. You cannot just exhaust your resources. So one has to be mindful about anything that you just have your mind for. Don’t do it that okay, I need to get this done and set realistic goals. Don’t be unrealistic and be true to yourself and ask yourself like, okay, is this required? And prioritize things. So that’s how I have been managing my life so far.
Lesley [00:35:15] Yeah, it sounds like you kind of learned pretty quickly how to discipline yourself. Like, it sounds like a lot of that sounds like you learned a lot about self-discipline too.
Arushi [00:35:26] That’s true. You have to like if you don’t take yourself seriously, nobody else would.
Lesley [00:35:32] Yeah, and especially if you’re in post-secondary education, you have to discipline yourself because no one else is going to discipline you.
Arushi [00:35:43] That’s it. Yeah.
Lesley [00:35:45] Like we have in high school. In high school, you have your teachers saying, Hey, you didn’t do your homework. Like, where’s your homework? Or like, do you need extra help? Or you miss a test and they give you like a makeup assignment. And it’s a lot of those things aren’t there when you’re in university. Like you’re not. If you don’t turn in an assignment, the professor’s not going to chase you down and ask you for it. They’re going to just All right, This person didn’t turn in their assignment and move on. And so you really, really need to be on top of yourself and make sure you’re keeping yourself on track. And I know that’s something that a lot of people really have to adjust to when they get to that level, too.
Arushi [00:36:21] You have to be self-motivated. If you are not like like you said, nobody can pull you out of your room to get to the class on time. Or if you miss a session, you miss it. You would miss the day of learning. So it is new and I think everybody should be students and be prepared that they have to finish everything. Not for anybody else but for themselves.
Lesley [00:36:43] Absolutely. Were there any other kind of challenges you faced when you were a student aside from that or any kind of obstacles you had to overcome while you were studying in school?
Arushi [00:36:55] Yes, they were many. The one incident that I recall right now is during my examinations. So we were supposed to have patients assessed a week prior, a dentist trial and okay, we are going to treat this patient on the day of examination for our professional final examinations. So I did everything. I set it up. I got the all the details of the patient and he promised that he would turn up on the day of the examination and then he didn’t. And that was my my actually, like, got mad at me. Like what just did happen? How how did this happen? How did how did he not turn up? And that was the moment that I felt, okay, It’s not just about treating a patient, but also having that’s the first day I learn that I have to have a more closer, like a personal relation with the patient so that he can trust me. That was more on my part that maybe he didn’t trust me enough, that he didn’t turn up. But then later on the day, he did turn up. But that was because he had some other issues. But yes, I learned that you have to have better communication with the patient, that it just important to be there on time. Maybe I wasn’t vocal enough or I didn’t make it sound so important. So because it was my priority and not his things which are on it. So again, like I said, every day was a new day and every patient was a new patient and they had their own kind of personalities. So that was challenging to get through their head of what they want, because if I’m doing a treatment, they would just be, okay, you can do this, but while doing it, they would just change the mind. No, I don’t want this done because. It would be about making money, maybe not just about money also, but about the time they would just randomly be like, Oh, I want to go home. So I learned how to first communicate with them, make everything clear that this is what I’m doing. This is how much time it would take. This is what you have to do. You have to come back or anything of that sort and get things more organized and smooth for both of us. So those were a little bit of challenges that I faced here and there.
Lesley [00:39:07] Yeah, that communication is definitely important to build that trust with someone because you can’t you can’t really like those two go very much go hand in hand. And again, communication is another one of those skills that you don’t you have to learn through trial and error and you have to kind of learn through that experience instead of just having someone tell you like, okay, communication is important, go try it out. Like you have to actually experience that to really understand why it’s so important. Yeah, but it sounds like those were those kind of good challenges because they helped you kind of develop your own style of working with patients or whoever else. And it kind of it sounds like there was a lot of lessons to be learned with that with those kind of challenges, too.
Arushi [00:39:52] Yes, they were positive challenges, and I could do a lot of changes in myself, Like I could analyze like, how can I make a situation better that improved my. Not just my skills, but also my personality, like how to be more welcoming to the patients, how to be, how to make them more comfortable with me, and then again, treat them correctly so that they can come back to me. So that is one thing that has still, like I know a few patients of mine still calling me to ask like, how am I doing? So if you have that kind of mindset that you’re not just there for money, not just that I’m doing a service to you, but that to actually help somebody genuinely.
Lesley [00:40:37] Yeah, that’s definitely must be a really great feeling when someone kind of remembers you and say, Hey, how are you doing? I’m still thinking of you, even though like you were. You worked out my teeth.
Arushi [00:40:46] Yeah.
Lesley [00:40:48] Because, I mean, like, again, it’s just like those going back to the people who are afraid of dentists. So yeah, just having that kind of impact on someone probably would be really worthwhile, I think.
Arushi [00:41:01] Yes, for sure.
Lesley [00:41:03] So dentistry kind of aside, one of your other kind of passions is that you are a travel blogger. Yeah. So how did you kind of get it? Did you start that while you were did you do that while you were in school, or is that kind of a more I mean, I guess obviously right now COVID aside, was that kind of how did you how did you end up getting into that?
Arushi [00:41:28] So that was one of the passions I picked up during my school in India, that in my free time I would be either interested into playing sports, but then once I moved into a hostel, I didn’t have that kind of time, but I ate all of the energy so I would just come back from my work and everything and take one or 2 hours to myself and get into writing. So I would because whenever we had vacations, I would go and visit my father. He was posted to some state on the other and I would plan a trip to spend some time with him. But that’s when I started to learn about how different provinces like we call it provinces, the other states and India. So I would learn about the flora and fauna, but the cultures and the because even India is diverse, it’s you have fields, you have snow, you have desert, you have rivers, waterfalls, whatnot. It’s beautiful to experience all of that. So every time you would be close to a new place, I would make sure I visit him, click a lot of pictures to show it to my friends and everything and that I did this all activities over there. And he being a sportsperson himself and being an adventure junkie, I would say he would take me on different expeditions, take me to trails, or we would go river rafting like parasailing, something on the order of that sort that got me intrigued, like, Oh, I tell it to my friends. And they all get so fascinated. Like, not everybody gets an opportunity. Or maybe they are not aware to where to access these things. So that’s how it started. There’s a place called the Long Daniel Valley that nobody had heard of those places that’s in the east, very east of India. People haven’t visited. It’s not something like a commercial destination, tourist destination. So it was like untouched beauty and pristine and something that nobody had seen ever before because there’s no documentation anywhere. So when I showed them those kind of pictures and that got them interested and they all wanted to sit and talk to me more about it, like me, like, Oh, I should write about it. I should like, like blog about it. So that that would start it like more of being my like a journal, I would say putting my thoughts and my experiences, what I saw, what I felt, or what kind of people I met and what experiences I had with them to that. Then coming to after graduating, I would travel across India and then after that I went abroad and my first trip was to Singapore and we went to Maldives. And then we went to Abu Dhabi, and then we saw Dubai. And I was mesmerized by events like the day I would just learn the whole planning and everything just got me so interested. Again, the budgeting, but your traveling, you’re managing your budget, you’re managing your you want to experience everything, but you are on a budget.
Lesley [00:44:30] Yes.
Arushi [00:44:31] All these things got me to channel the thoughts and say like that. That’s when I said I want to be a full fledged travel blogger. That’s my passion. That got me like a lot of experience exposure, and I learned a lot during this whole like six years of my writing experience.
Lesley [00:44:51] So you really just wanted to kind of share all that collected information with other people and kind of show them stuff off the beaten path kind of thing.
Arushi [00:45:01] Yes, that’s my my thing. I would say also that I would like people to say you have to have money like a lot of money to maybe travel. But I would say no, like coming to this country. I would say if traveling is not just about going to a destination, maybe I’m not just checking out in fancy restaurants and hotels, something like that. It’s more about the experience, seeing the nature of experiencing what that place has to offer to you. So that all happens when you are present in the place you are experiencing, and then you can share with your friends and family. So my ideas of influencing people to actually hold back, be in the moment, enjoy with what you have. Like COVID has taught me that certainly during the lockdown you can’t go anywhere. But then I know what I will deliver right across like just 10 minutes walk from a place you can to see it from your eyes. But once you go to the trail, I could I found like people were like, there’s a river near your house. You know, what’s on it? And that’s like, you have to have that zeal and that exploring nature in yourself that you want to learn or maybe just explore that area. Yeah.
Lesley [00:46:19] Yeah. I think that’s one of the positive things to come out of COVID, because, I mean, obviously no one is no one likes COVID and everyone’s sick of being in their house. But when I think one of those positive things is that so many people are starting to appreciate what’s in their own backyard a lot more because for the longest time and even right now, the only options really are just going to wherever it’s close to, you are going to, you know, your hiking trail or wherever it is you’re going. And a lot of people are starting to realize like, hey, this is a really cool area I live in, and I never even thought to explore it.
Arushi [00:46:56] That’s true. That’s something I would say I learned from a mother. She has been my greatest mentor and my teacher. Almost like during the days when we could go out and the father would be only posted somewhere. So she would take the initiative of making me feel comfortable in my own home, going to the backyard, having a vineyard like a lot of people don’t even know where the produce comes from. Like they wouldn’t even know how a potato grows. Something like smallest that you are, you’re learning as you’re seeing things. So that is something one should appreciate. That is what to have, even if it’s just a small, like a plant or something that you have known about it. Go get it. Learn how you can make it better. Something as small as that can actually make a lot of difference in your life. I mean, it’s not always about having to go to the farm, to the station. Even if you go to maybe a very exotic place, if you don’t know about what you’re going, therefore imagine you’re going to have all these and you don’t know what kind of. Marine life. You’ll want to see that. So even if you’re there, you won’t be noticing it. Like, if you’re in the ocean, you to know what the fish are, what it is. You’re just seeing things but not knowing what it is. So that’s something like being blanked with like one should actually just do whatever research. But I wouldn’t say you have to study a whole lot of policy, but just be yeah, you’re going to like, try the cuisine, try the culture stuff like the clothes or something like that that’s going to like, add some value to you and not just go there for that kind of a. But relaxation, we must call it oxygen, did not just go with a blank mind.
Lesley [00:48:42] Yeah, that’s one thing I usually do. Any time I go somewhere, I always kind of read up a bit. I like, spend a couple of weeks before I leave reading up about kind of like the history of that place and learning a little more about it. Because I feel like for me, what I learn and know, at least not like I mean, I’m not studying like books and books of it, but just knowing that little backstory and knowing the history of the place makes me appreciate that experience a lot more. Because you go somewhere, you’re like, Wow, I’m walking in the footsteps of whoever else came before me or wherever, like, depending on where you are and whatever. But I feel like it just makes you appreciate the opportunity you’re experiencing in that moment. And the just like the the. Presence of the place you’re in, I think.
Arushi [00:49:36] Yes, that’s absolutely the thing. If you don’t appreciate the thing that you’re doing, it’s pointless. So, again, it’s something that you put your mind into is when you would start appreciating it.
Lesley [00:49:48] Yeah, definitely. And how did you kind of start building up that blog? Like, did you did you kind of just start the blog and then just kind of start showing it to your friends? Or did you kind of just go full in and just put yourself out there?
Arushi [00:50:02] So it was initially a small thing that I started, like writing and then sharing it with enough friends and family. And then once I started to get good response from them is when I created a website for myself and then I started going full with it. Also, I became a lifestyle and a body pasta influencer back home, so I had a lot of legal issues with my own body image because yeah, there are certain stereotypes and there are certain way of blessed has to be or they have a beauty standard. But then again, I like competed in beauty competitions. I won them and then I got a chance to work with great brands in India to promote one’s body positivity. So all these things got me to like, if I can add some value to somebody’s life, why shouldn’t I? It’s not only about just my personal experience with it, but to create that awareness, overall awareness about different aspects. So that’s how I went into it. And once I came into Canada, it’s been very welcoming to me. And again, I continued with my blogging here as well. And I have worked with diverse brands from like run by fairly, I would say, white people to black people to multi from to my culture people too. It’s been such an amazing journey with them, working with them, interacting with them, what their ideologies are, what the brand is all about. So I like to associate with such people. If I believe in something, I would want to influence people like, okay, I’m influencing you. Do you have to buy this? But he has to experience it. And maybe just tell them about this thing is that you can maybe like, for example, go for a vegan brand over a chemical brand. So something like as simple as that.
Lesley [00:51:56] Yeah, I think that if you’re going to be an influencer or any type of, you know, online personality or content creator or anything like that, I do think that there is a responsibility there to be careful of what makes sure that what you’re promoting is in line with your own values and as well as the things that you want to not push on other people, but you want to kind of influence other people toward. Because there is, you know, sometimes, like you hear those stories about influencers or people who just kind of get caught up in the whole promoting everything they can to just make as much money as they can, and then they end up promoting these really damaging products like those weight loss teas and stuff that are really, really dangerous. And so I think that’s really yeah.
Arushi [00:52:50] So that’s something I stand by and apply this to that if something doesn’t work for me or even if the brand has approached me or they have sent the stuff to me, I would put it up on my social media or I would share it with anybody that, okay. You must give it a try, because if it didn’t work for me, I’m sure it’s gonna work for you. So being a responsible influence, though, I’ve seen that I would want to even share this with my other colleagues as well. That please be true. True yourself. Don’t like scammed people into believing that you could lose all that found. And just to be like we may be having a fit. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t work that way. You have to make people aware, maybe influence the way, oh, you do this exercise you’ve all of the time and you’re going to achieve. That’s true. Influencing and not giving in to having some filler or something like that would work overnight. It doesn’t.
Lesley [00:53:45] Yeah, I think that authenticity is what really makes really makes people stand out as people and not just fall into that. I want to be a celebrity kind of trap. Like, being authentic is so important, especially today when everybody is on social media and there are so many platforms that everyone uses and it’s just there’s a lot of it. So that authenticity is so important.
Arushi [00:54:11] Also, I think people should research more than just believing somebody like me. I role is to influence. I agree. But I guess one has to do some research on a personal level because everybody is different. And sometimes things may work for me, but work for you. So one has to be aware of that aspect of life as well. Not everything is for everyone. But yes, you can get influenced.
Lesley [00:54:40] Yeah, I think the focus should be more on inspiring than influencing. And speaking of kind of inspiring. What is one of your favorite memories from your time, whether in school in India or retraining or anything like that?
Arushi [00:54:58] So there have been many, many turning points. My parents have been my greatest influences. They have given me a lot of inspiration to do what I do. They have always taught me that if I dream it, believe it, I can achieve it. That’s one thing that my father has repeatedly told me, and he has been a very strong fellow in my life. Seeing him serve the nation selflessly has inspired me a lot. That’s something he does. Not just as a job, but something he’s passionate about. The same thing goes for my mom. She’s a teacher. She. She has done lectures, post-graduate in zoology. She could be a scientist or something, but she wanted to be a teacher. And she just chose to be like a schoolteacher and to give people more about, like, basic sciences. And that all got me thinking, like, it’s not always about making money, but also doing something that you’re passionate about. That’s one inspiration I’ve taken from them, and I continue doing that. If I’m not happy doing something, I may not be able to continue doing it forever. So that’s like I would give them motivation. And if you’re passionate about doing it, you think you can. And make this your career. That’s when you go for it. Even for blogging. A lot of people have got into blogging now. Seeing other people. Oh, it’s a lot of money. It’s quick money. It’s you get a fame. You get a lot of like stuff this, that and whatnot. A lifestyle maybe, for that matter. But if you’re not passionate doing it, you may discontented after a few months, you may not be consistent. And that’s when your audience would just get to know instantly and they would lose that interest in you. So you have to first know yourself what you are and do, and that’s when you’ve got to achieve it.
Lesley [00:56:49] Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. Like, not just because a career is very financially rewarding, it doesn’t mean it’s going to make you happy. And it’s I mean, I’ve always believed that it’s more important to be happy doing what you’re doing than to make a lot of money, because you could be, you know, as you have all the money in the world. But if you’re not happy, the money’s going to mean nothing.
Arushi [00:57:14] That’s that’s very true. So it’s something that my mom says, like even sometimes when the day is like even during this time, the pandemic has been very stressful for us being able to meet them. But then she’s just keeps reminding me that the happiness lies within you. So if you are happy from the and everything around, you will be and always the idea of manifesting good thoughts. That’s one. One should on this practice. Like I believe in the secret. A lot of people have it simple. That’s why I really like reading time and again, just to once again come back to reality that, yes, good things do happen. It’s not like the bottom is there?
Lesley [00:57:56] Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot in the last few months, that home manifests mindset kind of thing and just kind of putting out what you want to get back and just using that. Like if you put positivity out there, it will come back to you. I’ve been hearing that a lot.
Arushi [00:58:15] A simple thing like not having to wear a mask if yeah, if we do, if you smiled at somebody, the boss would give you a weird look for a second. But then you just smile back into something that. So if you smile at the world like you manifest that you want this, you’re happy. So even though everything would work for you, it would be happy for you. So if you think you’re miserable, you’re not well or something like that, you would suddenly get up every day thinking, I’m not there. I’m feeling sick because that’s what you’re being constantly thinking. Even if you’re not, you’re just going to manifest a my before, Like that’s going to affect you like and get you to rock bottom. So not know what we should do that. Don’t put yourself down. That’s what I feel. Nobody should do that.
Lesley [00:59:02] I think that’s what kind of why a lot of people really, really swear by the positive affirmations. And just like every morning telling yourself, you know, I am worthy or whatever you want to say to yourself, because the the more you it’s all about how you. Feel that like it’s it’s about the way that you change your own mind to think. So if you really, really believe something, you it will start to just happen.
Arushi [00:59:33] Yeah, that’s true. Anyhow, like again, you have to dream it to achieve. Even if you don’t, it’s not going to happen.
Lesley [00:59:43] Exactly. And speaking of kind of life advice, one of the questions that we always ask our podcast guests is if you could go back and talk to your 15 year old self, what would you say to yourself or what advice would you give yourself?
Arushi [00:59:57] That advice I would give to myself now stress less, worry less and work more. I am working on it and it’s a constant process. But yes, stressing and just getting worried about things are just over. Thinking about what will happen in the future is not going to help. It doesn’t. It never helped. And that’s the only main thing I would tell. My 15 year old said, Come on, you’ve got it. You just have to relax. Focus. Maybe just make prioritize things and you will do it and go to achieve it. So that’s number one advice I would give to myself. Also, self-love. Let us have more, be more positive and everything fall in place eventually.
Lesley [01:00:45] Yeah, I think that’s super important. I mean, a lot of time that’s something a lot of teenage, especially teenage girls, but teenagers in general really, really struggle with the whole self-love and just accepting yourself for who you are and not worrying about, you know, what the popular kids think of you or what the other kids at school think, and just being comfortable in yourself. And I think that’s obviously a really big issue with teenagers especially. But and and adults, too, I guess.
Arushi [01:01:14] Yes, it is. The idea of fitting and has made it difficult for people to actually believe in self-love. But quite often when you can stand out, I mean, you can just be yourself and you should actually be your best self so that people can like you the way you are and not just be a people pleaser.
Lesley [01:01:35] Yeah, like people who like you for who you are going to be. Those really true friends that add so much value to your life. And if your friends, if you’re going to be friends with someone based on what they think that you are instead of who you actually are like, those are not going to be uplifting or, you know, just valuable friendships in general because it’s based on false information pretty much agreed upon.
Arushi [01:01:59] So you should have your I don’t say that you should be maybe a rebel or something like that, but how am I in of your own? Have your own personality, have your own thoughts. Speak it out. Be for that. Yes. You have to have self-love and self-confidence. What’s that? What you think and believe in is something that you can put it out to others. Don’t be afraid to be judged. It’s okay. If somebody is meant to be in your life, a friend or a family, anybody for that matter, will be there for you. When it’s like when it’s about not just about being like, go with them, but about your mental mind. And we to match as well. So you will find the right people in your life, have true friends in your life only when you believe in yourself and have the confidence in the spirit. Yes, I would say that you have to be stubborn, but then you have to be able to align your thoughts correctly. If I did that like that, yeah.
Lesley [01:03:02] Yeah, that makes sense. And I mean, that’s. I kind of just lost my train of thought there. But that kind of thing of of if you are afraid to say something like, say or you really like something that maybe isn’t like popular or something like that, if you’re trying to hide some aspect of your personality because you’re afraid of your friends judging you for it and you think that they would judge you for it, and they’re obviously not good friends in the first place.
Arushi [01:03:28] Yeah, it’s better to have one friend than so many. That’s what I feel they want. Your friend is all you need. A person, a true person who can help you out, who can speak your heart to and be your true self. You don’t want a bunch of friends who are just there for the sake of it. You want somebody who genuinely things good for you and adds some good. You add positivity to their life and that was your life. That’s what that’s my idea of having my set of life. People around me, if they’re happy, it’s something like being happy for someone. If they achieve something, I should be very happy for them and that should be the way go or them. Like if I do something in my life, they should be happy for me and not be bugged or something or jealous. That’s a jealousy. I don’t want to use that word because. Yeah, it’s a negative word then. Yes, that’s that’s true. Human nature being angry as being vicious, being jealous, all those things shouldn’t be the. And between friends. That’s not your actual friend. If they are like that, they. They’re not your friends. It’s better to be away from them.
Lesley [01:04:35] Yeah. And if you’re not going to be happy for someone for something, then obviously you don’t actually genuinely care about them. Because when you care about people, you’re happy when they’re happy.
Arushi [01:04:45] Yeah, that’s the whole idea. That’s pretty much my kind of friends. Look at how I was like, We all have each other’s back.
Lesley [01:04:55] Yeah, definitely. And that’s I knew my next question was going to be what advice would you give to a student just starting in their first year of university or college? But honestly, I really think that everything you just said is really helpful advice for a first year college student as well. So I think I’m pretty sure that is probably one of the most important things to remember when you’re starting to when you’re a freshman student or whatever.
Arushi [01:05:24] And the main idea is one should enjoy your college, be open to learning, be open to challenges, and things have to change. Like you said in school, we have teachers telling us to do this and that. University is a different life. You won’t be told to do everything. It’s all about being self disciplined and self-motivated. So that’s one advice. I would give everybody that from day one, be true to yourself that I’m here for a focus. And Bob, just to make because these emails will come back, your foundation is won’t come back.
Lesley [01:06:01] Absolutely. And that’s important to remember, too, right? Like that. They’re not like make and break your future, but they really are so, so important as to how you form. Because I really believe that in university, those are your years where you really discover who you are and they’re very formative years for how you’re going to set yourself on a path in the future and how you’re going to just develop yourself as a person. So I think that it’s really important to remember that aspect of it.
Arushi [01:06:32] Yeah. Like, you would just be surprised that a lot of us will take. Like for me, I was always like under my my parents field or I was protected and I didn’t have that opportunity. I did have opportunities, but then I wasn’t sure I could do it. But once I was in the college, I was Aledo like I could be a coordinator or student body member or something that I could speak for like ten or 100 more people. So that’s just something that is discovered during college. Like, I have that kind of love that much confidence in myself that I could do those specific tasks all by myself. So those things you would be like people get surprised by themselves once they discover who they truly are and what how much strength they have inside them.
Lesley [01:07:18] I also think that’s why the friendships you make in university last so long too, is because you’re distant. That’s really that time where you start to discover yourself and you, you know, you do all of those things that we were just talking about, and you meet the people who are in that same phase of their life and they’re, you know, they’ve they are starting to define who they are. So you really kind of figure out who you mesh really well with. And that point and a lot of those university friendships, like they’re very long lasting and they last for a long time.
Arushi [01:07:50] That’s that’s absolutely true. Like on my friends that I would like because I travel so much and I would spend just a couple of hours with the friends. I never had that long lasting relation with a lot of friends. And during college, like four or five years, you’re at one place, you’re in the same hospital together, you’re 24 seven together. You understand the person better, you make better bonds, and that’s when you understand how everybody thinks, like that’s how you make good relationships. So yeah, it’s been quite a journey.
Lesley [01:08:24] That must have been really hard. And now that I just thought that you just said that, like, that must’ve been really hard growing up when you were when you lived in so many different places and going from different cities like that must have been really hard to make those friends and have like those childhood friends and all of that. Like it must have just have to keep restarting pretty much everywhere you go.
Arushi [01:08:47] Yeah, pretty much very good. And like, they were again, like if it’s a different cities and people are just saying their food is different and connecting to them, it was like not that challenging because my parents were very helpful. Always like they would tell me, You can do it this way or that way. And then I would be like, I can do it. And we would for the first day. And I was like pretty easygoing, happy to. I would make friends easily. I was very popular in my class everywhere, so I didn’t have a problem making friends. But yes, at times I would be very scared to like open my heart or my heart out because it’s something you develop over a period of time. And but the time I would them love to trust in someone is like my friend. But yeah, I have been in touch with all my friends. To have been making fun of me, and I’ve learned a lot from them. So every event I have made good friends and I cherish them for my life.
Lesley [01:09:52] I guess that’s also the flip side is that the more places you go, the more friends you have because you just collect them all.
Arushi [01:10:01] So all these are so fun.
Lesley [01:10:04] Now that’s amazing like that. Not a lot of people really have that opportunity to just have so many different friends and people from all different walks of life as your friends and like. That just gives you like so many experiences or just kind of a so many different perspectives on things even. So that’s really awesome.
Arushi [01:10:25] Apart from my university friends, all my other friends are into different professions, so when I talk to them, it’s not just about my profession, it’s about everything. It’s like, awesome. So it feels nice not just to talk about the same thing and like know more about what’s going on in other places, like other fields. So that’s, that’s nice for me as well. Like, my mind is not limited to one site. I can think in different ways. For example, my husband is my best friend, so he tells me about his job and his profile. He’s into engineering, so I learned a lot. I was never aware of certain things and it’s always interesting conversations to have.
Lesley [01:11:07] Yeah. And you just like, learn when you get a break from talking about your own profession all the time. Because I’m sure you don’t want to talk about dentistry 24 hours a day and you just learn the other things too, and like you learn stuff from other people. So it’s kind of a win win. Yes. So another question that we kind of ask everyone on our show is if you have a favorite motivational quote that you would like to share.
Arushi [01:11:30] I would say it’s like make your life your masterpiece. You just have one life limit to the fullest and book on every aspect of it. So that you look at it. Yeah, that’s one we try to live by because it’s like seeing even during the pandemic, it’s so unpredictable. You have to live one day at a time. You cannot just keep worrying about the future and not live the present. So that’s one thing I really has. Reinforcing myself again and again.
Lesley [01:12:04] Yeah, that’s definitely something that’s been a big factor in the pandemic is, you know, being given these circumstances that no one expected, no one wanted, and no one asked for it. And, you know, nobody is enjoying it. But, you know, you there are so many things that you can do just to, you know. Work on your own quality of life with what you have right now. And like for a lot of people, that might mean, you know, learning a new skill or doing something to pass the time or taking up a new hobby. And for other people it might just be, you know what, I’m just going to relax this whole time. I’m just going to you know, I’m just going to. Like lay on my couch or binge watch Netflix or whatever. And whatever you do to make your life worth living is like during these times is absolutely more than okay.
Arushi [01:12:56] Yeah, like for me, it was just slowing down my life. Like when I moved, I had so much on my hand, like with the job school, managing everything. Once I got it, opportunities to slow down. I could discover more. I could explore more of the place I’m going to spend my rest of my life. So, yeah, that’s I take it positively. So one has to have a positive attitude about everything.
Lesley [01:13:23] Yeah, definitely important to have a positive attitude right now and just in general at all times. I think so, yeah. That’s definitely a really, really great quote to share. And my one last question is another more fun question that we like to ask, and that is what is your favorite social media platform and why.
Arushi [01:13:45] So currently hooked to Instagram? And I love Instagramming. I’m pretty active there. And the other app I like is ticked off. I’m not fond of making a lot of videos. I’m still developing that skill. I would say I’m still learning and trying to use that. But yeah, those are two platforms I like. It’s actually like on TikTok. Once it started, you could get hooked for hours. But then I started to learn life hacks like that. So it’s been very interesting to learn things from different people around the world. And within 15 seconds you’re thinking of, Oh, this can be done this way to something like that. So these are two of my favorite platforms, like Instagram for my pictures, for my blog, and from those pictures and everything. That’s like getting to know a lot of people. I haven’t met them personally, but I came across a lot of girls from Toronto and then I’ve made friends. So that’s one thing that I. You know what you like about social media that you can become that makes sense from anywhere in the world. I’ve made friends from Europe. I’ve made friends from Germany and made friends from China, from us and India and all those countries. And it’s interesting to get to know how they are having what’s going on in their country and how they are coping with the time. So all this, if you use social media to your advantage, it is a good platform to interact and socialize.
Lesley [01:15:14] Yeah, it’s definitely a bonus to be able to. That’s definitely one of the really great positive things about social media is that you can connect with people all over the world and make friends everywhere, and it’s just opens you up to so many things that we never had opportunities for before. And even just like before the Internet or whatever, even just before, while we had the Internet and maybe not social media, those kind of thing.
Arushi [01:15:40] Yeah, because some people have the time they are able to. And plus, I think people have got more expressive. And they are letting things there on the social media.
Lesley [01:15:51] Do you want to drop your social or your Instagram handle so that our listeners can follow you?
Arushi [01:15:55] Yeah. So my social media handles are she s Sony, it’s e r u s h i s s and I. And you can follow me on Instagram and have the blog by the name The Gypsy Girl things being a one. And that’s how I came up with that name, the Gypsy Girls thing. So you can find me on Google consignment Instagram.
Lesley [01:16:18] Yeah. Well link those will link those as well and of course will take you in the post so people can see you and keep up with your adventures. So just before we wrap up and say goodbye, is there any other final things you want to say? I know we shared a lot already, but is there anything else you will kind of want to say just before we wrap up?
Arushi [01:16:38] So I would just say it’s all about enjoying your life. Don’t be stressed about anything that you have to achieve an unlimited amount, that everything happens in a time zone. What may happen to you at a definite time may have been to somebody at a definite other time. So don’t mix or compete with other people’s timelines. That’s one thing I feel like for me, I take it this way that if I’m able to achieve this in such an amount of time and not happen to somebody else, it’s all about your circumstances. So don’t pressurize yourself. Take life easy, be good to yourself, have self-love, have positive attitude, and you’re going to have everything that you always desire.
Lesley [01:17:22] I think that is an amazing thing, a great place to leave off, but also just very important for people to remember. And it’s very crucial, especially given the circumstances right now. So I really appreciate that. Thank you again for taking your time out of your day today, even though it is a holiday here in Canada. So thank you so much for joining me today and sharing all of this amazing insights, because a lot of what you said is very motivating and helpful. And I think people are really going to like hearing it. So thank you so much. And we’ll keep in touch with you and let you know what the next steps are and all that.
Arushi [01:18:04] So thank you so much.
Lesley [01:18:07] Have a good rest of your day.
Arushi [01:18:09] Take care. Bye bye.
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