Empowering Solo Moms to Be B.O.L.D. w/Rahul Karan Sharma

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (00:02.954) My guest today is Rahul Karan Sharma. Welcome to Solomon's Talk, Rahul. Rahul Karan Sharma (00:09.596)

Thank you, thank you Rosemarie thank you Jen for having me here. J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (00:13.582) Sure, absolutely. It's my pleasure. Before we get into what you do, could you tell us who is Rahul? Rahul Karan Sharma (00:22.92) Sure, so professionally, Rahul is a global learning executive for learning and development for a multinational company. I've been privileged to author two books and I'm also a public speaker. Personally, I'm a service oriented individual. I love helping others. I love, it's just not helping, I love.

helping others that will allow them to go to the next level. So it's just not about helping. When I want to help or when I like to help is I want them to go to another level. So I am a left brain person and love swimming and playing Sudoku.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (00:53.31)

Okay.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (01:01.811)

Okay.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (01:08.226)

Oh, all right. I've never been able to figure out to look. So I guess I'm not that smart.

Yeah, okay. All right. So in your bio, it says you're a talented author, and you are also a facilitator and coach. Tell us about your work. And I guess that coaching work is where you help people, right?

Rahul Karan Sharma (01:30.256)

Mm-hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (01:36.7)

Correct, correct. So I'm still part of Corporate America Gen. Currently my coaching assignment are more internally, but yes, based on the people I know, I do get referrals. So I'm more doing more support to them to uplift them. In my day-to-day work, I do workshop more on the teamwork, leadership.

in helping people find different ways to make things happen. Sometimes we get stuck and when we get stuck, we need directions, we need a way out. So that is what I do. So when people are get stuck, I help them.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (02:09.884)

Okay.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (02:15.788)

Right.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (02:22.486)

Okay, all right, generally I get that. So let's zero in on some things. Our audience are mainly solo moms. And I'm gonna ask you one question, and answer it two ways. One, what is the biggest challenges, what is the biggest challenge you see in solo moms as employees, if you're able to recognize them as a single mother? And versus,

solo moms who are not in your corporate environment, like general.

Rahul Karan Sharma (02:57.2)

Right, right. So, solo mom in corporate environment, I see that they struggle when they are not getting any support. Personally, for the kids, for their household chores, is when they struggle. And what happens is when they struggle, it impacts their mind.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (03:15.989)

Mm-hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (03:21.112)

and it impacts their ability to work efficiently. So they are not able to give their 100%. Whereas the solo mom who are not part of corporate America, traditionally they are able to give more time to their family, to their kids, and they are more attentive, they are more listening, and they are able to help their family in an effective way.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (03:27.862)

Bye bye.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (03:51.058)

Right. Yeah. I got it. I got it. Yeah. All right. So tell us what can a solo mom do, a working solo mom, because despite the fact that she has so many balls juggling, she can't really drop any of those balls, can she? Especially if she has an inconsiderate boss. So give a working solo mom a tip or two.

Rahul Karan Sharma (04:14.344)

Mm-hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (04:19.74)

So the first thing I would say Jen is believe in yourself. You have greatness in you and you have an ability to do anything that comes your way. So never underestimate yourself. Number two, most of us, we try to take action and we take action when till the time it is perfect.

My request would be, don't go for that perfection. Take imperfect action, but on a consistently basis. And that could help you be closer to your goals, to your dreams. And so that would be another thing. Another good thing, which I am also struggling, Jan, I will admit it, is learning to say no.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (05:12.59)

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Rahul Karan Sharma (05:13.66)

That is something I'm working on it. I will not say I'm an expert there or I'm good at it, but my recommendation would be if we learn to say no, we are saying yes to all the things that we want to do. Okay. So those are some of the tips I would give to our solar moms.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (05:31.246)

Bye.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (05:35.014)

Okay, thank you. Great tips. Great tips. You don't have to be a solo mom to be able to empathize with a solo mom, right? Okay, thanks. And that what you said, learning to say no takes a shifting mindset, right? Okay.

Rahul Karan Sharma (05:55.98)

Absolutely, absolutely. It's a big shift. It's a big shift. So it's not something that will happen overnight because the mindset shift happens predominantly subconsciously. Today there are many things that we do which we don't even know that we are doing and

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (05:57.225)

Alright.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (06:03.317)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (06:16.119)

Yeah.

Rahul Karan Sharma (06:18.436)

to know what I'm saying is if you record yourself, maybe put up a camera in your living room or in your office, record yourself for 10, 15 minutes, there would be a lot of insights that you will get to know about your own self, how you talk, how you make your facial expression and other. So, sequentially we do a lot of things. So we need to take subconscious effort to make that mindset shift.

Most of us, we do feel that, okay, what will the other person will think if I say no? I think now is the time we need to prioritize our self-care. Self-care is very, very important because if we want to help others, we should be able to take care of our own self.

So the mindset shift of saying no, it has to come from subconsciously and you have to work on it on a regular basis. It will not happen overnight, but it is something that can happen.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (07:05.149)

Yes.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (07:15.018)

Yeah.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (07:18.934)

That's true. That's true. And it's funny that you could bring up self-care because it's something we talk about regularly to the point where I guess we're becoming numb to it. As important as it is, you know, we still aren't practicing it and prioritizing it. So thank you for bringing reminding us again. Yes.

Rahul Karan Sharma (07:42.888)

Correct. And if I can add, Jen, self-care, I'm not just saying that, you know, you go to a spa or you go to, yes, those are important. I'm not saying no. But self-care is taking care of yourself by giving time to your own self. You know, when no one, you are not listening to anyone only except your own self.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (07:53.884)

Yes.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (08:00.907)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (08:07.358)

Yes.

Rahul Karan Sharma (08:09.404)

being or maybe being vulnerable to your own self. If you want to get up late a day, you can do so. Maybe one day or maybe a moment where it's just you and only you. So that is what I would recommend our solo moms to focus on. And most of the time we struggle. When I say we, I mean the corporate people as well as individuals.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (08:28.276)

Yes.

Rahul Karan Sharma (08:37.72)

is we don't have people to talk to. We don't have people to talk to who will resonate with us, who will understand from where we are coming. And when we talk to people who do not understand our world, not that they will be able to give us inputs, but they may not be able to give the inputs that may be helpful for us. So.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (08:44.635)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (08:58.729)

Right.

Rahul Karan Sharma (09:00.7)

It is important for us to have a mentor or a buddy with whom you can share what's going on.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (09:08.742)

Yes, that yes, true, true. A lot of time we tend to be afraid to ask or to, you know, tell somebody else our business, you know, and really we sometimes need to make our business somebody else's business just so they can share the weight, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay, thank you.

Rahul Karan Sharma (09:32.156)

Correct, correct, absolutely.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (09:37.886)

Moving on from the solar mom part, can you share an example of a mindset shift that has had a profound impact on your life?

Rahul Karan Sharma (09:49.336)

Yes, so just two years ago when I wanted to go back to the swimming world, swimming is something I used to love. I used to do during my high school, but there was a huge gap. And my physician advised me to go back to swimming. I was very excited only to know that I was exhausted by swimming only one lap of 25 meter pool.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (09:59.542)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (10:17.024)

Mm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (10:18.544)

and it took me almost 30 minutes to finish four laps and I was exhausted. Now what I didn't realize, though I was excited, but I forgot that there is a time has changed. When I used to do swimming 20 years ago and today it's a most of things have changed my stamina, my style and the physical appearance, most of the things got changed. So

What I realized was that I need to do things differently. And I started doing some mind talk and realizing that what can I do differently? I started searching for some different swimming options. So instead of just doing a freestyle swimming, I started doing breaststroke, backstroke. I did not give up. So I came next day, I did four laps without stop.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (11:08.298)

Right.

Rahul Karan Sharma (11:14.416)

Then another day I came following day, six laps, eight laps. In a span of three weeks, Jen, I was able to swim for 40 laps without a break. And that change that happened is, I failed to accept that I could not do it. So it's just never giving up attitude is something that had a profound effect on me personally.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (11:24.818)

Wow.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (11:32.619)

Right.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (11:40.122)

Yes, yes. Thank you for sharing that because the other thing that we tend to use a lot is that once we hit 30 or 40, it's like everything is because of our age, right? And so well, at my age I shouldn't be doing this. I was good at it at 20, but not now. So I appreciate you sharing that story because, you know, it helps keep our mindset where it should be, which is don't give up. Yeah.

Rahul Karan Sharma (12:06.768)

Correct.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (12:11.795)

Okay. So let us ask you another question. What are some of the common habits that are associated with happiness and well-being? And that again, we're going back to what kind of things we could do as solo moms to keep us happy because sadness is our friend, right?

and wellbeing is just so far away that, so share with us, please.

Rahul Karan Sharma (12:44.968)

So that was the whole premise of my book, Habits for Miracles Gen. So I will talk about the two habits that will help us in making our brain more happy. The first is the mind talk. And the concept of mind talk is our brain, our subconscious brain is unable to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (13:13.875)

Right.

Rahul Karan Sharma (13:14.892)

So when we inject positive talk to our mind, our body stays in a stress-free environment, a more happier environment for closer to six hours. So every time we are talking positively to our own self, it is making our mind, making our brain more happy. So the habit that we should inculcate within us is practice of positive mind talk.

I understand there may be a lot of negativity that may be going around, but that is where we need to subconsciously think about thinking positive and talking positive to our own self. So that is one habit. The other habit I would say is focus on doing the self-analysation.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (13:57.568)

Right.

Rahul Karan Sharma (14:08.688)

What I mean by self-analyzation is, and this is again another habit of my word, Miracle acronym, A, Analyzation. I would want us to evaluate what are our strengths, what are our areas of improvement, and what are the things that is a sweet spot of ours.

Many times we try to do things that we know it is not our sweet spot. But still, you know, we go for it. I'm not saying don't challenge yourself, don't do things that you don't like. But where I'm going at is if you don't know a few things, then be vulnerable, be open to ask for help. It's you, it's, it takes a village to make things happen. So you are not alone.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (14:35.055)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (14:51.32)

Yeah.

Rahul Karan Sharma (14:57.016)

If you are having a feeling, if you are struggling, there will be 100 others who will be struggling at the same time. So ask for help, not because you want to be seen as a weaker person, but ask for help because you want to become stronger. So.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (15:03.082)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (15:12.915)

Mmm, I like that.

Rahul Karan Sharma (15:15.18)

Mind talk and analyzation, Beerus will be two things that will allow us to stay happy. When we know ourselves, we can do better and we can make a happier place around us.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (15:29.854)

Yes, absolutely. Ask for help so you can become strong. I like that. I like that. Okay, so I know in corporate you do support, employee support, but tell us about your side hustle.

Rahul Karan Sharma (15:35.877)

Yeah.

Rahul Karan Sharma (15:47.544)

Yes. So this book of mine is primarily, I wrote for folks who get stuck in life, folks who don't get direction. So I have written two books, Jen. One is B Action Oriented and Habits for Miracles. And ironically, the statistics about the world population who can convert their dreams into reality.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (15:56.248)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (16:01.806)

Okay.

Rahul Karan Sharma (16:15.665)

is only 8%. So there are only 8% of people.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (16:18.545)

Well...

Rahul Karan Sharma (16:20.56)

who can convert their dreams to reality. And my hope and aim through this book is I want to bring that number eight to 18 to 28 to 38, and that I cannot do it alone. So I want people to support and then come together and share the principle of MindTalk that will allow people to design their life their way. So right now I speak in colleges, I speak in various chapters

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (16:30.946)

Mm-hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (16:50.634)

can promote and then talk about the concept of Mindtalk.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (16:57.027)

Okay, and how can we get in touch with you?

Rahul Karan Sharma (17:00.996)

So LinkedIn or my website, which is www.habitsformiracles.com. The book picture is in the background. My book is available at any place there where books are sold. But Amazon, your Barnes and Nobles or Apple, Apple Store, everywhere it is available.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (17:08.613)

Okay.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (17:15.967)

Amazon, okay.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (17:21.823)

Mm-hmm.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (17:25.646)

Okay.

Rahul Karan Sharma (17:27.724)

I would just say that we have greatness in us. Solo moms, I do appreciate what you all do. I have not lived the life of a solo mom, but I have seen. It's tough, but you are not alone. You can get help. You are become, you are a manager in itself. You don't, you already have that leadership quality. You are a born leader.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (17:52.356)

Mm-hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (17:54.116)

So you can do things that you cannot imagine. Just know yourself, ask for help, and then have a mentor in life who can give you right direction. That is so very important. And last but not the least, if I can say, Janis, never ever quit on a bad day. If you want to quit on anything, quit on a day when you are happy mood, when your head is held high.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (18:12.334)

Sure.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (18:16.527)

Hmm.

Rahul Karan Sharma (18:24.208)

Don't quit on the day when you are not happy. That would be my last recommendation. And you, yeah, thank you, thank you.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (18:30.77)

Wow, those are pretty good.

Thank you. Thank you. Don't quit on a bad day and ask for help so you can become better. I really like that. I'm going to use them. Okay, so what is Rahul grateful for today?

Rahul Karan Sharma (18:42.98)

Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Rahul Karan Sharma (18:50.956)

I'm grateful for this opportunity. I'm grateful for that I'm able to share things with solo mom who struggle. And I'm grateful for that. I am becoming a way to help and motivate your listeners, Jan. Thank you for the opportunity.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (19:09.142)

Yes. Thank you. Any parting shot?

Rahul Karan Sharma (19:16.076)

Just this acronym that I have created, a gen called BOLD. B stands for Believe in Yourself, O Optimistic, L is Love Yourself, and D Dream. Dream big, you have greatness in you and you will be able to achieve whatever you dream. So just be BOLD.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (19:35.406)

Awesome. Be bold. Thank you, Rahul, Karan, Sharma for coming and talking to us today. And Solomon's talk. I appreciate you.

Rahul Karan Sharma (19:45.148)

Thank you, thank you for having me here.

J.Rosemarie (Jenn) (19:46.846)

Yes.