Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani, is a successful entrepreneur, international speaker, and artist. Kristina cofounded Mindvalley, a global school that delivers transformational education to those who want to create their own unique path in life. Kristina brings a female perspective to company leadership as an advocate for people to experience happiness within themselves. Having traveled the globe on retreats such as Maverick 1000 on Necker Island to gain a clear perspective, Kristina understands that you must start the journey to happiness and joy with self-love and acceptance. Kristina spends her days traveling the globe educating people on how to be a happier version of themselves. She shares her proven strategies in this One Big Tip podcast episode.
Kristina’s journey to where she is today started with tearing herself down to build herself up. Like a phoenix rising, she realized that to be truly happy with her life, she needed to begin with self-love and acceptance. An author and life philosopher at heart, Kristina started in government service. She then segued into business, only to be disappointed with her station in life, and so began Kristina’s journey to awareness, internal acceptance, and joy. Today, Kristina shares the stage with other great speakers and educates others on personal growth. Kristina learned through her journey that being your authentic self is where the beauty in life lies. Every one of us is perfectly imperfect, which makes the world go round. It’s an integral part of growth when you can accept yourself, flaws, and all. That’s the best way to move forward and find true success.
As a public speaker, Kristina is aware of people’s struggles when presenting their thoughts and ideas to others while onstage. One tactic Kristina uses is not to rehearse her presentation because she doesn’t believe in a polished life. It’s within the parameter of imperfection that reality lies. There’s a delicate balance between being authentic and being prepared. Another trick Kristina employs when public speaking is understanding her value and not comparing herself to others. Someone will always be better, faster, more articulate, or more captivating. You need to learn to be comfortable with who you are. The more you show yourself self-love and acceptance, the easier it is to be kind towards yourself when you take a misstep in life, which often happens as a public speaker.
As a society, we have become accustomed to listening to those with big followings on social media platforms, but the truth is that what they have to say is not always as profound as it’s made out to be. As a society, we’ve become star-struck and create halo’s around other human beings for no reason other than they have a large following. This is why Kristina chooses to focus on the essence of life and what is essential rather than what is on the outside, or as she calls it, a facade.
As a self-proclaimed life philosopher who focuses on helping others actualize their inner happiness, one thing Kristina doesn’t believe in is fixing people. Kristina doesn’t use that terminology because it implies they were broken. Instead, Kristina views people as wounded, and they need to heal. Healing is a different process. It’s not something that makes you necessarily better. The adage “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is not something that Kristina adheres to. Kristina learned from her personal experience and client interactions that how we come out of trauma or heartbreak is different for each of us. We all come out of it, but some may come out weaker and softer rather than stronger and bolder. It all depends on our internal makeup or mindset and how we see the world.
Another concept Kristina speaks publicly about is success and confidence. The only thing you can do to succeed in life is to believe in your value. That’s how to grow your self-confidence.
Everyone who’s ever made anything of themselves has fallen. It’s how we get back up that defines us as human beings. We can’t come out the other side of anything life has to give us without first walking through it. Every experience plays a part in who we become; sometimes, it’s difficult to fight the hard times. That’s when it’s essential to have a support system. Everyone needs to know there is someone there for them to help them get through life.
If you’re ready to start your journey to self-discovery and move ahead in your life, you first need to forgive yourself and begin on a journey of self-love. That is the road to satisfaction in both your personal and professional life.
In this episode:
[3:00] Kristina shares her story
- Sometimes the best parts of our lives come later rather than sooner
- Try to look deep into who you are to find the beauty of what you can accomplish
[5:15] Imposter syndrome is not a needed part of growth
- Confidence comes from within
- Know your worth and see your own halo, then you will feel confident in your skin and move away from imposter syndrome
- Imposter syndrome is a symptom of low self-esteem
[11:58] Self-acceptance is the first step to personal growth
- We need to give up the idea of perfection equating with happiness
- As humans, we are all flawed and on the road to healing from some sort of trauma
- When you realize that you don’t need to be perfect to deserve happiness, that’s when happiness comes to you
[15:22] Don’t be intimidated by others’ successes
- As a society we give people around us, those we aspire to be like, halo’s, we make them grandiose, but that’s not reality
- Start to practice seeing others, as humans, regardless of their position or life status
[19:02] We all fall short of expectations at some point
- What matters is not how many times we fail, instead, it’s how many times we get back up
- We are not machines that need to be fixed. It’s important to see yourself as wounded and healing instead of broken in need of fixing. Broken implies a lack of the human spirit.
Watch the Interview:
Learn more and reach out:
- LinkedIn: Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani
- Website: www.kristinamand.com
