Go Getter Girls, Zen and the Greatest Story Ever Written: Feed Your Soul with Shinjini Das

Meet Shinjini Das: speaker, engineer, media personality, Huffington Post and Elite Daily contributor, and most importantly, GO GETTER GIRL. Shinjini’s soul food? Her audience. She thrives on delivering to her audiences exactly what they need to feel empowered. What more could you need from a motivational speaker?? Her strong viewpoints and simple passion for motivating are something everyone can and should learn from. Since graduating, Shinjini has been navigating the world of professional, motivational speaking. And we think she’s doing an awesome, amazing, wonderful, tremendous, extremely inspiring (okay I’ll stop) job. Read on to see just how she does it.  

Are there any consistent activities or rituals you do to maintain a sense of inner peace? “First of all, I love this question.  I wish more people asked me this! One thing I take time to do is to reflect – essentially self-reflection, centering my thoughts & energies. Keeping a very centered outlook on everything has been very important to me: keeping in mind that, you know, the worst things in the world aren’t the worst and the best aren’t the best. I recently started meditating, but in general for me it is self-reflection and introspection. I do that multiple times a day.”

When you are in an emotional rut, what are your go to ways to bring yourself out of that feeling? “Music. Really high-energy songs. I am a big believer in that. I think that mindset is a very powerful thing if used well, and there definitely have been times in the past when things may not have felt right or I felt inadequate, and in those times it’s about taking myself out and listening to music and helping myself up. It’s my duty to get out of it stronger. That’s what defines me.”

Before beginning a creative process, what type of preparation do you normally undertake? “It’s about sitting down and getting into my zone. In general what I do is I focus on my audience in terms of: ‘what do they need from me? What do they want to hear?’ My biggest objective is their needs and how I can best serve them. It’s all about getting into the mindset that it’s a performance. For me, my presentation is a show in and after which my audience should feel inspired and excited and empowered. So I have to preserve my energy. I need to stay open-minded. I need to stay relaxed. It’s a lot of fun. I live for it, I really do.”

Describe a time you underwent a particularly stressful event and what measures you took to move through that process. “After graduating, I really had to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to pursue public speaking full on professionally. When I decided, I was not prepared for the complexity of becoming a professional speaker. It has been a very, very emotionally challenging experience navigating this environment completely on my own, in the sense that I needed to figure out: ‘what is my firm position? What value do I provide? What expertise do I have? Oh my god, do I have any expertise??’ (laughs). You know? It’s an interesting position to be in when your success is reliant on your likeability. So the process involved a lot of self-doubt, ambiguity and everyone telling me I’m not ready. I had to chuck them all down because ultimately, this is my life!”

Do you have any favorite movies that always revive your spirit? “I love Miss Congeniality, Princess Diaries, any romantic comedy!”

Is there a particular genre of music that brings you calm? “Pop songs. Billboard Top 100. That’s my favorite.”

What is the most inspiring book you’ve ever read? “I love Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Nell Scovell and Sheryl Sandberg. It’s fantastic and a must read for all women for sure. I also love The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. That one is really, really good in terms of telling people that they are in charge of their own habits and that they can change certain cues that lead to certain habits. It’s a very empowering viewpoint – that your habits are not fixed and set in stone, that they can be changed and are malleable, that there are ways you can shape them into more positive habits.”

Are there any particular exercise routines or practices that you use for grounding? If so, describe how you discovered them. “I am now a fan of CrossFit. It’s amazing. It’s a pretty high intensity, functional, full body exercise and you pretty much die by the end of it it’s so hard, but it’s phenomenal and worth it in every way. Long term, I definitely want to continue doing it. It was a great way to kick start my fitness journey after I graduated college. It’s definitely a process of dedication.”

Do you meditate? If so, how did you learn and what methods do you use often? “The meditation that I use now is a 22 minute meditation called Twin Hearts. It’s essentially a way to center your mind, body, and soul, you know, to make sure that you are always in a position to be grateful for all of your blessings and to just be in a position to give. I think a lot of us are sometimes in the mindset of take, take, take, and so it really centers your energy and your mindset, and makes it a lot simpler and easier for you to be in a position to give and feel good about what you’re doing. I just started and ideally I would want to do it every day, but even doing it three times a week and then building it up is a really good idea.”

What is your favorite motivational YouTube/Netflix video? “There’s a series of inspirational videos on YouTube – the videos are a 2-minute mash-up of different movie clips like from Rocky and interviews that are fun and inspirational in terms of pumping me up! I’m a big stickler for that. I don’t need a deep motivational speech, you know I just need a ‘You got this, you can do this!!’ That’s enough for me.”

Who is the most inspirational person you’ve ever met and what did they give you that will never leave you? “Hmm, can I talk about who I would like to meet? (Of course.) Because I’d love to meet Sheryl Sandberg, whom I think is phenomenal and has this ability to inspire millions, if not billions around the world with her mental strength. She is such a strong mother and was such a strong wife as well as a strong businesswoman. That combination is really attractive to me. Her story is really inspirational and the way that she has bounced back from such a heart-wrenching loss is unreal. I hope I do meet her at some point.”

What would be at the top of your list of things to ask her? “’How do you prioritize your tasks??’ Because she is loaded with so much to do from all different angles – both personally and professionally. So what are her top prioritized methodologies?? Because I am already facing that and she is facing that on a whole other level. I want to know how to prioritize and essentially not go crazy! All the women like Jessica Alba, Ivanka Trump, Sheryl…I’m picking them because they’re such good examples of everything: really strong businesswomen, really loving mothers and wives. That balance is hard to find, and I like to see that. Ivanka Trump, teach me your ways!! You are goals!!”

What is your advice for a go-getter girl to keep her inspired? “So for anyone who hasn’t read the article, 5 Secrets of a Go Getter Girl. The top 3 tips would be my advice.  Number one? To believe and constantly believe that you will write one of the greatest stories that has ever been written. I think sometimes it’s really hard to believe that, whether you are going through tough times in your personal life, professional life, or both. When I wrote this article I was kind of in a place myself, going through that phase of trying to figure stuff out, but I thought, ‘you know what? I am a go-getter girl and I won’t be beaten. No matter what happens I will write a great story.’  Number two? Put yourself first in order to bring service and value to others. That’s something that a lot of girls are not expecting to hear when I tell them. It’s very, very difficult to serve anyone if you aren’t able to serve yourself first. Number three?  Go-getter girls are striving for balance in all areas of life. Most of us have probably gone down the path of working too much and literally having no time to do anything else…striving to maintain balance in all areas of our personal and professional lives is really, really important. Ultimately we need both to be fulfilled. That is something that I really want to iterate. I am very unapologetic about saying that I need both! I can’t be working 24/7 I would fall over! Whenever we see this girl boss character we look up to, we’re thinking, ‘she’s just slaying all the time!’ But sometimes it’s okay to just be off. You don’t always have to be on. Strive for balance between the two.”

Love her as much as we do?  You can book Shinjini to speak at http://www.shinjinidas.com.

Or find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to continue to be inspired.

Written by Katie Girouard.