How She Did It: Rachel Dhanjal, Kinesiologist
Today, I’m bringing you another interview in the How She Did It series and am thrilled to introduce you to the amazing Rachel Dhanjal, a Kinesologist and Mindset Coach who supports anxious women to calm anxiety and get out of their own way.
I connected with Rach over Instagram a few years ago and was immediately drawn to her calm and nurturing presence. I had a feeing she was an introvert too, so I reached out and asked her and turns out she is!
I’m super inspired by her story and journey to beginning her own business and above all that she’s been able to create such a thriving business as an introvert, showing what is possible when we play to our strengths and go all in on our goals.
Let’s dive in!
What does a typical day look like for you now that you’re creating a business and a life in alignment with your true self?
My life looks like waking up peaceful knowing I am living my true purpose in life (this sense of peace is something that can’t be explained!).
My working day starts with a meditation to ground myself. Client preparation. Start clinic working with amazing women from 9:30-5:00pm to shift their fears, anxieties and balance their nervous system so they can feel calm, confident and connected to their true selves.
How / when / where did your career shifting journey start; what prompted it? Was it gradual or was there a particular moment you knew you had to make a change?
When I was 23 I had been suffering from chronic pain, anxiety and depression for a very long time and no mainstream modality was working for me.
At the time I was at a crossroads in my life - no idea what I wanted to do with my life so I packed up and moved to Brisbane and worked for BioConcepts a nutrition company.
One day working at bioconcepts we had a stand at the Australia Association Kinesiology conference and this is when I first heard about the mind body modality called Kinesiology and thought I needed to try this.
After searching and working with a Kinesiologist, after a few sessions my chronic pain had reduced dramatically, I was more balanced emotionally and didn’t have the highs and lows I had been experiencing for so many years.
I knew deep down this was my path, to help others heal too. I moved to Sydney to start my studies in becoming a Kinesiologist, and I have been learning about the mind and body connection ever since.
Is there anything you wish you would have known before you embarked on your career change?
That success isn’t linear and that there will be huge highs and massive lows, and to remind myself my purpose is to help people for the rest of my life.
Knowing this helps me to understand that there is no rush to get to the finish line - and release the huge pressure I place on myself.
Following your purpose and passion is a life-long journey, and it changes over time. Go with the flow and pivot when you need to.
How have you honed your quiet power to do business in a way that works for you on your own terms?
To put my health and wellbeing first. I know that when my energy is low, and I’m feeling a bit burnt out - that client’s will cancel, because energetically I cannot hold space for them.
I have learned to put my energy first, replenish my energy stores and place way less pressure on myself to show up and market myself.
When I put my energy first and do the things that bring me joy, I am fully booked regardless of how often I show up on social media. Never underestimate the power of energetics.
What are your top tips or lessons you’ve learned to cultivate a thriving business in alignment with your true self?
Factor in chunks of down time for yourself. As introverts and sensitive souls we need a lot of rest and down time. Know that when you replenish your own energy stores you are in turn boosting your business’s energy too.
Let go of comparison. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else but you. Compete with you, and you only. Set mini biz goals for yourself and celebrate YOU when you reach them.
Initially you will suck in business and that’s okay. Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you take action, because perfection does not exist. Practice taking imperfect action.
Other people’s opinions of you and your business do not define you. Remember you are in charge of defining what mistakes and failures mean to you. Mistakes and failures don’t have to mean you are a failure, it can mean you are one step closer to reaching that level of success you so desire. Celebrate it!
What failures/ challenges have you overcome on your business journey? How did these help to fuel your future success?
Spending a fortune on business coaches to get me to a level of success way too early on, even before I had gained any client experience. I learned that there is a time and place for everything in business, and to sometimes let the journey unfold instead of pushing so hard.
Being located at multiple clinics and not getting anywhere. At one time I was working from 3 clinics and not building up any clients because my energy was spread way too thin. After making the decision to leave 2 clinics, and work solely from one location is when my business really started to build up.
Huge mindset challenges around my worthiness as a practitioner. I have battled some dark days in relation to my own limiting beliefs around the level of success i deserve, and whether I am good enough as a practitioner.
But after doing some deep mindset work and constantly balancing my energy and emotions, I very rarely have any really bad days now. Business will challenge all of your insecurities like nothing else - use it as fuel to learn, grow, love and accept you.
What boundaries do you place around your energy and time so you can show up as your best self in your business?
When I finish work, I finish work. I don’t look at my emails or message clients once I have signed out for the day.
I have blocks throughout my working week for just me to replenish my energy. I don’t let clients book into that sacred time even if they are desperate for an appointment, because I know if I don’t look after my own needs then I cannot serve my clients well.
When I’m working on finishing a project or some deadlines I put my phone in a different room. This has been something I’ve had to religiously work on especially as I have taken on more study but I am FINALLY breaking the pattern and it makes a huge difference to my time.
Do you have any self-care rituals, practices or tools you use to honor your energy?
Walks in nature to reduce cortisol and release the energy from the day.
Emotional freedom technique to clear my mindset blocks and rebalance my energy.
Meditation to centre and ground myself before I start my day.
Share some things people wouldn't ever guess about you from your quiet nature (looks can be deceiving!)
I can actually be quite extroverted at times which can come as a surprise to others. But the pendulum does swing the other way and that comes with a heck load of alone time to make up for it ;)
On the flipside of my perceived quiet nature, some people think I’m really confident - but in actual fact I am the complete opposite - it will take me this whole lifetime to work on my self-esteem and confidence, but I am getting there.
Other than that to be honest what you see is what you get, no huge surprises here!
What do you love most about your sensitive superpowers?
It gives me the capacity to tune into my clients really well so I can understand them at a deep level and get to the root cause of their issues quickly. This helps me to build rapport and speed up the healing process.
What has been the biggest mindset shift you’ve had to make since transitioning from employee to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Choosing to accept fear as my new sidekick rather than trying to banish it to all corners of the universe before I took action ;)
Starting my own business brought up every single fear under the sun and at times I went to great lengths to try and rid myself of it so I could reap the success I so desired.. quicker.
But what I realised is that you can still make progress with fear by your side, and that without fear I wouldn’t have learned courage.
What’s the best advice you have for others who want to follow their big dreams?
Aim for progress over perfection and define what failure means to you early on in the game so that you don’t allow it to hold you back and stop you from progressing. So many of us allow a fear of failure hold us back, but if you redefine and reframe what failure means for you in a positive light then you can still move forward without being crippled by it.
For me failure means I am one step closer to having the success I desire and that I am growing - and I celebrate that now.
