We were lucky to catch up with Mitesh Oswal recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mitesh, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I was in a project meeting – my first project in my new team (I had just transferred from another team after working there for almost 5 years) and I was supposed to lead this project – and someone told me straight to my face: “You have not done your homework for this meeting.”

This piece of honesty shook me to the core. This was a Leadership lesson in a bitter pill but there was no other option but to swallow it. Unknowing to me, those words took roots in me and my actions. I was no longer the cruise-control-mode-professional but had become someone who had taken responsibility of their career.

Despite being smart, as an engineer, I neither had the confidence nor the courage to take responsibility of my professional life. However, something had changed inside me completely. When you wake up to one thing, you wake up to other things as well. This was a pivotal moment in my professional career that had echoes in other areas of my life as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an Engineer by profession and a philosopher at heart. I bring Rational and Engineering approach (through Meditations, Contemplations, Group/Individual Coaching) toward Peace, Happiness, and Purpose in life. I have been an active Meditator for almost 10 years; leading meditations for almost 8 years. My life has completely transformed because of my Teachers and their teachings – I am a radically happier person for quite a long time now! My purpose in life is to take what I have learned and share it with people who are interested in transforming their lives.

Most of us suffer (i.e. psychological pain) in our lives which is deemed as “normal” and “acceptable”. Stress, fear, lack of harmony in our relationships, lack of fulfillment at work is not normal. Today, we have either a coping strategy or a numbing strategy toward our suffering. It does not have to be like that – there is an approach, a path, which can be treaded on to find a happier, fuller, kinder, celebratory life. I like to take the teachings that I have learned (through my teachers, books, my own insights) and distill it into questions, processes, frameworks to help filter out the unnecessary suffering from our lives.

I used to be a branded ‘angry’ person up until I got into Meditation – angry, anxious, impulsive, intolerant. People who knew me before 2013 will tell you how difficult I was. I was also 80 lbs. heavier: physically and psychologically unfit. My most proud moments come when the peace and calm that I find in meditations stays with me when I am sleep deprived, hungry, and things are going crazy!

In the last 6 years, I have worked with clients across different walks of life helping them find purpose at work, clarity in their daily life, harmony in their relationships, and congruence in their thoughts and actions. I have not had a single client leave a session without getting the answer that they really needed! This is not meant as a show-off but to demonstrate the intense suffering I have faced in my life helps me connect with my clients in a way that resonates with them and then uplift them.

I want to live a life of purpose, clarity, harmony while being physically, emotionally, spiritually fit. And I want to help others find their way on this not-so-clear path while I continue to discover my own path.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

All my life, I have been a rule follower: I used to love rules, following them, making others follow them. I used to get immense pride in never missing a class in order to comply with the rules. I loved the rules because it gave a sense of certainty in my actions and kept the “unknown” and “uncertain” away.

In one of my 10-day silent retreats (where we used to meditation for 12+ hours every day), I was completely overwhelmed with an irrational fear that could not be directly addressed by my teacher. All she said was “Mitesh, you have to let go and let this fear take you over!” After struggling for a few hours, I decided to take her advice and just let that fear take me over i.e. I was open to stepping into this fear of unknown. And I survived!

Over the ensuing months, in a mysterious way, I was okay with the unknown; rules became a straightjacket in my life. The following year, I met a girl and decided to marry her within 7 days of meeting her! (We are madly in love even after 6+ years of marriage.) My professional life became a lot more colorful and purposeful. I became (radically) less anxious and more peaceful!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There are several books, podcasts, authors that have drastically impacted my life – personally, professionally, spiritually. I call them my mentors/teachers!

In order to answer this question, I will break down my approach into specific areas of life and how they impact my overall outlook in my profession, my business, my relationships, and my life.

1. Fitness:
Being an overweight, unhappy person, P90X program gave me my life back – a life that I didn’t know I had. After losing 70 lbs. in a year (almost 11 years ago), I discovered the pivotal role of physical health. I have continued my fitness journey through Peloton bike and Strength workouts on their App. A game-changer. (You don’t need their equipment; just their App has world-class workouts.)
2. Mental Fitness:
Meditation and Contemplations took my physical fitness and added the mental fitness to the equation. You don’t want to be physically fit but mentally unhappy/unfit. My previous teacher Ekta Bathija and my current teacher Francis Lucille have molded my life in a way where I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. Their teachings, their tutelage is something I cherish and am really grateful for!
3. Professional Life:
Physical fitness and Mental fitness opens up professional life into an arena where books, podcasts can really help because of the energy and mental suppleness that is built.
– Seth Godin – his books and his podcast (Akimbo) are a treat. Linchpin is my favorite book.
– Derek Sivers’ books are just phenomenal
– The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
– Rich Roll Podcast
– Alex Hormozi’s YouTube channel is just brilliant for business
– Naval Ravikant’s interview on Joe Rogan Show
– Atomic Habits by James Clear
– Gary Vaynerchuk on YouTube/Instagram
4. Spiritual Teachers/Books:
– Presence, Volume I and II: The Art of Peace and Happiness by Rupert Spira
– The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
– A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last by Stephen Levine
– Thich Nhat Hanh’s book collection
– The Courage to be Disliked

Contact Info:

• Website: https://miteshoswal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miteshoswal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mitesh.oswal.12
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miteshoswal
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMiteshOswal
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedailyhappinessproject