Dost in the resolute wind!

If you find that you’ve forgotten what your New Year’s resolution was by the end of the year, apparently you’re not alone. Founders of Your DOST, an emotional wellness coaching platform, Richa Singh and Puneet Manuja hope to change that with their latest New Year’s resolution campaign.

What’s more? Just in time for New Year, the city-based duo has also put together a comprehensive plan with a support system of experts, tips and techniques to help you see your resolutions through!

“While millions of people take resolutions every year, only some of them see it through. We set out to understand what separated them and how we could help more people achieve it,” says Puneet, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore.

He and his co-founder put together a comprehensive plan featuring the most important elements required to achieve a resolution – a proper plan, right guidance and an able support system.

“We have designed research-backed plans for five among the world’s top 10 resolutions which include quitting smoking, managing stress, getting organised and to improve relationships with partner and family. When a user signs up for any of these plans, he gets access to a weekly plan, tips and techniques and a dedicated coach who helps make a personalised plan and keeps him/her motivated throughout the journey,” add the enterprisers.

Both passionate problem solvers, when the platform was founded in 2014, they had one mission: To create a happier and stress free society. For 29-year-old Richa, it was also personal.

“When I was a student at IIT Guwahati, my hostel mate committed suicide because she was anxious about bad placements. None of us had a clue that she was suffering and it could have been avoided if she had sought help. Same goes with all my colleagues at work who were stressed due to job pressures and relationship woes but didn’t want to talk about it,” says Richa, adding that mental illness is branded as insanity, judged and shamed and is nothing less than a taboo in India.

That’s when they formulated this platform that provides around the clock online counselling and emotional support designed to foster mental health. It anonymously connects you with their database of over 700 experts consisting of psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, life coaches, career guides and people with rich and deep life experiences, who understand you and guide you through completely confidential individual sessions via free online chats.

For the duo, who unwind with their very own stress buster – a pooch named Penny, 2017 is looking optimistic. “Especially after the change in mindset about mental health that is being brought about thanks to movies like Dear Zindagi and celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Karan Johar who are talking about their experiences,” says Puneet, looking forward to taking their helpful venture to smaller cities in the years to come.