Mahesh Sharma Story – From Victim to Seeker
Hi, I’m Mahesh.
If you are here, perhaps you want to understand the person behind the work.
I believe each of us carries a story worth sharing. Not a story of success or failure, but a story of moments — moments of struggle, courage, confusion, insight, and choice. Our story is not about the past or the future. It is about what we choose, moment after moment.
As I write this, I am still adding to my story. Just as you are.
Early Years – Quiet on the Outside, Restless Within
I come from a humble, middle-class family. My parents did their best with what they had, and I remain grateful for the grounding they gave me.
As a child, I was not particularly confident. I was shy and preferred staying in the background. Avoiding attention felt safer. Yet inside, there was a quiet fire — a desire to do something bold, something meaningful, something that would prove to myself that I was capable of more than I appeared to be.
Looking back, I was not trying to prove anything to the world. I was trying to prove something to myself.
The Army – Where Strength Was Forged
After school, I appeared for a few entrance examinations. One of them was for the Indian Army — almost casually, to test myself. To my surprise, I was selected.
Without overthinking and without consulting too many people, I chose to serve.
My years in the Army transformed me deeply. They shaped my discipline, resilience, and sense of responsibility. More importantly, they showed me the hidden capacities of the human body and mind.
I discovered what pressure reveals in people. I observed fear, courage, comparison, ego, loyalty, and silent suffering — not in theory, but in lived reality.
It was there that my curiosity about human nature truly began.
The Observer Awakens
During those years, I became a keen observer.
I noticed how different individuals responded differently to the same situation. I saw how fear limits us more than circumstance. I saw how comparison quietly destroys confidence. I realised that we often struggle not because life is unfair, but because we do not understand our own inherent nature.
One insight stood out clearly:
We cannot compare ourselves to others, no matter how similar our situations appear.
This understanding would later become foundational to my work around temperament, sensitivity, and emotional intelligence.
The Return & The Rough Years
After around eight years in service, life took an unexpected turn. I returned to civilian life.
The transition was not smooth.
Entrepreneurship seemed like freedom — and in many ways, it was. But those years were also the roughest and most humbling of my life.
I struggled — not just externally, but internally.
I struggled with:
• Identity
• Relationships
• Financial instability
• Self-esteem
• Expectations
• Comparison
The real battle was not outside.
It was within.
For the first time, I faced myself without a uniform, without a title, without a structure.
And that confrontation changed everything.
The Shift – Understanding Inherent Nature
During those turbulent years, I began studying human behaviour deeply — not academically at first, but experientially.
I realised that each of us carries inherent behavioural tendencies — almost like the base material of a building. We can shape it, refine it, polish it — but we cannot change its fundamental nature.
This understanding changed my life.
My empathy increased.
My judgement reduced.
My self-confidence stabilised.
My relationships improved.
I realised I had been trying to live a borrowed life — trying to match others instead of understanding myself.
And I began to see this pattern everywhere around me.
People were not living their own lives.
They were living comparisons.
Expectations.
Fear-driven decisions.
That realisation became my turning point.
From Victim to Seeker
There was a time when I saw myself as a victim of circumstances.
Gradually, that identity dissolved.
I became a seeker.
A seeker of understanding.
A seeker of emotional truth.
A seeker of resilience rooted in awareness.
I was introduced to behavioural sciences, energy psychology, emotional processing methods, coaching frameworks, and reflective practices. I read extensively. I attended workshops. I learned from mentors across disciplines.
But the real learning came from lived experience.
From sitting with discomfort.
From observing emotional reactions.
From rebuilding after setbacks.
From understanding sensitivity — not as weakness, but as depth.
Resilience, I discovered, is not hardness.
It is emotional maturity in motion.
The Birth of Know Your True Self
By 2008, it became clear to me that this journey was not just personal. It was vocational.
I founded Know Your True Self® Research Academy — not as a business idea, but as a reflection of my deepest learning:
Everything begins with self-understanding.
The name was not branding.
It was truth.
Since then, my work has unfolded through 1:1 coaching, workshops, leadership engagements, writing, and research.
Over time, my exploration of sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and resilience matured into structured frameworks, including SHEL (Sensitive, Heart-Centred, Ethical Leadership).
When Coaching Chose Me
As the academy began to take shape, I explored different ways of contributing — workshops, facilitation, speaking, and collaborative projects. Yet I noticed something very clear within myself.
Whenever I sat in a one-to-one reflective conversation, I felt most aligned.
Not because I wanted to “guide” someone.
But because I could simply hold space.
Over time, people began reaching out — not for motivation, but for clarity. Not for advice, but for structured thinking. Conversations deepened. Patterns emerged. I realised that what came most naturally to me was not teaching from a stage, but walking beside someone as they untangled the complexities of their own life.
I did not wake up one day and decide, “I will become a coach.”
Coaching unfolded as the most honest expression of who I was becoming.
It felt less like a career choice and more like alignment.
Becoming an Author
Writing emerged naturally from reflection.
I did not set out to “be an author.”
I began writing to organise my thoughts, document insights, and share what I was witnessing — both within myself and in the lives of those I worked with.
This journey eventually led to Mastering Sensitivity, a body of work rooted not in theory alone, but in lived observation — of how misunderstood sensitivity can become either a burden or a strength, depending on awareness.
Writing became an extension of coaching.
Coaching became an extension of inquiry.
Inquiry became a lifelong discipline.
Life Beyond Roles
Life taught me not only through career transitions.
It also taught me through love and loss.
I experienced the joy of partnership — of building a shared life rooted in understanding and growth. And I also experienced the sudden loss of that companionship. Grief reshaped my understanding of impermanence, attachment, and emotional resilience in ways no theory ever could.
Those moments deepened my compassion.
They stripped away illusion and strengthened my awareness of what truly matters.
As a father, I have also consciously chosen to support my son in walking his own path — not the one expected of him, but the one aligned with his nature. Supporting him in choosing what resonates with him at a deeper level has been one of my most meaningful applications of everything I speak about.
These experiences reminded me that philosophy must be lived — not preached.
Where I Stand Today
Today, when I sit with someone in coaching, I do not see a broken individual.
I see a whole person navigating confusion.
When I facilitate a session, I do not try to motivate.
I try to create clarity.
When I speak of leadership, I speak of emotional responsibility—not authority.
And when I reflect on my journey, I do not see a linear rise.
I see layers of learning.
From a shy child.
To a soldier.
To a struggling entrepreneur.
To seek.
To coach.
To the author.
To a student of life.
And above all, a fellow human being walking alongside others.
My deepest, truest learning
I have come to believe that life itself is the greatest teacher — provided we are willing to remain students.
Each Moment Is Live-Worthy
I remain grateful for every phase — the victories and the collapses.
They shaped not just my career, but my perspective.
If you have read this far, perhaps our journeys intersect for a reason.
You are welcome to explore:
- My Professional Profile
- Working with Me
- My Writings & Insights
And if our paths align, we may walk a part of this journey together.
Because life is not a destination.
It is awareness, lived one moment at a time.