I wanted to understand what needed my attention
I’m Aashish Lal, a designer and the founder of Rooted.
Rooted began with a feeling I couldn’t quite put into words. I wanted to understand myself better. I was learning, growing and thinking about what mattered to me, but some parts of my life still felt overlooked. I couldn’t always tell what was missing or where to focus.
Finance was one example. There were plenty of tools to track money, but I wasn’t making the progress I wanted. I wanted to understand why I kept giving it less attention while putting more energy into other parts of my life.
That made me look at the bigger picture.
Finding the six roots
Through reflection and conversations with a friend who is a psychologist, I began thinking about my life across six roots:
This became a way for me to name what felt unclear. I could see where I was putting my energy and which areas needed more attention.
Those roots became the foundation of Rooted. They’re a starting point for reflection, rather than a fixed label or a score that defines you.
Turning understanding into action
Understanding where you stand is a beginning. The next question is what to do with that understanding.
I started with small tasks that could help someone move forward in a particular area. But many changes take repetition. Habits help sustain that effort, and goals give it direction. Reaching a goal gives you something tangible to recognise and a reason to keep going.
That’s the idea behind Rooted: understand yourself, choose what deserves your attention, and take small actions you can build on.
Building Rooted
I’ve built Rooted independently, with care for both the product and how it feels to use. Today, it brings together a guided assessment, daily tasks, habits, goals and reflection, with Treeko as an AI guide along the way.
Rooted is a self-help and personal-growth app. It isn’t a clinical product and doesn’t diagnose or treat health conditions.
For the plain version of what Rooted is and what you get, read What is Rooted?
There’s still plenty I want to improve. My hope is that it helps you put words to what feels unclear and find a manageable place to begin.
Aashish Lal
Designer & founder
Rooted is available on iPhone and Android. If you have feedback or something you’d like to share, write to hello@rootedmind.in