Month: September 2015

Self-induced change….

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“Life is complex.

Each one of us must make his own path through life. There are no self-help manuals, no formulas, no easy answers. The right road for one is the wrong road for another…The journey of life is not paved in blacktop; it is not brightly lit, and it has no road signs. It is a rocky path through the wilderness. ”

― M. Scott Peck

 

And to follow this trail, tenacity is crucial. It is very significant that we do not begrudge our lives but possess the inner strength and wisdom to always polish our lives, learn everything we can where we are and develop the means by which to support our lives. We cannot make the gem inside our lives shine with easy going efforts.

 

Maslow said that less than 2% of human beings are truly growth-oriented; the vast majority are deficit-and-repair oriented—more interested in finding comfort.

 

I was no exception to it. Being part of life classes has helped me learn to respect my own life and appreciate my struggles.  I stopped escaping or detaching myself from struggles and started making conscious efforts to translate my learning into action. And, believe me, I was able to overcome and transform the causes of suffering in my life. The resultant was the self-induced change in my life. It helped me change the negative vision of my life fundamentally.

 

Listening to the participants facing hardships head-on, led me to imbue courage and hope in my own life. These one to one life interactions were the source of support and encouragement that helped me transform my feelings of inadequacy and weakness. I became more strong and compassionate and could expand my life state.  On the other hand, sharing my own struggles and experiences helped me unfold my life and look into the deeper aspects of my life.

We all can transform any negative circumstance into a source of growth and benefit. All we need to do is to courageously engage with the harsh realities of our lives and squarely confront our challenges.

I am truly grateful to one and all, and I want to continue developing my life, always continuing to cultivate inner hope.

Regards,

Ruby

 

7 Habits workshop ! ! !

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This year I am facilitating the 7 Habits workshop and this was done with a clear intention of revisiting the basics.

It was a nice to help participants who have a clean slate of mind and see the awe on their faces when the reality strikes them – paradigms, inside out approach, character, the first 3 habits in detail.

The death experience in habit 2 shook all the participants as it had shaken me too. The movie ‘Iqbal’ was seen with a different perspective (begin with the end in mind).

I feel happy that I am part of their journey of the group who have so far achieved ‘personal victory’ and will achieve the ‘public victory’ in the forthcoming days and could gauge from the group that all look eagerly for the next session.

It is even more heartening to see most of the people take a conscious effort to take the learning back to their life and make bold mission statements.

I too am learning new perspectives of life and rewrite many of my scripts. Overall – fulfilling ! ! !

My journey as a learner

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The five principles of learning which we follow during our life classes are:

  1. Learning is a lifelong process.
  2. Bring life to workshop, and workshop to life.
  3. No one can teach you by force, you can only learn if you are willing.
  4. The best way to learn is to teach, and the best way to teach is to learn.
  5. You have to pay a price for learning.

These principles have added value to my life and have transformed me as a person. If I rewind my journey of Life classes, I can see a drastic change in me. I used to feel sharing life with people, whom you do not know personally makes no sense as they can just advice but can’t empathize. But, now I see things with a different perspective. In fact those people who were not a part of my life helped me deal with my problems effectively, not by advising but by helping me to find out the root cause of the problem.

When I took the decision to facilitate the workshop, I was apprehensive whether I will be able to do justice to the role. But, when I took up the challenge I realized the principle ‘The best way to learn is to teach, and the best way to teach is to learn’ really works.

I would like to thank Falguni ma’am, Zahabiyah ma’am, Vardan Sir, Mita ma’am and Parag Sir for being the facilitators, mentors and guides for this journey of learning.

Regards,

Kruti.

All about teaching and learning!!

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It feels so good to share how well our support staff accept things implement and try to change their life. We as facilitators observed that all the participants willingly participate and understand the importance behind this classes.

We got amazing reflections from them where they shared that they have started applying habits in their day to day life especially put first thing first. They also shared that they have started giving time to their family. During discussion of Delayed gratification, few of them confessed that they tend to do their desired work before their responsibility and showed willingness to apply delay gratification in their life.

We look forward for next teaching and learning class!!!
Regards,
Vaidehi & Mitesh

From Learning it to Living upto it!!

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We at FS, strongly believe in the process of life -long learning and Life class is certainly one such endeavor we all look upto. Life classes have touched upon our lives in one way or the other and have changed us for the better.

The focus of 7 Habits workshop, during this session was Habit 2 – Put First Things First and Habit 3- Begin With The End In Mind. Two days of 7 Habits workshop back to back does seem to be an overwhelming idea but once you get into it, two days seem lesser.

Day 1 began with retrospection and introspection. Retrospecting what we had already learnt and introspecting what we will be learning.

We are all leaders of our lives and this statement holds true in each and every circumstance. We learned to be effective leaders and efficient managers. There is a fine line between being a leader and a manager, in fact, both coexist and playing both the roles simultaneously makes you a winner.

Habit 2 works on the principle that all things are created twice. So if we work on the carpenter’s rule in our daily lives we are moving towards a better second creation. The carpenter’s rule is, Measure twice, cut once!!

We worked on Mission statements -designing and redesigning them. Thinking about Affirmation statements. Deriving a statement which is no less than an energizer, which helps you realize what you are and what you want to do, which reflects your personality and acts as a lighthouse in weak moments and as a torch in moments of pride.

Death is the best teacher!! Why? Because death is the ultimate for each organism which is alive. Death is the final goal towards which we thrive. The legacy that we are going to leave behind will be evident only after death and hence if each one of us chalks out a plan and visualises what we want to be remembered for then life will be a simpler puzzle to solve.

Habit 3 is the second creation, the physical creation. This habit is where Habits 1 and 2 come together. It happens day in and day out, moment-by-moment. It deals with many of the questions addressed in the field of time management. But that’s not all it’s about. Habit 3 is about life management as well–your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. What are “first things?” First things are those things you, personally, find of most worth. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities you established in Habit 2. To live a more balanced existence, you have to recognize that not doing everything that comes along is okay. There’s no need to overextend yourself. All it takes is realizing that it’s all right to say no when necessary and then focus on your highest priorities.

By the end of the session, the participants were congratulated on attaining ‘Private victory’ and were urged to work on the commitments they had set for themselves so that they achieve the ‘Public victory’ with ease.

Empower Yourself

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Life Classes @ FS

How does one define change? Is change really necessary and desirable? What if one is happy with the status quo? If one is wrestling with these questions, Life Classes @ FS is the right forum to get answers to this natural skepticism and queries. I have experienced tremendous positive changes in my life first as a participant of 7 Habits, Love and Integrity workshops and then as a facilitator of 7 Habits and Integrity workshop. I have become more empathetic, patient and most of all humbled by the trust placed in me by the participants. I see astounding possibilities for growth in each and every participant and I have truly understood the process and importance of delayed gratification. Clarifying expectations has become second nature for me and this genuinely makes life easier, both at the professional as well as the home front. I usually remain in quadrant 2 and encourage people around me to do the same. I have experienced the miraculous healing power of forgiveness (which has empowered me in every sense), have learned the fine art of ‘carefrontation’ and above all I have changed my focus from the problems to their solutions through these workshops. So yes, question the status quo, take risks and play the Russian roulette, go that extra mile and witness amazing positive changes in your life. The best is yet to come!

Ayman Shaikhmahmud

” Change is constant..!”

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Greetings.

We would like to share a reflection about our life classes at FS for the support staff. The FS support staff has really taken to the understanding and learning’s of this exciting class. They have demonstrated a way of living their lives (not a drastic change as such..!) but one worth mentioning here.

For instance a few of the participants have instilled a time management skill amongst their families and have become more valuable to them than before. Some of them have shared their importance of their spouses and children’s in their life. They have confessed to us the changes they have experienced till date and most of them are living a new discipline in their day to day lives. In fact, they have become even better now that they have acknowledged their weaknesses and harnessed their strengths. In the past they were impatient with authority and change, but now they are more receptive to change and are handling it all very well, as told by them.

We are very proud to facilitate this classes teaching and are looking forward to the next classes! As are they – in fact they always ask us, ”when is the next class?”

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Best wishes,

Sneha Ma’am & Anwer

Life and love classes – An attempt to know ourselves genuinely.

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Love is patient, kind and honest and for a change its not a garden of roses. In our sessions we understood many new aspects of love. I was too possessive about my son and always thought how he will manage if he is in some other school and I am in a different school, even the timings were too diverse, during the life classes I used to cry a lot, I was feeling tempted to quit but I always remembered one thing my mother kept on repeating since my childhood days “Never give up, keep trying good actions and attempts never go unnoticed.”

Thanks to Ayman ma’am and Evelyn ma’am for their guidance and for helping me during life classes. I always felt changes especially where we need to put a lot of efforts, take a long time and it’s a daunting task. It really took a year for me to understand that I need to support and let my son grow as an individual and me too, in fact I was not ready to leave him alone, gradually I started with small changes and now he (Soumya) is much more responsible and knows he needs to take charge of his homework and other important things when I am not around.

It was an extreme and difficult phase in my life as a teacher as well as a mother it was always like a student going for a board exam without preparing or learning anything. I had to keep on trying day in and day out to control my emotions and stop worrying, which I have really worked upon, the process goes on. When I look back I feel happy that my hard work has paid off and there are many small if not big changes in me and my son’s life.

Now in the love class we see an extended version of what we learnt in life class a new aspect of love which is in fact real that it’s not all rosy and hunky dory and how we need to keep on putting efforts in all the relationships and the people we love, we should grow and help them grow as well. Even today it happens that without thinking I display my possessiveness and then ponder on the situation and come back to my senses.

Otherwise, it is like a vicious trap which engulfs our happiness and the happiness of those who are important for us. Love classes are a way or means to understand and learn about what actually love is, it has in some or the other way strengthened my belief to grow ourselves and let others grow too.

When our co-participants share their experiences and try to discuss the pros and cons of the situation, we are also enlightened. Love should not be like a forced thing it should be a way to express and feel free. Love is not a feeling it is an action. This is the most important lesson I learnt till now. Looking forward for new learning and experience in love classes. I sum up my experience with a exhilarating thought:

Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.

Love all serve all….

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Ahhh yes…Love Class, it’s hard to imagine that an educational institution actually provides this perk to it’s employees, but it is, what it is…..in it..?

Now the whole kick to this cog is…. it is a mixed batch with married folks, unmarried folks, young women and 2 older men…! ( you see the concoction here..?) plus the instruction is read word for word out of a book, probably published years ago in America, because most of the wisdom applies to them folks that side, who enjoy a bit more liberty then us here in our secular societies and rigid traditions of culture and  living…! OUR INDIA IS GREAT!

In my personal and most humblest opinion, one should be able to be mature and considerate, not to mention, be experienced and knowledgeable on the “L” word ( we tend to use it too loosely over here in our diaspora..!) I ain’t no expert, even though I have been accused of being one, but I ain’t no fool either….like Forrest Gump, I know what love is….!!

There is absolutely no doubt that the “L” class is beneficial in some form or another to all its patrons. The Secret lies in it’s application and understanding of ones true self!

I for one, have realized that one must express his or hers true feelings with courage and confidence without being chastised, only then will the “class” have an impact on the soul. Otherwise, you are just wasting your valuable Saturday and may as well watch paint dry on a wall or something…! It’s like an “AA” class in America, you have to confess your weaknesses and fear and then overcome it with courage and fortitude from within the class…..only thing is we not in America are we now…? So here we are… back to square one…!

 

Thanks for this initiative FS! ( Looking forward to being an impact experienced result oriented instructor, sooner then later…!!)

 

FS PRIDE..!

Sincerely,

“True Love”

Are you scared??? Me too and so are others……

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When I heard that we are going to have personal development classes, I was as much in favour of it as I would be about running barefoot on a bed of nails!! But then when I started to attend, what we call ‘Life classes’ and came to know about things like paradigms, conditioning, death exercise, legitimate and illegitimate, principles of love; I actually started understanding what my life was all about, I started questioning what I was doing with my life, where I was leading it and how it  affected others?

Thanks to all the facilitators for all the efforts and sharing; it has helped me upgrade myself as a human being and given me the strength and confidence to actually take control of “My Life”.

Learning these principles in a group led by someone was my comfort zone because I didn’t have to prepare anything; I didn’t have to practice anything because I was not preaching:):)

But this year when it came to a choice between being part of a group session or leading it, I was lost. Ultimately I had to bell the cat in me and I went ahead with “Feel the fear and do it anyways”.

It started off on a very sincere note of reading the chapters and discussing, copying the strategies of the facilitators to question the person on the hot seat and suggesting ways to solve their issues. But when my turn came I was zapped!!! The brutal (possible) reality was placed in front of me which I had to face, with a group of intellectuals to witness it, no less! And when I did, I felt as if I had lost everything; there was nothing left inside me. Because these fears and fights were “my” deep secrets which i didn’t want the world (i.e. group of 9 people) to know. In short, I didn’t want to be vulnerable in front of others. Yes people, I didn’t want to be a VULNERABLE, weak, hopeless, helpless, stupid, silly person. But when I saw that my group was the same as they were before I shared, I understood that it’s ok to open up, it’s ok to cry and feel helpless, it’s ok to FAIL, to LOSE a BATTLE, to FALL to be SILLY and STUPID. Because we are HUMANS.

Now I ask myself – ‘How bad can things get? How much worse can my situation be? to what extent can people test me? Bring it on…! I am ready; I can handle it!’

And I will handle it because I am POWERFUL and “I” CONTROL MY LIFE!!!

 

ANITA.

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