WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE HEADED

This morning, I asked our PD students to write down three changes they would love to see in them at the end of the course. We had started the course exactly a month ago, and, now, we had less than a month to go. So, I thought, I would gauge the changes that had come about in our young-ones, or they had hoped to see in them, by the time the course ended.

It was necessary. Many of these young kids are here because their parents want them to; some are here because their teachers or well-wishers want them to; some, because of their friends… and, there are a few, who come because they want to…

So, I keep reminding them saying, “There is nothing wrong if you are here because of your parents, teachers, well-wishers or friends… Now that you are here, and you have seen… You are old enough to bring about that much needed shift – to say and feel ‘I am here out of my own choice; and I know what I expect from this course’.”

Most of them succeed in bringing about this shift. This morning, I decided to stir them a bit by helping them get in touch with themselves.

Every one of them wrote and spoke. Three things were simple, clear and achievable. “I want to see myself as a very self-confident person,” “I want to be able to speak well before an audience.” Yes, many had these in common. “I want to manage my shyness, carry myself well socially,” this, too, was common. “I want to improve my English, particularly my vocabulary and style,” many had this, too. “I want to discover what I want to do in life,” some expressed this important desire. “I want to develop leadership skills,” “I want to build a healthy self-esteem,” “I want to excel in my studies,” “I want to inculcate in me fine values,”… and so went their wishes, their expectations about themselves…

“If you do not know where you are headed, you will only land up in a no-man’s land,” I keep reminding our young-ones, “You need to define your goals… You need be clear about your expectations from every task you take up in life.” And, I add this: “Else, you will be dodged, tossed and topsy-turvied by the blowing winds.”

There are no exceptions to this rule. No task or activity in life escapes this test. Stephen Covey beautifully conveyed the same principle by stating, “Begin with the End in mind.” Thus, our young-kids, too, had to be clear about their goals… and, check if they were moving in the right direction.

I was pleased, that, they all were.

What pleased me the most was what this young 

Muslim-girl expressed as her very first goal: 

“I want to be a self-dependent person in life.” 

It was something no-one else had voiced… something that prompted me, instantly, to applaud… 

And, I did end up telling our young-ones, why, in life, being a self-dependent person, was so, so, so important a value… Why it was such an incredible life-tool…

The moist eyes of the young Muslim-girl endorsed every beat of my words!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Neetu Sharma Sachdeva