Saturday, December 14, 2013

Ken Robinson and why students must think from the heart?

Based on a study of the work of the British educator Sir Ken Robinson (two books, five hours of lectures) here is a blog post on his views on Education and why they matter. It is vital educators, teachers, parents and students around the world get access to this information.

Firstly Three Ways Education can engage the student better according to Sir Ken Robinson
Creativity can be part of everyday Education. Thank you for showing the world so Mr Ken.


  1. Foster Diversity – Encouraging students to customize their learning process and to provide broader curriculums.
  2. Foster Creativity – This can be done through more creative teaching. This will depend on high quality teacher training and development.
  3. Awaken Creativity – Without emphasis on the standardized as an only measure of student performance.

Seth Godin on Education



Seth Godin’s manifesto titled, ‘Stop Stealing Dreams’ showed me why Education is everyone's business. 

There are chefs, artists, engineers, sportspeople, scientists sitting in the classrooms of the world today. Then why must we ask only educationists about solutions to the problems of education. Not every student will get into education. Many of us have spent 10-15 years in the education system of our countries. So we all have a right to express our views on education whether we are an academic, an artist or just a student. Education is everyone's business!
 
In his TED Talk by the same name , he describes eight ways education can re-thought and here I have included a small commentary on each point mentioned.

Marva Collins and the teacher we all loved



“The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.”
H.L. Mencken

Marva Collins was an American Educator who in 1975 started the Westside Preparatory School in Garsfield Park, in an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Before that she taught school for two years in Alabama and for fourteen years in Chicago

She is most famous for applying classical education successfully to impoverished children.

Marva Collins was a proponent of the classical educational movement. The definition of a classical education embraced the study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art and languages. 
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Dr. Denis Littky and Passion Schools


Dr Denis Littky is the co-founder and co-director of Big Picture Learning. He has over 40 years in the education field and is known for his innovations in secondary education in rural, suburban and urban settings.

I have been studying Dr Littky’s work for this project. I saw an excellent talk by him online, at the New York Education TED Talks event where he spoke about the work he is doing and his passion for education.

Watch the TED Talk here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbpqVPtUIFQ

He starts the talk saying, ‘Every thirteen seconds, there are eight hundred students dropping out of school.’

I think about what the numbers are around the world and it scares me. The question to ask here is not why  students are dropping out but why are they not being engaged enough to stay in.

Dr. Denis Littky got together with a colleague and asked himself this question.
Monday, October 21, 2013

Your Goals are Important


"People with clear written goals, achieve far more in a short period of time, than people without them could ever imagine." - Brian Tracy

"Setting Goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." - Tony Robbins 

(Photo credit - www.michaelhyatt.com)

Goal Setting has become so vital in this modern day and age. In the rush and hurry of our daily lives we often forget what our most important priorities and highest values are. 
Goal Setting reconnects us to our source and provides us with a clear map for our life ahead. If implemented and tread upon well, it will help create the life of greatness we desire. Thus we must develop the habit of goal setting.
Sunday, October 13, 2013

Malala Yousufzai The Girl who Dreamed. The Girl who Dared.



Her Story. Her Struggle. Her Belief for Universal Education.

Malala is a young girl from Pakistan. Like any other student her age, she has dreams and wants to work towards achieving them. She believes Education will help her reach her goal.

A militant group came into her school bus on October 9th, 2012 and shot Malala in the head. She survived and today continues her fight and has started a campaign for Education for Girls in underprivileged countries.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Everyday Champions of Bahrain

When a person truly loves what he is doing and then serves people with his heart and soul doing what he loves, he is a champion ....an everyday champion. Because in his little way he makes the world a better place to be in.


Here is the story of such a champion I met in Bahrain recently

 Richmond - a.k.a HotlineTime


With Hotline at the Virgin Megastore, City Center, Bahrain
Saturday, October 5, 2013

Festivals, Workshop, Social Media Week and Beethoven's Life Play



It sure has been an exciting two weeks. A few events I was fortunate to be a part of over the past two weeks were:-


_______



1) Jagran Film Festival




A movie festival was on in Mumbai between the 24th September to the 29th September. Saw some great movies like
1) Panther Panchali by Satyajit Ray
2) Bombay Talkies
3) Desperate Endeavours
4) Children's Republic
5) Ship of Theseus
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Combine Skills, Differentiate Yourself, Change the World




If you are talented at one thing, see how you can develop additional skills or talents that will complement that one skill. 

This combination of skills will differentiate you, help you stand out and create awesome work in your field. 


Scott Adams did it, you can to

"I succeeded as a cartoonist with negligible art talent, some basic writing skills, an ordinary sense of humor and a bit of experience in the business world. The “Dilbert” comic is a combination of all four skills. The world has plenty of better artists, smarter writers, funnier humorists and more experienced business people. The rare part is that each of those modest skills is collected in one person. That’s how value is created." - Scott Adams

Scott may have not been the most talented cartoonist, but he knew how to combine relevant skill-sets. Find out more - http://dilbert.com/blog
 

We all can do something similar too and change the world in our own little way.


Sunday, September 22, 2013

SoundTrek - Mixing India and Bharat




 (Parikrama and the talented young musicians of the Gandhi Ashram, Kalimpong on the show)


I was on an autorickshaw back to the station from a recent conference I had attended. I struck up a conversation with a school professor who shared the auto with me. I asked him how his experience at the conference had been. He said this, "The talks were good, but many of them were speaking about India, while the problems I faced where from Bharat."


I started thinking, 'So are they very different?'

Staying in India for the past two years, I can say I am proud about how far my country has come after Independence. But has everyone benefited from development. Have we all really modernized.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Experience and Insights from a National Conference and Exhibition on Education



On the 11th,12th and 13th of September, 2013, I got to attend the World Didac 2013 Education Exhibition and the Asian Summit on Education and Skills in Mumbai. I write this blog post to share my experience with you and some of the things I learned over the three days.


It was indeed an enriching experience and the event was attended by teachers, trainers, education material suppliers, educational technology providers and members of the Didactic Organization. Had some very insightful conversations at the event and here are some of the things I learned.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Rafeal Nadal and lessons from the life of a professional tennis player?


Last night I saw Rafael Nadal win his 13th Grand Slam title when he beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open 2013.  It was a great game and Nadal truly is a Champion.





But there is so much you can learn from the life of a professional tennis player. Some of them are:

Friday, September 6, 2013

Why LOVE can change the world?

Love…this four letter word brings about an emotion…a feeling like no other. Today let us understand why Love can indeed change the world. 




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Why you and Bill Gates can have similar daily learning experiences?




 

Bill Gates is often considered a thought leader and one of the richest men on this planet. Yes, he may have access to certain things that the normal person may not have access too…But let’s think again…
Sunday, September 1, 2013

Why the World Loves Shah Rukh Khan?

Born on 2nd November, 1965, Shah Rukh Khan is often considered one of the world's biggest cinematic stars with a following in billions. 





As a young boy who grew up in an Indian Household with constant exposure to the Bollywood movies, I have seen him grow from strength to strength with each of his performances and the different roles he played. 



Friday, August 30, 2013

...Pause, Breathe, and Live this moment...




The quality of your life is determined by how you felt in the 2 seconds.. while you were engaged in the above activity..

Was it happiness...was it stress...was it release...was it joy? ask yourself why you felt so and work on making this moment, magical today...You deserve it:)
“This moment, how peaceful and joyful you are is the quality of your life.” - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Life is small, live it freely

Saw this painting on a wall near the Mahim Station in Mumbai and it sure did bring a smile on my face and i hope it does the same for you too:)

Be like the white horse in the wall painting, and let your life be a big open green field, with you running down it and the wind blowing on your face, with no worry in your head and true joy in your heart:)




Monday, August 26, 2013

The Book of Your Life


 “You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend, or not.” 
― Isabel Allende

Right now in this very moment, you are writing the next page of the greatest book ever written for you. You are writing a book of the story of your life.
 

We all have a story to tell this world in the way we live our lives. Every second of the day is like another alphabet or word that adds to the great epic of our individual lives. For each one of us, it is the greatest book ever written, it is the story of our individual lives.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Why do YOU do what YOU do?

Hanuman's Ramayan

In ancient Indian Mythology, Valmiki was a poet who many considered a pioneer of Sanskrit Literature. He had written one the Greatest Hindu epics of all time titled, 'The Ramayana'. It consists of 24,000 verses in 7 books. The book depicts the journey of one of the seven avatars of the Indian God Vishnu, whose name is 'Rama'. It explores human values and explains the concept of dharma. A few days after Valmiki had finished his version of the Ramayana, he was told that Hanuman the monkey God and King, and an ardent devotee of Rama had written his own version of the Ramayana. 

Out of curiosity Valmiki goes to visit Hanuman to see this new version of the Ramayana. Hanuman then gives him a banana leaf on which he has written the Ramayana with the tip of his finger nails. Valmiki reads 'Hanuman's Ramayana' and then he starts crying. He is amazed because Hanuman's Ramayana is extra-ordinarily good and much better than his. 


     (Above - Hanuman( left)  the devotee of the Hindu God Rama and Valmiki (right) the great Indian poet.)
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

12 Favorite Quotes and One Lesson from each



 

1. "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." -Mother Teresa (Take Responsibility for your life)  

2. I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you."-Oprah Winfrey (Find what you love doing and then find a way to serve people doing it) 

3. “I know what I have to do now. I have to keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide can bring.” - Chuck Noland-Castaway Movie (Life Goes On)
Sunday, August 18, 2013

'Try something new...Try the 'Fosbury Flop'

There was once a bee that was stuck inside a glass house. After getting in through the front door when it was opened by one of the residents, the bee was now in the house. Soon the bee wanted to get out. It then approached a glass window nearby and thinking it was transparent, it kept flying right into it. It taught the window would break and it would fly out free then. 

The bee kept trying and trying. The continuous banging on the window was causing the bee some serious injury. There was a pillar next to the glass window, and there was another glass window next to that with a small opening that the bee could get through. But the bee refused to try an alternative solution and kept banging into that one glass window only. Soon the bee injured itself so much that it fell to its death. All the bee had to do was realize that this path was not working, to reflect on the situation and to look for an alternate or new path.

The Fosbury Flop 



 (Fosbury trying his revolutionary new technique)
Friday, August 16, 2013

Treading Your Own Path like Forrest Gump


I loved the award winning movie 'Forrest Gump' (1994). Not only because of the great story, but also because of the tendency of the central character to tread his own path. 

Forrest shares his life story where he joins the Army, plays ping pong, falls in love, starts a shrimping company, meets the president and more. But one scene in the movie really caught my attention. It is the scene below and let me describe why.



One day he decides to start running. He runs to the end of his town and then a little more. He runs to the end of his city and then a little more. He runs to the end of his state and then a little more. He just keeps running, and doing what his heart told him to do. Lots of people ask him why he is doing it along the way. 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Art of Educating Yourself




I write this post on morning of 15th August, 2013. It is India's 67th Independence Day. Sixty-Seven Years ago, India's First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced a 'Tryst with Destiny' for the Indian Nation. He dreamed of a country with free and independent Indians. Let us work together to make this great dream come true.

Independence is also often seen as self governance of a nation. Our nation got independence but isn't it time we self govern our lives now. Isn't it time we shift the responsibility of designing our lives from the governments and institutions to YOU the individual. Today let us explore one aspect of this discussion...Education...

Monday, August 12, 2013

4 Blogs I Love

dream, discover, explore, think, understand, innovate, create, empower, inspire, reflect, appreciate, achieve, balance and most importantly love and love for no reason at all...

 

1) Zen Habits
Written by Leo Babuata. Leo writes about simplicity, living healthy, productivity, improved family life, living in the moment and facing challenges the Zen Way. I love this blog for its simple layout and very useful content.



Blog Link - http://zenhabits.net/
2) Derek Sivers
Written by Derek Sivers. Derek is a musician, TED Speaker and founder of an online CD Store for independent musicians called CD Baby. His blog posts are insightful. He writes about his life experiences and lessons, amazing life stories, creation, innovation and finding yourself. He also has a detailed 'Book Notes' section with a summary of the last 150 books he has read. This is a must read.

 

 Blog Link - http://sivers.org/ 

3) Seth's Blog
Written by Seth Godin. Considered the No.1 Marketing Guru in the world by many. Seth is an entrepreneur, marketer, speaker, published author of 11 books and new thought expert. He writes about creating world changing ideas, standing out, starting a movement, creating a tribe, managing change and understanding world trends. His 11 books and many videos available online also must be consumed because it is information worth gold and it will help shape your perspective on a fast changing world.

 


4) Robin Sharma's Blog
I attended Robin's Lead Without a Title Seminar in 2009.Ever since I have been a fan of his work. He writes about leadership, productivity, innovation, goal setting, creating good habits and more. A variety of free resources available on his website as well.

 



______

What are your favorite blogs?

Satchinanda
Let us Learn Together
Tweet @AbhishekShetty_

Sunday, August 11, 2013

What I Learned from the Fantastic Mr Feynman?

Richard Feynman was described by many in different ways. Some of those descriptions went like this, a theoretical physicist, a nobel prize winning scientist, a life lover, an explorer, an artist among more. But what people will remember him most for was that he was such a great human being. 

 

Read his bio here. The You Tube video titled 'The Fantastic - Mr Feynman' 

 

The video started with a funny looking man playing the bongo drums. The video went on and then I found out that this man was also one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth century.

 

Being part of the Manhattan Project (that created the atomic bomb), designing lectures for undergraduate students at Caltech and revolutionizing physics with his theories on Quantum Electro Dynamics were some of his many achievements. 

 

But what amazed me most about him was his love for life, his fascination for the little things and his child like curiosity that he never lost even as he grew old. His Ode to a Flower best describes how The Fantastic Mr Feynman looked at life and all that is wonderful in it.

________

Ode to a Flower

    

"I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say “look how beautiful it is,” and I’ll agree. Then he says “I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing,” and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe… 

 

I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. 

 

The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts."

 



A few lessons I learned from this amazing person were:-
 


1) Don't take life too seriously - Laugh, play the bongo, fall in love, and look stupid once in a while. It won't hurt you too much. He would be seen playing the bongo drums, computing, painting, safe cracking, writing poetry or doing physics. He did what he enjoyed most and he truly lived a rich life...a life full of rich experiences

2) Make work your reward - When Feynman won the Nobel Prize he mentioned that the Nobel Prize was not so important, the real joy for him was when he discovered his theory and contribute to his field. For him that was the real prize. For him work was the reward.

3) Combine different Disciplines - Feynman taught himself art through his friend Jirayr Zorthian who was a renowned artist of the time. He told Jirayr he would exchange classed of Science for classes of art. He always looked for ways to connect fields and his thinking and contributions to the world reflected this as well.

4) Be the happiest, most enthusiastic person you know - His energy for life was just magical. He was just smiling throughout the video. He was like a little child jumping from one life project to another. Just looking at him would fill you with so many good emotions. Even with all the big scale projects he worked on, he never lost the love for life and all that is wonderful about it.


Henry David Thoreau once said, "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, Discover that I had not lived."Richard Feyman lived in a similar way. He lived life to the fullest, and took every experience with full enthusiasm for life and excitement for the present moment. He put his heart and soul into everything he did. He loved his craft and brought joy to so many doing it.


I leave you here with the thoughts of this great man

 "It is a great adventure to contemplate the universe, beyond man, to contemplate what it would be like without man, as it was in a great part of its long history and as it is in a great majority of places. When this objective view is finally attained, and the mystery and majesty of matter are fully appreciated, to then turn the objective eye back on man viewed as matter, to view life as part of this universal mystery of greatest depth, is to sense an experience which is very rare, and very exciting. It usually ends in laughter and delight in the futility of trying to understand what this atom in the universe is, this thing—atoms with curiosity—that looks at itself and wonders why it wonders. Well, these scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged for God to watch man's struggle for good and evil seems inadequate." 

—Richard Feynman The Meaning Of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, 1998




Thank you Richard for being who you are, and thank you Richard for the happiness you brought in so many people's lives with the work you loved doing:)



Monday, July 29, 2013
Lionel Poilane - The Artist Baker





Today morning I read a wonderful Fast Company Article on a Baker in Paris. His name Lionel Poilane. Fast Company talks about Lionel's Love for Bread as such,

"Lionel Poilâne sells the most famous bread in Paris. In fact, he sells 15,000 loaves of bread each day -- 2.5% of all bread sold in Paris, by weight. But he doesn't think of himself as a mere baker. Most bakers simply mix dough, shape loaves, and shove them into the oven. And while for many years he did all of those things every day, that still doesn't make him a baker."

In an earlier blog post mentioned how people must study their craft. Lionel was a true student of his craft.  I love how Lionel used Retro Innovation to create Bread Magic. He combined the best of the old and new styles on Baking as mentioned in the article.

What amazed me most about this man was his love for the Art of Baking. When he took over the family business from his Father he contacted over 10,000 bakers and amassed a massive collection of over 2,000 books on Bread! That is commitment.

As Fast Company puts it in the article "In the early 1980s, Poilâne decided to tap into the memories of the oldest bakers in the country to see if they could give him advice on how to reproduce the older styles of bread. With the help of two students, he contacted more than 10,000 bakers over a two-year period. "I conducted an ethnography of my own business," he says. "Most of the bakers had only fading memories to offer, but some were thrilled that he was trying to revive older bread-making traditions and offered to bake him sample loaves. By the time he was finished with his study, Poilâne had tried more than 75 different types of bread that he'd never tasted before. He eventually wrote up his findings in a book -- a study that is still used today in baking schools throughout France. He also amassed a library full of books on bread, which today contains more than 2,000 volumes."

Do his customers love him...No...They absolutely adore him..

The article further describes it as such "Poilâne's bread has won him famous fans over the years: Frank Sinatra and Lauren Bacall used to enjoy a loaf from time to time, and Robert De Niro is a customer. The most devoted patron, however, is a gentleman in New York who wants to remain anonymous. In 1997, he agreed to pay Poilâne $100,000, asking that his children and grandchildren receive a loaf a week for the rest of their lives. "Can you imagine?" Poilâne says, with obvious pride. "In 50 years, he'll be dead, but his grandchildren will be feeding our bread to their children and explaining how they are eating the bread of their great-grandfather!"

We all have the chance to be artists in our lives, in our careers, in our daily tasks. Let us commit to being artists. To create not just to create, but to create to actually make a hell of a difference. It is time we brought out the Lionel in all of us. It is time we brought out the Artist in all of us.

Read the full article here - http://www.fastcompany.com/42557/give-us-day-our-global-bread



Sunday, May 19, 2013

Book Synopsis and First Look

101 Habits to Greatness

Small Steps to Everyday Change

By Abhishek Shetty

Hey friends, I have some great news, I am launching my second book titled '101 Habits to Greatness' this week. Here is the first look and synopsis of the book.

About the Book

101 Habits to Greatness’ has been released as part of the Empower One Billion Campaign. Like the campaign it has one objective, to empower one billion people to find the Greatness they always had within them.

‘What do successful people do differently?’


The book is an attempt to answer this vital life question. After studying the lives of several successful people, reading books on them and meeting them personally, something struck me. I noticed patterns that were constantly repeating themselves in the lives of these successful people. There were certain things that they did differently and regularly. One among these many was that they utilized the 'Power of Good Daily Habits.'


The quality of your life is most often determined by the quality of your habits. This book consists of such a collection of 101 empowering habits that many of the successful people around the world commit too.


It has changed their lives and it can change yours too. We were all born special and unique. We all have Greatness deep within us. It is just time the world found out. If you pick up this book and it has an impact on your life, this book has achieved its mission. Because to find the Greatness of your life, you do not have to change the world, you just have to leave one person’s life better than you found it. You are that one person and I need your help to leave this planet better than I found it…



About the Author

Abhishek Shetty is a global youth empowerment speaker, published author and founder of the Empower One Billion Youth Empowerment Campaign. He is a young lad on a mission, to leave this world better than he found it, by changing one life at a time.

 

For more detail about the the book and launch date visit the Facebook page -  https://www.facebook.com/Abhishek.Empowerment.Initiative?ref=hl

 #EmpowerOneBillion2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Do it for the pure joy of doing it


     

101 Habits to Greatness - Habit 78

"We are not a drop in the ocean; we are the ocean in a drop." –Rumi

You are infinite, you are brilliant and you are beautiful, just the way you are. You were meant for Greatness and you do not have to prove anything to anybody. What if the people around Einstein told him, that he must become only Shakespeare? What would the world have lost then? We are all special in our own ways. So you never have to convince anybody about your worth or what you are really passionate about. The only person you have to convince is ‘YOU’. When you believe in your dreams, the world will believe in it too. Never do it for the money, fame or status you get out of it, do it for the pure joy of doing it and you will see the results you really want in your life magically appear before you.

Recently I saw an interview on a television channel of Lionel Messi. He is a football player and plays as a striker for Team Argentina and the Spanish Barcelona Football Club.  He is considered by many as one the greatest footballers alive. The interviewer asked Messi, “How are you so good at what you do? When you started playing football did you know you would achieve so much in the game?”. To this Lionel Messi replied, “I am very grateful for the love I have got. But whenever I played football, I never did it for the fame or celebrity status it brought me. I played it simply to have fun. I wanted to play it all day and score more goals and win more matches.”

This answer of Lionel Messi showed me why it is so important, you enjoy what you are doing. When you do something you really like, it will never seem like work at all. It will be like you are at play all day. If you are fortunate enough to get into such a situation, you will see that it is when you work on your passion that you are most confident. You feel uncomfortable when you do not do what you were born to do. The idle time you have away from the work of your life will seem like work to you now.




Thomas Edison loved what he did. He wanted to spend all his time inventing things. He often worked for 72 hours straight. It is said there were many nights ,when he slept for only three- four hours. This is what he said about doing what he loved best,


Today Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor in history holding 1,093 US patents to his name. Both Thomas Edison and Lionel Messi understood the power of doing something for the pure joy of doing it. You can do so too and find the Greatness in your life today.
Saturday, May 4, 2013

Do not convince people. Let them recognize your Brilliance





"We are not a drop in the ocean; we are the ocean in a drop." –Rumi


You are infinite, you are brilliant and you are beautiful, just the way you are:)You were meant for Greatness and you do not have to prove anything to anybody.




                                                                                            
 What if the people around Einstein told him, that he must become only Shakespeare? What would the world have lost then? We are all special in our own ways. 




So you never have to convince anybody about your worth or what you are really passionate about. The only person you have to convince is ‘YOU’. When you believe in your dreams, the world will believe in it too.

You do not have to reveal everything about your life to people. There are certain things that are best kept a mystery to the people around you. When something you have been working on for a long time is accomplished, let people be surprised and amazed by what you have done. This is much better than them expecting something you have been talking about for the past few months.  

When I first wanted to go out and conduct my youth empowerment seminars, people never understood what I was trying to do. I made the mistake of trying to convince everyone I knew that I really wanted to do this. I was wasting valuable time. Remember that time can never be brought back even with all the money in the world.

 The Poster...

Then I realized I do not need to convince people anymore. I just have to go out and get this done. So I started approaching school, colleges and youth organizations regarding organizing the seminar for their students. The response was not very nice from most of these places. I decided I was not going to let this stop me. I will go on with this seminar. I am not fighting only for my self. I know the information I share in this seminar can completely transform a student’s life if applied effectively. I went on and decided to hire a hall for a self organized event. I took out some of the money I saved  over the past year and paid for the hall. I printed out my first poster.

 I then went to an academic center to invite the students for the session. I knocked on the door and a representative of the center opened the door. I said, ‘Ma’am would you be interested…’ and before I could even complete my sentence the representative banged the door on my face. I had two friends standing next to me when that happened and it felt really bad. I said this is all right, let us go to the next door. We got several more rejections. I told them we are not going to quit. We went on with the seminar. Fifty students attended the event from over six different schools in Bahrain. A reporter from the local paper had come to cover the event. The next day there was a front page report of the seminar with details about the event and the participants learning experience in it.

When this happened all the people that told me they did not understand what I was doing, came back and congratulated me for successfully doing this amazing event. They said they were surprised.

I was not surprised. I knew this was going to happen from day one. I just did not know how and that is why at the start I needed their validation to confirm if what I was doing was all right.

This was the wrong approach because every time I went up to another person and he or she told me what I was doing would never be successful, I was losing out on a little bit of the spark that got me started on that project in the first place. The problem was that many of the people I was trying to convince did not believe in the magic of risking everything for a dream only you believe in.


When I stopped convincing people and started working on my dream to conduct that first seminar. I felt liberated. I felt so powerful in that moment because I was not scared anymore. I broke all the chains that connected me to my comfort zone. I went out and just did what I had to do.

Eventually when you actually pull off the event, project, book, song or anything you are passionate about, people will look at you amazed and ask you, ‘You are so brilliant at ___________How do you do all of that?’

Your time has come because now they have recognized your brilliance and you do not have to convince them anymore...