The first step in becoming an 'Inspired Leader' is to lead our self first. So, it is imperative that SOIL teaches 'Self Leadership' to its students and there is no better person to teach than Anil Sir himself.
During the whole day, I was asking several questions to myself and trying to get answers. These were questions which we would have never given time and importance because of its simplicity but when we actually try answering them, we realize our real inner self.
Anil Sir talked about the connection between the 'S' and’s’ and how Body and Senses make action; Mind and Heart gives us the Emotion; and Intellect and Brain leads us to Thoughts. We did a self-evaluation on four criteria on ourselves - Learning Capacity, Attitude to Learn, Effort to Learn and Using your Gifts during the last 3 month journey at SOIL. Then we moved on to Appreciative Inquiry, this time we discussed with a partner - "When were you at your best?" and "What do you think was the root cause of that success?” I got a lot of insights about my behaviour and response to situations when I was trying to answer these questions.
Anil Sir talked about ‘Firewalk’ which is an exercise to overcome your fears in life. I really hope that I try that one day. Then we tried to find what we think is the true purpose of our life. Because, if one has identified that ‘cause’ which he want to work for, then there is no stopping him. It is echoed in the following words – “The biggest leader is a great follower of his causes” and “Work is love made visible”
He also quoted a few lines from Pathanjali which had a lot of meaning – “When you are inspired by higher purpose, strange things begin to happen to you. You discover talent that you did not even know you had. You become a leader far greater than you have thought”
We were introduced to the concept of ‘Immunity to Change’ which is nothing but an X-Ray of the kind of immunity we all have for change. We thought about one aspect that we all wish to change. Then we analysed on what we actually do / not do instead and what are the ‘Hidden Competing Commitment’ which is the root cause for the immunity to change. The next step is to found out the assumptions that we have made for believing in those hidden competing assignments and how can we break those assumptions. Once this is done, then we have to find out the people who already have the ability that we wish to develop and try to spend more time with them.
When I went through all these exercises, I actually found out the solution to all my problems, in fact the same will apply for a lot of others. The actual starting point for all our negativities is from one thing called ‘EGO’. Ego is the one that lies between us and greatness. The way to overcome this monster ‘EGO’ within each one of us is to practice ‘Unconditional Love’. The solution actually sounds very easy but we need to read the words carefully. It is not just ‘Love’ but ‘Unconditional Love’. There is a world of difference between these words as we all know that when we really love someone, nothing is a problem. But how do we actually practice unconditional love? Is it really possible? I pondered upon these questions for some time after the session. Then I think I finally got some clues. How to practice unconditional love? – Team up with somebody you do not like. Spend time with that person very lovingly, joyfully. A lot of things will break. Is it possible? – Yes. It may take a lifetime or more to practice, but we should try. That is the least we can do.
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