They Need Structure (and So Do You)

THE DAILY DAD

June 9

The message is for teachers and parents and a life lesson for all.

If a person puts even one measure of effort into following ritual and the standards of righteousness, he will get back twice as much. - XUNZI

If you talk to a sleep expert about sleep training your infant, they'll tell vou: kids need structure and routine. If you talk to an educational expert about helping your kid do better in school, they'll tell you: structure and routine. If you talk to a behavioral expert about helping your kid behave, they'll tell you: structure and routine. Hell, if you talk to a dog trainer, they'll tell you the same thing about your pet: structure and routine (and exercise).

Pretty much whatever the problem or whatever the issue, structure and routine are the solution. Which makes sense. The world is scary. So much ofit is new and overwhelming. But if you give them structure and routine, they can relax because they have less to figure out, and less to worry about. Instead, they can explore. They can get comfortable and accept things. They can feel safe.

But what about you? What about Mom and Dad? Do you maintain structure and routine for yourself? You put them to bed at the same time each night, but do you wing it after that? You plan their dinners in advance ... but what about your lunch at work? You give them quiet playtime in the afternoon and downtime on the weekends. But do you create that kind of regular time for yourself? Structure and routine are essential ho matter who or how old you are. They're important for kids and they're important for parents.

And guess what-when you keep a routine for yourself... it's easier to keep them on one.

Page 181 from Ryan Holiday’s book The Daily Dad, published by Profile Books. 

Freedom and Peace - Aspiration JMMS

Freedom means to do things whatever we want to do, in the absence of necessity and interception. Freedom means to do something with our own ideas and methods. When we do something according to our own rules and regulations then we will get peace of mind. Peace is essential for freedom.

Aspiration JMMS@John Martyn Memorial School, Salangaon, Dehradun - Renu Raturi, Sandhya Thadani, Sonali Sharma, Asha Bhandari and Shalini Gurung.

Compassion is Action

The term compassion implies genuine concern towards others. Being an educator, it’s one of the most important traits to be possessed. By being compassionate, one is able to look through the larger picture and not only just materialistic happiness. An educator shall be compassionate enough to understand and give what the students want rather than being involved in trivial day to day issues because when educators sow the seeds they shall reap the benefits. It helps the educators to address the issues of the students both locally and globally. An educator needs to be compassionate to understand the students stress, depression, anxiety and pain. To understand his students well a student needs to cultivate compassion and clarity in himself. 

Compassion is a key to inner happiness and a powerful way to spread the joy around. It is also part of our evolving definition of leadership. But in order to cultivate compassion, self-compassion has to be established, too. If an educator cultivates compassion then he can create an happy atmosphere in the school and leaves an experience of long lasting happiness on a student’s mind.

Our learning from “Can We Teach a Zebra Some Algebra “by Debashis Chatterjee
- Sharmila Vijaywargi, Usha Panwar, Bharti Rao & Krithika Rao
The Fabindia School

The Joy of Work

The joy of work doesn’t come naturally; it comes when we work on ourselves, getting rid of our despondency we practice positivism, skill and hope. Here are few things I reflected upon the past few weeks:

When we are discouraged and demotivated, we lose our joy – the joy of work. At times, we want to be appreciated and at times, we so much want to be appreciated by certain people that when denied that appreciation we lose hope and our belief in ourselves. We want others to invest in our beliefs before we embark on our journeys.

Maybe its culturally relevant – we do see people wishing each other, offering wishes, gifts, performing rituals before someone dear embarks on a new journey. Those are culturally accepted ways to appreciate, to invest hope and belief in a starting endeavour.

However for winners and innovators, discouragements and demotivation are as important as encouragements and motivation because they teach - self-belief and resilience. Success is not any one-point outcome but the whole process that grows into the outcome.

Belief in Oneself

In tough circumstances, we need to remind ourselves that belief in oneself is the key to any accomplishment. And the desire of appreciation is never the prime motivator of any work – the prime motivator is the first thought that led us to that work. The prime motivator is the will to do that work. Can this ‘will to do something’ be just any selfish motive? I leave that for you to find out.

Often when under scornful contempt, people think the scorner is the culprit. However if we note closely, we’ll observe that by blaming the scorner we are escaping from the situation.

Demotivating factors work by snapping off our ties with our mind. It’s never the case that we have lost our mind or that we can lose our creativity. It’s just that we have stopped to believe; we have stopped to be linked with our mind. We have started to believe in the scorner.

Those who empower, coach and educate are simply those who teach you to believe in yourself and your abilities. They link you to your mind. They link you to your power!

They don’t seek you to follow them. They don’t seek you to please them. They want you to seek yourself. They are the people who build other people.

Venus Upadhyay is a columnist for Brewing Knowledge, her email is venusupadhayaya@gmail.com