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. 

Self Awareness and Self Assurance - Swabhi Parmar

Exploring your hidden talents and competency is an indispensable facet of building self-confidence and courage. Challenge yourself, face your fears and do things that are most dreadful to you. You will see a new face of your personality in the process. 

If you have some apparent fears, confront yourself with reasons for those fears and tell yourself that it isn’t that huge of a bargain. You will develop to become stronger and better. 

When you understand yourself better in terms of your skillset and what precisely you expect from your life, you will have more conviction in yourself and what you can do. Confusion leads to confrontation, and when you, yourself, are unsure about your abilities and goals, you will not be able to channelize your energies towards a common goal. Therefore, self-awareness is central to self-assurance.

Self Confidence and having a focused approach in life can do wonders to your ability to handle any situation. It can have a gigantic effect on your self-confidence levels depending on how comfortably you move along in your way to effective self-management. Therefore, you must plan to become more agreeable and certain.

 

Swabhi Parmar

The Fabindia School

spr@fabindiaschools.in

Think About Yourself - Byju Joseph

Courtesy: quotemaster.org

Think about yourself and plan your own life. If you don’t decide your own future, someone else will do it for you. Each time you fail to control your own life, you give control of your life to someone else. Your failure and success stories depend only upon you. You get what you make out of your life. There may be circumstances that won’t favour you. Don’t allow them to control your aim and to destroy it. You have to fight to achieve it and it is possible only when you are there. Never assume that somebody else will do it for your success. The way to success is not crowded, you have to make it all alone and at the end the reward is going to be only yours. There are people who blame others or their circumstances but in reality it is just the way to escape from their own responsibilities. You can find excuses, but you have to keep in mind that your life is hundred percent your responsibility, you just can’t run away from it. After all you are doing this to yourself only. You are not doing this for the sake of others or to satisfy them. 

Some people may go against you, that they may try to bring you down. But it depends on how you respond to it. Keep in mind everything remains powerless unless you provide power to it. There may be hardships, there may be circumstances that won’t favour you; keep in mind that if one door shuts down at you, the other one opens up for you, but you have to take off your eyes from the closed one firstly. Lookup for other chances; life always gives you chances to succeed. If it is not in one attempt, maybe the next one will be for you. You never know until you try.

Each and everything starts from your thinking. It all depends on the way you think. Your thinking becomes your reality; it is very true.  Imagine good things and good will happen to you. Imagination is just the way of making reality first in our minds. It is exactly like a blueprint which we make before constructing a building. Each and everything should be planned before it is executed in real life. Otherwise, it won’t make any sense. You will get all messed up without your planning in mind. It is like getting an overview or an idea about a certain thing in your life. Thinking is so powerful; it can make you more and more powerful.

Byju Joseph
The Fabindia School
bjh@fabindiaschools.in

Responsibility and Cooperation - Rectifier BHIS

Responsibility and cooperation - Unity in diversity

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great   things.” -  Mother Teresa

A school in Thane had a musical band of 9 musicians, each one highly skilled at playing his/her own instrument (voice being one of them). There were five singers in the band, two boys and three girls. The instruments included in the band were congo, drums, guitar, and a base. All the instruments were played by boys from 11^th standard. The singers were all from 9^th standard.

All the musicians were highly skilled individuals, but when it came to performing as a group, they just could not quite find the rhythm. This was because they all wanted to show their superiority to others. The teacher tried to explain to them that they needed to work as a team, rather than showcasing their individual excellence. But the students were reluctant to listen to their teacher.

They would participate in various inter-school competitions, both solo and group events. They used to win the solo events with ease but were unsuccessful in the group events due to their lack of teamwork. They practised, individually, for hours; but as a group, they always fell short.

A ninth-grader, Suraj, was selected as the keyboard player in the band. He was also proficient at the drums and tabla while being well-versed in singing. He knew the problems the band was facing. He saw how well the musicians performed individually, but failed to excel as a group. So he decided to make them understand the strength of unity.

He first analyzed the problem to its roots and found that the musicians lacked faith in their group, and were doubtful about the others' skills. So he devised a plan to make this right. He shared his plan with the teacher. The teacher approved of his plan and changed the pattern of rehearsal.

The next day, the teacher asked the singers to practise without the support of instruments. After some time, the singers realized that without instrumental support, the song was not at all effective. Then the teacher asked the guitarist to accompany the singers. That day the practice used one instrument at a time. In the end, all the students realized their mistake and understood the importance of each and every member of the group. They also understood that for a successful performance, everyone needed to play with complete dedication without trying to showcase their individual skill. After this incident, they put in 100% effort to perform their best as a group. Soon, they participated in the inter-school state-level competition. The band won the first prize and qualified for the nationals.

The teacher congratulated everyone, and especially thanked Suraj, as he had taken the responsibility of the band and got the members to cooperate with each other, and perform as a group.

“Individually we are one drop, but together we are an ocean.” – Ryunosoke Satoro.

Rectifier @ Billabong High International School, Thane

- Pallavi Harkare, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Priyanka Iyer, Rajeshri Mohite, Prerna Khanna, Kalpana Dodia

प्रथम प्रयास मे ही सही काम करे ।

किसी भी कार्य को पहले अवसर मे ही इस प्रकार करे की वह कार्य सफल हो। कार्य मे सफलता प्राप्त करने का पूर्ण रूप से प्रयास करे। शुरू से ही कार्य को करने के लिए मेहनत करे। कोशिश करे कि एक बार मे ही कार्य सफल हो जाए बार - बार प्रयास न करना पडे किसी भी कार्य को पहले ही प्रयास मे सफल बनाने के लिए योजना पहले से ही बनाई जाए ताकी सफलता मिले।   

शिक्षक बालको को शिक्षण देने से पूर्व ही योजना बनाए तो उसका शिक्षण कार्य सफल होगा। शिक्षक अपने कार्य को बोझ न समझकर अपना कार्य खुशी - खुशी करे व अपने कार्य मे रूचि ले तो वह प्रथम प्रयास मे ही सफल होगा। शिक्षक को यह प्रयास करना चाहिए कि वह प्रथम बार मे ही अपना कार्य ऐसे करे कि जिससे उन्हे प्रथम बार मे ही सफलता प्राप्त हो। 

प्रथम प्रयास मे ही सफलता प्राप्त करने के लिए उस कार्य मे दक्ष व्यक्ति की नियुक्ति करे ताकी वह पहले ही प्रयास मे सफल हो। शिक्षक अपने कार्य को करते समय किसी भी तरह का नकरात्मक विचार अपने मन मे न लाए जिससे उन्का ध्यान भटके। शिक्षक अपनी सारी परेशानियो को भुलाकर अपने कार्य पर पूरा ध्यान दे तो वह प्रथस प्रयास मे ही सफलता प्राप्त कर सकता है। शिक्षक अपना मन अपने कार्य को सही करने मे ही लगाए तो उन्हे अवश्य सफलता प्राप्त होगी। बालको को भी उन्की योग्यता अनुसार ही कार्य दे तभी प्रथम प्रयास मे सफलता प्राप्त होगी।

हमारी सीख आईसक्रीम मेकर से - सुबीर चौधरी

- भारती राव, शर्मिलाविजयवर्गी, ऊषा पवाँर & कुर्तिका राव - The Fabindia School

Steps to achieve success

 5 Steps to Achieve Success in Every Endeavor

Here are five steps to help you achieve success in every Endeavor. This may not ensure that you never face any problem, but can help you remain focused to rewards your goals. 

Reach for the Stars- Think of your targets as a journey. Half the fun of achieving a goal is the passage. Set your self a root with some challenges.Getting bored before you reach the end of the journey will surely take you off track. Like they say 'When you reach for the star a, you may not quite get them , but you won't come up with a handful of mud either'. 

Plan Well- The future belong to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. But it is necessary to chalk out a plan to achieve the goal. Sit-down and introspect till you are able to chalk out a plan that is realistic and achievable in the near future. 

Trust yourself- Ralph Waldo Emerson say, What lies behind us and but lies before us are a small matters compared to what lies within us.' Reflect on the truth of this statement. When you are low and circumstances seem against you, you can get discouraged and gloomy. But if you have got where you are in life. It is because you are talented and capable. Believe in your innate ability 'Remember hope is the companion of progress and the mother of success.' 

Rely on your institution- If you are stuck in situation where you are confused and have lost all sense of direction , simple move back and stop thinking about the thinking about the situation. Your instinct will tell you what your eyes cannot see and guide you even when your mind cannot understand. 

No matter how hectic or difficult your life, is keep your mind clear and your goal before you. As Deepak Chopra says' In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.' Distance yourself from everyday occurrences that can demotive you. Your long term objectives are what matter and you must be focused to achieve them.

Agya Kour

agr.sns@dbntrust.in

APF Trustees support Updated Strategy 2011

A strategy to Equip for life 100,000 Young Indians aged 14 – 25 by 2013

1. Work for YES (youth engaging society)– to facilitate build up of Volunteers and encourage the participation of youth in the 14 - 25 age groups.

2. Programme inclusion by enrolling more students from vernacular / government schools, from the current near 400 largely private sector schools. 

3. Raise the annual enrollments for the program to a total of 100,000 in Year 3 of the plan.

Partner with other NGOs, Volunteer groups and the business community and work on our  CSR of Cherish, Service and Relationship.

Youth Engaging Society (YES)

The Award works for youth engaging society and the YES Centre model gives a new direction; for the first time the Programme is now available to the 14-25 age groups in addition.

YES centres not only trains Award Leaders, they also house a chapter of the
Award Holders’ Association and supports the office with good volunteer support.
In addtion serve as model Award Units and train young people. 

Young people in the 14-25 age groups who wish to take up the challenge, and do not have access to an Award Centre / registered School or College, may enroll with the nearest YES Centre.

Over 2000 young people are participating in the Special Projects programme on an equal footing.Year 2010, a renewed focus and the launch of the YES (Youth Engaging Society), has helped us double the number of Special Projects. In 2011 alone more than 1000 fresh entrants will join us.

The IAYP team will promote, provide and preserve the Award Programme in India.

To all Member schools / Award units and Operators

Dear Award Friends and Supporters;

This is an open letter to all our Award Units and Volunteers, first to thank them for the continued support for the Award Programme, and to apprise all that IAYP India is now all set to grow from strength to strength.

India is youth and youth is India!
A young nation, with the largest youth force in the world, poised to make this century ours. Brand India today is the flavour of the season, the meteoric rise of the services sector and the need for knowledge capital has made India shine on the world map, and this is the opportunity for the Award Programme to build on.

Not many are perhaps aware that the Award Programme in India commenced in the year 1962, and am certain near 2,00,000 lac or maybe more, have either participated or volunteered to build the programme over the years. Some say the Award Programme is perhaps the best kept secret!

A conscious effort is being made by the full Award team to roll out the Development Plan 2010 – 2013, and build up to 5,00,000 participants in the near future. A big capacity building and training initiative is in the offing; the focus now is not only on the 14 -18 year olds at schools, but also on the 18 – 25 in the colleges, corporate and social organizations. We need to work with a mission to bridge the social divide and help young Indians live their dreams.

The national office is now functional and the first Open Award Centre, for the college going and other youth was inaugurated at Sri Aurobindo Society in New Delhi, on the 5th of September 2009, to commemorate Teachers Day and keep the spirit of the ‘guru’ vibrant.

For more and other exciting opportunities, please follow us on http://www.iayp.in/ .
We are also on FACEBOOK, www.facebook.com/iayp.in
To keep you updated with news and plans there is a blog http://www.brewingknowledge.com/

We are there to win hearts and partner for the spirit that keeps everyone youthful. Please share the information with volunteers and the youth. You are most welcome to drop by at our office or email Sandeep.dutt@iayp.in .

Let us join hands and challenge young people everywhere!

Yours truly,

Sandeep Dutt
National Director
International Award for Young People, India

Draft Development Plan

Aim
Make IAYP a premier youth programme for inclusive social growth.

How we will do this?
1. Set up Open Award Centres – to facilitate build up of Volunteers and encourage the participation of youth in the 18 - 25 age groups.

2. Programme inclusion by enrolling more students from vernacular / government schools, from the current near 375 largely private sector schools.

3. Raise the annual enrollments for the program from 15000 to 500,000 in Year 3 of operation

4. Set in place a mechanism for fund raising; have a Friends of the Award.

5. Partner with other NGOs, Volunteer groups and even look at the PPP Model for build up. Use the CSR approach and the Community outreach.

6. Set up a national centre that can undertake training for volunteers and award leaders from India and the APAC (ASIA PACIFIC) region.

The role out … steps up the ladder!

1. Plan that raises enrollments in the following stages:

Year 1:
70,000 (set forth the seed in model government and vernacular schools; spend time in getting model right for mass implementation; work out sponsorships/ third party funding routes)
Year 2:
200,000 (massive rollout, focus on timely and accurate implementation on a mass scale)
Year 3:
500,000 (massive rollout)

This has to be broad based in terms of geography, mix of students, gender. Should not be heavily biased towards anyone area.

Before connecting with anyone formally, need to have a mapped out visual strategy with names of schools, targeted enrolment in that school, and geographical location of that school. The strategy needs to be that detailed instead of just a large number that the team chases.

2. Set-up volunteer committees that comprise eminent personalities (who actually work!) in the following streams:

A. Industry
Representatives from one or two industry bodies such as CII, TiE etc., banking industry (SBI)

The Industry body will communicate with their member/affiliate network in procuring assignments for the volunteers across different industries/service firms as well as tap on to the CSR initiatives of different business entities across India. You will need to create programs that dovetail into these organizations. For example -- SBI is BIG on rural banking and reaches out to many communities in far off areas. But one will need to come up with a plan specifically for SBI so that they can absorb students in bulk.

B. Brand and Communication
Youthful Brand ambassadors that are publicly known who actually completed the course, Branding and Communication specialists including those in non English streams, one or two large media houses that can provide coverage for free across regional media.

The Brand and Communication team will be responsible for creating brand awareness of IAYP, keeping a strong communication with existing enrollments to further awareness within the student community, work on media coverage across modes of media, create content namely brochures/pamphlets to reach out to government/vernacular schools in the latter language.

C. Educationists
Eminent hardworking educationists; who have the clout / connect with leading government / private education systems.

The Educationists will be people who are well connected to schools across different geographies and can open doors for you. This has to dovetail into the numbers/geographies that you are tapping in the strategy highlighted above.


3. AIESEC and its partners owe their success to the strong affiliate network they have in the form of corporate partners. This is the weak chain in your current set up.

Schools -----> Activities that qualify for IAYP <---------- Corporate Partners

Some potential partners, besides the industrial groups can be: --
Ashoka: www.ashoka.org -- they can easily absorb batches of students for programs across India
Xceed: http://xseed.idiscoveri.com/xseed-schools.html --
FabIndia not for profit wing –
Pratham...www.janaagraha.org. Ramesh Ramanathan is doing an outstanding job.

4. The national centre has to be one fixed place that is needed 365 days a year, but at start could NOT be a fixed place; can be used as and when the need arises for a program.

Would consider approaching a large corporate that might have a large vacant hall that they can lend for these activities.

The option of doing an Open Award Centre at the SACAC (Sri Aurobindo Centre of Arts and Communication) Delhi Campus.

Alternatively have a foundation backed by a large group such as the Azim Premji Foundation (www.azimpremjifoundation.org) to come forward and lend support to the program and take branding as an output for them self in turn.

9 Point Action Plan for IAYP, India

So far..
1. Rohit has got going on Alumni network… meeting due in Delhi on Sunday the 10th. Volunteers in the NCR welcome, anyone visiting Delhi on Sunday, do join us.
2. Sourajit – set the ball rolling on the exchange agenda; has to keep up the momentum!
3. For IT initiative, have put in place Priyank, he is based at the IT and Management Centre of Book Café, and now controls the website.
4. We hope to have in place the first 18-25 Award Centre in Delhi next week; this will be part of the North Zone, big thanks to Lata Vaidyanathan for her support.
5. Visited the North Zone, and they have been very supportive, are doing their best to support the 9 Point Action plan. Malini has been a tremendous resource…

NEED NOW:-
· All Zone to please assist and take this Agenda with full zeal , help build a vibrant IAYP India chapter.
· Please send regular updates for the Website and other communications – blog, chat,… to itm@ebdmail.com, this will help Priyank keep the website www.iayp.in updated.
· Let us volunteer to work on a weekly roundup of the happenings and developments. All Zones may kindly write in to us, once a week on any matter / inputs.
Sandeep Dutt
8th May 2009
------
Update for the IAYP Governing Council

1. Working Group revival – Sandeep Dutt will take this ahead with the Zonal Chairmen and confirm a plan for meetings in 2009 in May itself.
2. National Secretariat – work is on, and we have meetings lined up with corporate and other partners, an appointment with the Director Habitat Centre is also on the Agenda.
3. Information Technology Solution – Priyank Gupta ( of Book Café) will assist Sandeep Dutt. All zones are kindly requested to help us come on one integrated platform, and link the Zonal Websites from the www.iayp.in home page. Priyank is on 0135 2714958 and Mobile 097 194 08779, his email is itm@ebdmail.com. The single point of contact for Website update and maintenance.
4. Special focus on Ages 18-25; have approached two corporate houses and one hospital, do take this ahead in the Zones, will be a good way for Zones to build a strong linkages.
5. Build Zonal Offices ( have inadvertently called the zones regions) the Zonal Chairpersons will take this ahead.
6. Branding and Corporate Communication – we have meetings lined up in the coming week and will keep you informed.
7. Alumni Network – Rohit has volunteered to take this ahead. Kindly assist us, he needs the support from each Zone and more from every Award recipient in India.
8. Zonal Exchange ( not regional) – Sourajit has set the ball rolling… he will set the tone for good work ahead.
9. Take the program to the hinterland – please move to cities deeper into your region.

We are committed to build the Award in India to a great brand, and make India a leader in the Award World.

Once Shloka is free from exams, hope to have a meeting with Rohit, Shloka, Maroof – our Delhi based members, and work further on Brand, Communication and strategy. This will knit together a Delhi working group, and in a similar manner more volunteer groups will be needed to build the Award Program. Do rope in friends, volunteers, awardees to take this big agenda ahead.

Will keep the Governing Council members updated once a month and this is the first one!

With best wishes,
Sandeep Dutt
From: Sandeep Dutt, EBD [mailto:sandeep@ebdmail.com] Sent: 23 April 2009
To all members of the Governing Council IAYP - the 9 Point Action Plan.

OUR 9 POINT AGENDA… with direction:
1. Revive the Working Group, and create more such teams to head the various initiatives of this Agenda.
The Working Group currently comprises of the four Zonal Chairmen and the National Director, they will meet more often.
2. Work to setting up a National Secretariat in Delhi, and this has to happen in the next 12 months.
This will be in Delhi, and be an asset the Award Program all over the world.
3. Use Information Technology and communication to build good systems for the Program.
WE need one platform and one website, with separate areas for Zones. The full project will be put live at www.iayp.in
4. Special focus on the 18-25 Age group, rope in the corporate sector and various HR organizations for this initiative.
The youth of today need the Award the most, and need to move into University / Colleges / Corporate houses
5. Help the Regions create vibrant areas of operation.
Build strong Regional offices and help them go deeper into the States.
6. Build up Corporate Communication and the brand.
Develop on the PR, Communication, website and Newsletter
7. Alumni network for the Award in India.
The Award forum to create a deep ‘friends of the Award’ circle. This will help in networking and finding individuals to steer the programme ahead.
8. Encourage Regional exchanges, and build better connect with Award stake holders all over the country.
Have activity across regions, do project together, workshops, expeditions etc.
9. Take the Program to the hinterland – beyond the main cities, there is a big need for extra-curricular activity in smaller cities.
Ensure all the top 100 cities in India have at least one Award Centre / School

· The 9 point Agenda is listed above, and we have 10 members of the Governing Council, thus if we leave out the Chairman, makes it 9 members!
· Would like each of the nine, to choose one single Point of the AGENDA, and spell out a very simple action plan of not more than 100 words.
· Based on the Action plan, we will create working groups, comprising of members of the Governing Council, and any other volunteers / award leaders/ stake holders.
· Once we have direction, say by the 30th of April, there will be a full year ahead to make this happen.