Of trainings and outcomes

Recently I attended the “7 Habits” training session. As many of you might know already, 7 Habits is a famous book/concept/program by Stephen Covey. I’ve expressed my disinterest on self help books multiple times in this space, the reason for which I am not very clear about. They all sound overtly simple and something which is already familiar with most of us, but somehow the relatively known and simple information, when packaged as a process, seems to be a super hit in literary circles. Also, the way the presenters conduct themselves during their seminars, as if they’ve discovered the true meaning of everything and have attained enlightenment, being gracious enough to share their “knowledge” with fellow human beings, was kind of off putting. The presenters themselves keep saying throughout such sessions that the content is nothing new but is something that requires discipline and practice. But the packaging, presents the same as if, all this while we’ve been leading a life of waste (unmaiya irunthalum athepdi avan solalam!!) and by following their rules, we will attain mukthi. And even though the contents and practices prescribed would be highly relatable, they sounded very monotonous and mechanical to follow on regular basis. At best, I used to mine those books for quotable quotes, which were aplenty.

Coming back to this session, for which I was nominated by my manager, I attended with even more cribbing than when I had to go to school. The presenter tried to make the session as lively as possible and was putting genuine and sincere efforts into engaging the audience. To my surprise the course wasn’t half bad as how I was anticipating, mainly because of the personal experience and real life examples that the presenter shared which resonated not just with the materials shared, but also easily relatable with some real life examples of the participants as well. I tried to equate the habits with some of the people I admire and it was a given that most of them had already been following or practicing these habits in real life, with/without attending or knowing about this session. That gave me confidence and belief that, this may actually work. Not that it has to be pointed out by a mottai mandaiyan (Stephen covey who looks like bald Bill Clinton) but even if I chose to ignore the packaging, I have real life examples on people whom my admire for their ethics and values. There was a specific activity about, listing down what I want the attendees of my 80th birthday to speak about me, the legacy that I wanted to leave with them. It was quite interesting for I don’t see myself that long or any short duration. At the same time, the imaginary testimonies that I wanted people to share or thought what they might be sharing was what I felt they should/may be sharing today, basis of what I am today. It made me realize, there are some aspects that I need to carry on for the remaining 40 years and some I’ve to drastically change in the next 40 years if at all I’ve to sustain the belief of what I will receive from them in years to come. I don’t know the intended outcome of that activity but it was really funny and revealing at the same time.

I still wouldn’t recommend these self help books. But would rather share my feedback that based on the real life people you’ve in your life as idols, if you can break down their lifestyle into behaviours and habits to inspect/adapt/follow, that could actually be in essence what these books are trying to say. Also, nothing beats a trainer/teacher who puts their heart and soul into sharing something that they truly believe. The fact that, the trainer of the session was also a salesman in his previous career was hardly surprising 😊