I was in a training session and as usual, I started by presentation ....Since the presentation was on Banking and my trainees were freshers, I have always considered it by social duty to give the trainees some inpiring words in lighter vein. The paramount skill for a 56 year old trainer in such sessions is to come down to the level of the 22 year olds and remain connected to them during the entire session. During tea-break, a girl walked to me and said, Sir, you had motivated us... I too like this art... How should I do? Beaming a smile, I said " I think that I could just do some insiring talk and you guys accepted it because of my age and experience... perhaps... I doubt that nobody could motivate others. In fact I just inspired you or tried to build some confidence in you for shouldering responsibilities... I don't think that I could motivate anyone for that matter." Perhaps this must have distrubed some other girl who also particiated in the conversation..
But I guess that this second girl was upset about my views. "Sir, I do not agree with you... anyone can motivate any other person, age or experience is not a criterion" she quipped. A bit shaken by her views, I recollected moments in my life, when I was humiliated by a much younger relative of mine ( who was known as good advisor 'but a bad follower') when she was motivaitng me to do something about which she had little knowledge. In Transactional Analysis (Games People Play) she may be named as LITTLE PROFESSOR. Life is a great teacher, and we get moulded by our transactions. Sometimes facts are incredible but inevitable...
The second girl who could not accept my views was later withdrawing as I saw her walking out.... But there was a studious boy among the audiance. He came to me a little later to share his views. He said, " Sir, you are correct, that other girl perhaps could not understand what you meant. Sir, Could I share my views with you...?"
I am determined, I will continue to inspire my GenNext.. if they are inspired, good , even if not, let me go ahead in my self designed social commitment. For me the Vishwarup was shown thro' Praveen...!!!!!
V Selvarajan
But I guess that this second girl was upset about my views. "Sir, I do not agree with you... anyone can motivate any other person, age or experience is not a criterion" she quipped. A bit shaken by her views, I recollected moments in my life, when I was humiliated by a much younger relative of mine ( who was known as good advisor 'but a bad follower') when she was motivaitng me to do something about which she had little knowledge. In Transactional Analysis (Games People Play) she may be named as LITTLE PROFESSOR. Life is a great teacher, and we get moulded by our transactions. Sometimes facts are incredible but inevitable...
The second girl who could not accept my views was later withdrawing as I saw her walking out.... But there was a studious boy among the audiance. He came to me a little later to share his views. He said, " Sir, you are correct, that other girl perhaps could not understand what you meant. Sir, Could I share my views with you...?"
I encouraged hime to go ahead. He said " Sir, In Kurushetra, when Mahabharat war was to begin, Arjun gets depressed on seeing his Gurus and kin in the opponants' camp... Lord Krishnji tried to motivate him, (we have the unique Bagawat Geetha with us now...) but Sir, depsite His motivation, Arjun remained agitated. Finally, Lord Krishna shows His Viswarup ( Giant Posture to make Arjun believe that He is none other than God).. this makes Arjun to surrender to His advice and rest is the Great Epic.. )
I was thrilled at the Boy's quote. He went on to recite a Sanskrit Quotation... I was shaken...
I totally realised that no one can motivate others.. at the maximum, one can inspire others to act.. Action is the Motion and Motion becomes the motivation. Perhaps the word "motivation" itself might have derived from the base word 'motion'
I was feeling fresh, thanks to that boy Praveen.. the act of performance is self driven. Intuition and some godly insticts motivate. The circumstances give the environment for taking a step.
A GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE for me indeed. Later on, after the class was over, some other boy sent an SMS requesting me to be his GURU. I just smiled and replied him "thank you my Shisya". But in my mind I was feeling great when I understood the essence of the Geetha.. " do thy duty"
I am determined, I will continue to inspire my GenNext.. if they are inspired, good , even if not, let me go ahead in my self designed social commitment. For me the Vishwarup was shown thro' Praveen...!!!!!
V Selvarajan
Hello Sir, I read your blog. Found it interesting. As a self-learning student of Psychology and being in writing profession I have some thoughts to share about the points mentioned in the blog. The very meaning of motivation is misunderstood I guess. Motivation means "a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way", Oxford dictionary. When an individual motivates others he/she tries to give reasons why one should act in a particular way or perform a particular act. People listening to the reasons accept the speaker's words as truth as they have confidence in the speaker and are inspired. Therefore, the funny aspect is, my reasons should be inspiring or else reasons just remain as data which people might accept or deny. I can make you believe something with my reasons and make you perform some action, but reasons stay in our heads for very short time depending on the individuals need. If I could manage to inspire an individual with the help of my reasons, it actually sinks in his/her mind so deep that it becomes a habit. And habits die hard. Studying Gita from a psychological perspective, I guess Arjuna was emotional and mentally unbalanced at that point. When you try to motivate such emotional individuals, you cannot simply give reasons, instead you need to build confidence first. In order to build confidence in Arjuna, Krishna had to convince Arjuna that the things that he is telling in not coming from a friend or a well wisher who wants him to fight, but from a highly learned man. If you read Gita, Krishna actually finishes Gita in the first three Chapters itself. The later chapters are detailed explanations of ideas and mind controlling techniques. It would be really funny if someone believes that the entire Gita was told to Arjuna by Krishna in a middle of a battle field, by stopping time till Krishna finished Gita. Inspiring someone is a uphill task, but motivating can be done easily if we speak the right time in the right time in a right way. Most of us motivate people, it takes lot of effort/skill/planning if you want to inspire others.
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