My Reflections On 100 Days of Stoa Journey
The Start
It all started with a session by Aditya mainly held for C3 cohort folks on career success. This was even before the orientation of C4. The way Aditya spoke his heart out to motivate people, one thing I was sure of is, it’s going to be a crazy ride. Amidst excitement and nervousness, I understood that the founders are concerned and will push us to the extreme to come out of our comfort zone, guiding us all until we achieve success.
Connection With Stoa Community Members
One of the biggest pillars for me at Stoa has been the community. People are willing to help in whatever life throws upon me. Quite literally anything - work, life, productivity, career, music, fitness, investment, etc. And even better are those no agenda calls where I started talking and got to know some of the best stories from a diverse set of people.
I got to understand different perspectives to approach problems and solutions. In certain cases, I don’t have to even ask a question and get answers. And for some questions, I got wholesome experiences to hear. My two favorite questions of them all:
‘How do you handle terribly tough times?’ ’Apart from work, what do you do’?
Apply Learnings And Track Success
One of the important things that matter is to apply learnings and track success in anything we learn or else everything is merely gyaan. The implementation of this is great at Stoa where I get to fill ‘one important learning that I could apply’ from the session in the feedback at the end of each session.
Learning: I try to give insights that are actionable whenever I am asked for any help. Also, I proactively try to give feedback on my experience when I order something online, specifically for the delivery executives. People crib a lot on all social media platforms whenever things go wrong, but do not always appreciate when a great job is done. I consciously try to give feedback in all cases and would also urge people to do so. Let people know how awesome they have been in whatever little way they helped us.
And btw, this is one of the biggest reasons, humongous MNC’s are still struggling to understand - Giving feedback and learning to give feedback. No wonder retaining employees is hard for them.
Life Coaching
I have never dreamt of getting a life coach. Getting one at Stoa has been amazing. This is by far one of the best things that have happened to me in the last 2 years.
Learning: I found that the biggest obstacle to moving ahead is my inhibitions and limiting beliefs. I understand, at times it is tough, but the only way to move forward is to get those beliefs out of my head. After 4 sessions and one still to go, I feel better and outright in shape, all thanks to my wonderful coach Madhulika.
On a side note, I have sent some books, coffee, and snacks to my close friends this new year. They were surprised and happy. The thought of seeing them smile was the core reason for my happiness. I am learning to create such moments of happiness for myself.
‘Empathy within to reflect, empathy outside to act’ - a mantra I made to keep myself in a healthy space.
Mid-Week Sessions
I am a very outgoing person and the pandemic has been really hard for me and for everyone out there. The mid-week Gupshup sessions are a breath of fresh air. I prey upon the energy of these community sessions to divert my attention from tight workplace schedules and have fun.
A key thing I remember from a session led by Amit while explaining the Elevator pitch is, our identity is more than our jobs and titles. This resonated quite well with me. For those, who are interested in philosophy like me, according to Advait Vedanta, the Self is beyond body and mind, ego, intellect, and all physical appearances. It transcends everything.
Forming Habits, Accountability, And Consistency
The idea of having an accountability partner has proved to be a stepping stone to build new habits or be consistent. The community has been really warm to help each other and see each other's progress by constantly reminding. The result is 100+ days of meditation streak going strong. One more thing that is working great for me is prioritizing things that matter. I am yet to get better at time management though.
One of my mentors said, while starting something do not try to build the TajMahal in the first attempt. Aim to build small things first and eventually you will get better. And when the need arises, you will be able to build something magnificent.
Team-Building And Extracting The Best
Working in different teams and groups for Stoa sessions, I observed that team alignment is one of the important things that matter to extract the best. Some folks are super creative and driven and some like me lack certain skills. However, if the team is not aligned, the team may still seem to win at all fronts in the short term but eventually will fall like a pack of cards in long term. To set a culture of trust is important where all the team members can voice their opinion and agree to disagree.
Someone who is way ahead of others in the team has to either step back or wait and someone behind the line has to move forward to come in a line. For me, this is what alignment means, and it can prove to be one of the strengthening forces for a team to win in long term.
P.s. Working together on case weekends have helped a lot to push each other and connect on a deeper level
Final Words
One important lesson from my journey so far at Stoa which also applies to life is to not be full of ourselves.
I have always been fascinated by stories and at Stoa, I am grateful to connect with a vibrant set of people and know their story and journey of life.
Cut through the noise. Empathy, compassion, and love are the core of anything you do. I knew this for a long time, but my presence here has brought these values to the forefront.
Thank you to each one of you for being a part of my journey!
Thank you, Team Stoa, for creating a safe space to be vulnerable and helping me grow 😀
P.S. Please don’t read this like the graduation day speech. If it’s coming out that way, I feel guilty and need to up my writing skills 🤔