Why people get into Whirlpool and remain on first levels of Maslow Pyramid!

Maslow presented the above Pyramid in 1940s and then did lots of research on it. The first four needs were identified as deficit needs: i.e if the needs are not met, they make us uncomfortable and we work towards fulfilling them.

The last four needs, were named as growth needs.

He also arranged them in a hierarchy such that we are motivated primarily by a need only if lower level needs have been met. Thus, before one is motivated by cognitive or self actualization needs, one should have taken care of basic deficit needs like physiological, security, belonging and esteem. The needs are defined as

1.    Physiological needs: These are the basic animal needs for such things as food, warmth, shelter, sex, water, and other body needs. If one’s basic biological needs are not met, he or she would continue in this level and will not try to move to next one.

2.    Safety needs: Once the physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual’s safety needs take over. These needs have to do with man’s yearning for a predictable, orderly world in which injustice and inconsistency are under control, the familiar frequent, and the unfamiliar rare. This need for consistency, if not satisfied leads to feelings of doubt and shame.

3.    Belonging & Love needs: After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. This psychological aspect of Maslow’s hierarchy involves emotionally-based relationships in general, such as friendship, sexual intimacy and having a supportive and communicative family. If one finds failure in having such close relationships, then they have problems of dealing with others.

4.    Esteem needs: All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self-respect, and to respect others.

5.    Cognitive needs: Maslow believed that humans have the need to increase their intelligence and thereby chase knowledge. Cognitive needs is the expression of the natural human need to learn, explore, discover and create to get a better understanding of the world around them.

6.    Aesthetic needs: Based on Maslow’s beliefs, it is stated in the hierarchy that humans need beautiful imagery or something new and aesthetically pleasing to continue up towards Self-Actualization. Humans need to refresh themselves in the presence and beauty of nature while carefully absorbing and observing their surroundings to extract the beauty that the world has to offer.

7.    Self-actualization needs: Self-actualization is the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can.

8.    Transcendence needs: Maslow later divided the top of the triangle to add self-transcendence which is also sometimes referred to as spiritual needs.

When we look around we find that many of us or for that matter most of us struggle to remain in the whirlpool of first 3 levels at best and rarely we see people who move to level of self-actualization or Transcendence.

Then who or what is to be blamed for this??

On exploration you will realize that the kind of issues and lifestyles we are facing in India; don’t let you move out of the Whirlpool of getting the basics of life – water, air, simple life requirements. Once you move out you face issues such as poor roads, poor traffic, lack of infrastructure, un-civic behavior of people, un-called politics at work-place etc. With this you are always struggling to manage these challenges and get stuck! To add to this is complicated governmental processes and systems of taxation, legal, police and basic life management – so you waste your time here too. In a day - the real productive time is vey less and we are consumed by that. 

So we can blame all factors external to us for our stucked-situation in first few levels of Maslow Pyramid – Answer is NO.

We are also to blame for this – as we are part of this system and society and get entangled in all and do not try to come out. There is fear and then there is a race to get more and not to fall behind in materialistic gains. We fall for greed of many houses, many cars, higher power and many gadgets and then we are stuck forever! Having aspirations and dreams is not bad; but falling in trap of materialistic world, could harm. 

Once you meet people who have moved to level 7 and 8 – you will realize that they are not saints who have given-up everything. They are the one’s who manage self ; rather than being managed by environment or system around us.

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Answers to all the issues is known to most of us – but we have a fear to act and during this time moves on and by the time we understand the realities of life – its too late. So its simple – Think and Act !!

Youth mobility in flatter world !!

Youth account for more than 50% of global population and are the future of each society, nation and the world. The diversity in the world provides opportunity for innovation and learning but many times creates conflicts and differences among people as they do not understand each other’s culture and practices well.

As Martin Luther King Jr said “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”

Education’s focus remains on providing knowledge and the real life skills or practical skills are left to each student and youth to gain. With the world becoming flatter and people being aware of other societies through internet and social media the challenge for youth is to understand cultures in deeper perspectives to survive in global work or business situations.

Many countries are taking initiatives by providing global mobility opportunities to youth to learn and apply the learning in their own context; however, a large part of youth lack these skills and understandings and are lost when they are exposed to newer cultures. In real term even the societies are not open to learn these proactively and in this Flatter World – there is a situation where conflicts are becoming internal as the tolerance to each other is becoming lower.

Research has shown that Youth who have been exposed to different cultures and countries perform better and they have better career opportunities. Many organizations including World is Flat B.V. (www.worldisflat.nl) are working towards creating Global Citizens and helping youth to go for international internships, voluntary programs, and cultural immersion programs to develop global skills.

Young people who experience mobility are more adaptable, because they strengthen the skill of change and adaptation to the environment, broaden their social networks and intercultural competences, and are more employable. Learning and applying good practice from different fields they contribute to the improvements in their home environment. Stronger tolerance, active citizenship and the construction of a common identity also benefit the countries and the entire international community.

In Europe and western world, the understanding about eastern cultures and Asia is quite low and same is vice-versa. More people are visiting different countries more as just tourists which give them just a superficial. To perform better in the flatter world, youth have to develop high level understanding of different cultures, work styles, people preferences and create a better connect with each other. This will not only help them to perform better in their working or business life but also create a better world where youth with empathize with each other in a better way and create a positive world!

Atmachetna - a journey into Happiness! June 12, 2016, Amsterdam

In most societies the pressure on people is increasing and their challenges and issues are becoming more complex. This leads to stress and many relationship issues with people; this impacts them; their families; their colleagues in work place and impacts the society and organizations where they work. The positive things of life are all looking as negative. What is needed that everyone manages their mental and physical wellness leading to a happy self and happiness for others! Happy people make happy society and a happy nation!

Atmachetna- means Self Awakening in Hindi. The journey of happiness begins and ends with self-awakening. This program is designed to invoke the self-awakening which is the beginning and end towards happiness.

What is Happiness?

What is happiness? Happiness is a state of mind where the feeling is pleasant. You eat something good which you love and it brings a pleasant sensation to your mind. You listen to a good music that you like. This brings a pleasant sensation in mind. This can be called as happiness. When, again, you eat the same food, and hear the same music when a tragedy has occurred in your life, you don’t enjoy it.

So happiness is something which is personal—which is totally dependent on the person concerned. That is, happiness is subjective and not objective. The same person, place or thing that brought happiness at one time, may bring sadness at another. Why does this happen? This happens because we are responsible for our happiness or sorrow, and not the external objects of the world. We think that somebody brings joy, this person brings misery, etc. All this is not true. The external persons, places, and things are only stimuli. These stimuli affect the brain and bring joy or sorrow in us, depending upon our state of mind. Thus, all our so-called loves, hates, ambitions, dislikes, successes, failures, and so on are for our own sake, created by us. When we say we love or hate others, it is for our own sake. It is a truth according to Hinduism that all that we do is for acquiring bliss for ourselves.

This happiness programs of Self-Awakening brings you to yourself and helps you look inside and create a sense of happiness which is lasting and which will help you manage self in times of external sorrow and spring back to sense of happiness soon.

It uses the basic principles of Gita and Vedas from Hinduism (but it’s completely different from a religious program). The principles are designed on spirituality and meditation and it takes the basic principles of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to help you reach a state of Atmachetna.

Some of the concepts and techniques which are used in this program are:

·         Concept of Happiness and “Ananda” (true happiness) – what truly is happiness and eternal true happiness

·         Introduction to Bliss – as per the Gita and how do you find it for yourself and where do you find

·         External vs Internal happiness – is happiness an internal journey or an external fulfilment

·         Stages of happiness – Physical, Emotional and Spiritual – stages in which you currently are and where you wish to go in the happiness journey and the path to be taken

·         Path to Bliss – how to move to the path of the eternal happiness and the bliss and create a positive self  

·         Life Map – the map of life till now in your journey of life and how do you wish it to be in future

·         Positive self – how do you create a positive self and build a connect to self within

·         Positive core – where is the positive core for you and how do you maintain it on a continuous basis

·         Mind map – on the five senses and their linkage to happiness

This is a wonderful program and uses simple language and ideas and helps to bring a sense of positivity and happiness! 

Trainers:

Puneet Rathi - Happiness Coach!

Puneet is a happiness coach and certified Life Coach and Parenting Coach. Though he is a mechanical engineer with double post graduation in  International Marketing and MBA, his passion lies in bringing positive changes to people. 

He has been working with teens, adults and couples in conducting workshops and seminars on parenting, life skills and happiness. He also coaches people on one-to-one basis.

He has more than 25 years experience in India and outside India in making positive changes to organizations through people. He has worked with some of the best brands in multiple industries. In addition he has worked on developing leaders across India and South Asia. He is a certified NLP Practitioner, SHRM-SCP and Hogan certified coach (all from USA).

Joost van der Leij

  Licensed NLP Master Trainer™ Joost van der Leij is one of the very best NLP trainers in the world.  As the creator of NLP, Richard Bandler, says: “NLP is very easy to do, but hard to fathom.” Joost van der Leij is one of a very select group of NLP trainers who actually fathoms NLP.  Helped by his background as an academic philosopher he is like no other, able to clearly explain how NLP really works.

Joost van der Leij has written more than fourteen books, including the Dutch standard reference on NLP, "Brain Training: Handbook of Modern NLP".  Besides the fact that Joost van der Leij is the Dutch expert in the field of NLP and the Enneagram, Joost van Leij is also initiated in three different mystery schools, in North America, in South America and in Germany.  Since his teens Joost van der Leij has worked hard for his own self-development. This development runs via a two-pronged way: philosophy and spirituality.  As a philosopher Joost van der Leij taught at the University of Utrecht while he investigated numerous spiritual training schools and lifestyles.

This unique combination delivers a training program that is unparalleled.  New insights, techniques and considerable personal growth are guaranteed.  More important is the ability of Joost van der Leij like no other to train your subconscious mind.  Knowledge transfer and learning consciously are very valuable. At the same time most of what you learn is practical and of use in real life.  NLP is especially best learned through the unconscious mind so that you do it automatically.

Contact email: info at worldisflat.nl 

Koh Samui - serenity at its best!

Koh Samui (called as Samui by locals) is a beautiful place to visit – in case you like serene place with beautiful sceneries, clean air and not much crowded beaches like Pattaya or Phuket.

It’s a beautiful island (part of Thailand) and a must visit place for all including families.

Reaching Koh Samui

Expensive option - You can take a direct flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui (1 hr)

Economical Option – Take a ticket on Air Asia which covers : Air ticket from Bangkok (Don Muang Airport) to Surat Thani (50 min) + A bus Coach Ticket (1.5 hours from Surat Thani Airport to Donsak Pier (to get a ferry) + Ferry Ticket (Donsak to Koh Samui – 1.5 hours). Whole trip is quite unique and well-co-ordinated. Not much tiring as you see lots of new places and serene sea

Where to stay

Being an island, Koh Samui has many beaches and many beach properties. You can choose any of the beach / property however Chaweng Beach area is most happening place. And those of you who like Indian food – this is the area to stay.

We stayed at Baan Talay (a property on the beach - see pic below taken from hotel) – Its quite nice with good breakfast overlooking sea and a small pool. There are many more on the beach, but I like as it was away from Noisy part of Chaweng and right on the beach. Chaweng takes 40 mins by taxi from Ferry Pier to reach.

Sunrise from Baan Talay Hotel

How to travel

From airport/ferry to Hotel and back – its better to take a cab (don’t be surprised if cabby asks you how many people – as they quote the rates by person J

Local Travel – you can hire a scooter or a car – depending on your choice and enjoy Koh Samui as per your wish. Those not wanting the same can take Tuk-Tuks or Taxis. Tuk-tuks and taxis are expensive.

Where to eat

Samui has a number of options – Thai, Italian in plenty, fast foods like KFC, McD, Cafes, many Indian restaurants with amazing food. Actually the number of restaurants some-time look too much. There are large supermarkets also like Tesco, Big C.

What to do/see

There are plenty for all. You have animal safari, tiger zoo, elephant park, big Buddha, Amazing snorkelling experience (would recommend Calypso Diving – as they take small groups); a number of Water & adventure sports like Jet ski, Banana Boat, Jet , Snorkeling, Scuba diving, Shooting gallery with real gun. A day trip to other islands. Evening music and bars and parties. A number of Thai massage parlors to take care of your fatigue.

The beaches (lamai, Chaweng, Bophut etc) are very nice and not too crowded. My favorite being Chaweng Beach.

The best part is you can relax, have good food and enjoy Thai hospitality. Whole Island is extremely clean and you will find everything so well taken care off.

Enjoy Koh-Samui and contact if you need more info!