Ten Insights from the Chab Dai Team

Ten Personal Insights

As believers in collaboration and building team rapport, the Chab Dai team read together the book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen Covey. We had weekly discussions on the knowledge gained from the chapters and how we wanted to implement them personally and professionally. At the end, we collaborated and put our core shared insights together, which we’d like to share with you now.

Take RESPONSIBILITY: Be Proactive

"Proactive people carry their own weather with them."

↬ 10% of life is made up of what happens to us and the other 90% is decided and determined by our reactions to a situation or environment. It is amazing what potential we have to expand our circle of influence from our circle of concern. – Helen Sworn (Founder)

↬ We can usually find something worthwhile underneath the mundane if we're willing to dig. That's a concept I believe reaches into most areas of life. – Amanda Bray (Communications Assistant)

Invest in Yourself, So You Can Invest in Others

"Encouragement changes everything."

 

↬ Begin with the end in mind. 'Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles.’ – Siobhan Miles (Chab Dai Researcher)

↬ There are four dimensions of renewal and in order for us to preserve and improve ourselves we have to constantly exercise these four dimensions. The dimensions are physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual. We must exercise all four dimensions ‘regularly and consistently’ to lead a proactive life. ‘The single most powerful investment we can ever make in life is the investment in ourselves, in the only instrument we have with which to deal with life and to contribute.’ – Summer Iqbal (Program Assistant)

↬ Examine our worldview and the subconscious behaviours and paradigms we live by. Begin with the end in mind and align our life with that end goal. But first, we must face the things that block us from really living in harmony with our deepest values (such as our own thoughts and past experiences, or lessons we were taught). – Kristina Novak (International Project and Personal Assistant)

↬ It is important to differentiate between developing one's character, focusing on our inner victories first from a principle-based perspective, versus developing one's personality, which is more focused on external perceptions and can be manipulative of others. – Julia Smith-Brake (Research Consultant)

Creating a COLLABORATIVE style

"Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people."

↬ We need synergy and the exploration of a 'third or middle way' in finding solutions and outcomes that move beyond consensus (the 'c' word!). – Helen Sworn (Founder)

↬ Principled decisions and synergy are so important to our work where we collaborate with various stakeholders on multiple levels.  These become even more important as we add an international angle to our work and continue to expand Freedom Collaborative globally. – Luke Weatherson (Freedom Registry Expansion Coordinator; Freedom Registry Cambodia Technical Advisor)

↬ Think about the relationship between private and public victories, and how I can strengthen my private life in a way that will create success in my public life. – Charlie Smith-Brake (Human Resources Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator – Cambodia)

↬ As we grow and mature, we become increasingly aware that all of nature is interdependent (including society). That interdependence is the paradigm of we — we can cooperate; we can combine our talents and abilities and create something greater together. – Taylor Poe (Freedom Collaborative Manager)

In the End….

“I am over the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."