Three French Lessons Learnt
There are people you meet who teach you about the simplicity of decision-making when you’re motivated. I learnt it from my French friend, Tanguy.
‘Giving praise to those who know they are doing well but need reinforcement may be rewarding to the individual received, but it also shows empathy and compassion. It’s not just a token, it’s gospel.’
While my French language skills only advanced to typing ‘Happy Birthday’ on Whatsapp — my life skills upgraded thanks to a French man.
Funnily enough, I am motivated to improve the foreign languages I know this summer — being Spanish, Chinese Mandarin and Urdu.
It’s on my illustrious and oftentimes elusive list. We’ll see how far we get with it.
For fear of no WiFi later on and diminishing laptop battery, I’ve taken a break from the ongoing conference to write the blog and take some time for reflection.
Currently, I situate myself in a busy cafe (although the session is in progress) and just trying to look at the significance of some lessons learnt, not only from the conference but my French friend too.
The main lesson I learnt from the conference is:
‘There is a lot that we have done, but still too much to do — we aren’t even a quarter of the way through.’
There is a centre of collaboration between governments, companies, NGOs and CSOs.
It needs to be multi-stakeholder initiatives that will drive the change.
I think there is a recurring of new standards implemented to little effect and the negative onus remains with companies — as proactive as they may be, they’re always catching up.
A sad reality, but one I realised as a trend.
The lessons I learnt from Tanguy are more universally applicable and relevant to progress, they are:
1. To evaluate the value of action for oneself and then the community
2. To take action (in the event you deem number 1 to be valuable)
3. To create a legacy
I will talk about each one with reference to Tanguy.
1. To evaluate the value of action for oneself and then the community
I think this might be the most important.
Mainly because if you decide not to take action, for whatever reason, you grow by trial and error for what works for you.
The essence of what this point regards to is on the point of valuing yourself above others.
Of course — selflessness is something we all strive for — but comes a time where we entered the world alone and will leave alone.
There are people who care — but often those people come and go too.
The matter of ‘finding yourself’ stems from you doing actions to determine your preferences.
When you get to the maturity when you can evaluate doing something, then you can see who you’re acting for.
If it will appease and please society and not help — you know you’ve fallen victim to societal pressure to show-off and make yourself known to others just for the sake of it.
If it helps you to move on in life — then you can figure out if your actions will help others. The former is much more important, for your mental health than any other factor.
Tanguy did an internship initiative in both Cameroon and Senegal to help local communities.
His main reason for going was to grow.
He’s the same age as me, and he did this two years ago at least.
So for Tanguy, number one was assured so he could move to number two.
2. Take action
The world is full of too much big talk and no action.
Companies and NGOs at the conference spoke about it concerning policies in social sustainability.
If it’s going to valuable, make the time to do it.
24 hours in a day isn’t enough, I know, but people do amazing things in that time — so could you, if you feel that it will bring strong positive value to you.
It’s simple, just do it (Sorry Nike).
Don’t worry about what others think, be content in the knowledge that you will benefit.
The rest of the world will take interest at a later date.
Tanguy did it.
Cameroon and Senegal.
3. Create a legacy
One thing is to do it.
The next is to be an advocate for others to do the same.
You gain leadership and delegation skills which employers will look at as well.
You also stay emotionally and psychologically attached to the project, so you don’t miss out.
You also get to be both a participant and an organiser — an exciting dynamic that not everyone has the privilege of doing.
Tanguy now organises the internship for people, they will be leaving in two weeks, and he lights up when he talks about it.
I think the lessons here are precise and repeatable.
Is it right for your soul?
Do it.
Make your mark.
Three French lessons learnt.