INNER DEVELOPMENT TRAINING:
Confronting the Silence, Embracing One Own’s Story, Reconnecting Life
It was a quiet place, where the Initiatives of Change (IofC) Indonesia team were invited to conduct the inner development training 2021, at Taman Wisata Bougenville in Bandung. The training was conducted from April 6 to 8, 2021 for employees of a company. Right after they entered the training, the participants were led to see the change the want by discussing and sharing it around a ‘world café’ style, then to scan and evaluate their own values with four moral standards (purity, honesty, unselfishness, love). As the first day ended, they learnt to listen and take time to have conversation with themselves through quiet time. Slowly, they confronted the silence that has never been faced in their life. One of the participants mentioned, “The four moral standards session triggers me to question myself, has my action been right or not? It makes me want to apply these values in my daily life.”
Work ethic and loyalty of the participants is very obvious during the training. The company’s values have been understood very well by the employees. We believe by improving the culture of reflection and dialogue, that will help the company to attain wellbeing in workplace.
On the second day, as the participants accepted the silence by doing the morning reflection, they were more open to stories and allowed some emotions to be felt. When they listened to the life stories of our trainers and facilitators, they started to connect with their own life. Some outdoor activities also help them to build trust toward each other. The second night, they told stories in their own family group, owning back their stories. Some of the participants said, “In family group I can tell and share my stories what I’ve been through until now”, “I can be more open and speak up my own voice and others too, so that I can give positive energy for each person in my team and have more experiences and knowledge.”
On the last day, the participants were asked to reconnect to their younger self and to nature by having a walking reflection. After that, they were asked to write a letter to themselves and declared their action in front of others. They have committed to reconnect again with family, friends, and also with God.
One of the participants testified, “This training has given me some points as a foundation to analyse problems, and has helped me to reflect before I react to any problem whether it is at home, workplace, social life, and also inspires me to realize the importance of my relationship with God, myself, and nature.” Participants have learned on how to reflect on their actions, actively listen, build empathy and sensitivity toward their environment, and understand that ‘change starts from oneself’.
This training is a pause in life, just like an athlete who takes break to review their previous competition, learning and considering their performance, to take action which one needed for improvement. It can be done well by the initiatives, contributions, time, and energy given by the IofC Indonesia team, company and participants. We believe that it impacts not only on us but on the people who surround us: our family, our friends, and our colleagues, as we return to our own life battles everyday.
Written by Rinni Meir