This post is a part of a series to document the Hive Global Leaders Program that I went through in San Francisco, March 2014. The other posts in this series are posted below
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Day 2 (Your Life)
After a refreshing morning yoga session, the Hive participants reconvened for the second day's program. The focus of the second day's program was our unique lives, dreams and purposes. We were provided with a workbook called "Designing Your Life" and were guided by Ryan to work through the self-reflection exercises individually. Here are a number of questions that the workbook asked us to reflect on
After a refreshing morning yoga session, the Hive participants reconvened for the second day's program. The focus of the second day's program was our unique lives, dreams and purposes. We were provided with a workbook called "Designing Your Life" and were guided by Ryan to work through the self-reflection exercises individually. Here are a number of questions that the workbook asked us to reflect on
- What do you really love doing?
- What does humanity need?
- How can I create what humanity needs while doing what I love?
- What are my personal financial goals?
- How can I create what humanity needs while meeting my financial goals?
- Describe the world you want to see in 2050.
- I will be a force of energy in the world dedicated to…
- Simply stated, my life purpose is… (15 words or less, can be understood by a 5th grader)
- How might I make this happen
- My desired way of being will be...
- How will others remember what I'm up to?
Designing Your Life workbook by Hive
Ryan guiding us through the workbook exercises
After drafting the initial versions of our life purposes, we got on the big bus to a mysterious location (turned out to be Bernal Heights Park) to complete the last portion of our workbook (again, in solitude). As I sat on the slanted hill overlooking rolls of beautiful Victorian houses sprawling throughout the city, I entered a quiet and peaceful space within myself and contemplated all my hopes and dreams and what kind of steps I would need to take to get there. After drafting out our life time, 10-year, 1-year and 90-day goals and action plans, we came back together as a group and enjoyed a beautiful lunch underneath the sun while chatting optimistically about our plans and futures with each other.
 View of SF from Bernal Heights Park |  A great place for thinking and self-reflection |
Real Food (Rebecca Jean Alonzi, Rebecca Jean Catering)
The afternoon session started with a presentation from Rebecca Jean Alonzi, a former Hive participant, about real food (usually defined as natural, organic and/or locally grown food that is good for your health). I unfortunately missed majority of the presentation because I was scheduled for a free chair massage the Hive program provided, which was wonderful of course. Nonetheless, I caught the beginning of Rebecca's talk and heard her inspirational story of evolving from a line cook to starting her own very successful catering business (her business is 5-star on yelp, which is quite telling). There it was another tenacious individual who is so passionate about what she does that she never gave up on working hard to achieving her dreams. I was yet inspired again.
Mindfulness & Presence for Global Change Makers (Rich Fernandez, Wisdom Labs)
The last talk of the day was delivered by Rich Fernandez, a trained psychologist, on mindfulness and presence. Rich shared some neuroscience-backed theory behind mindfulness and how our brains work under stress. More importantly, he guided us through a couple of mindfulness exercises which definitely brought a sense of peacefulness and self-awareness to the room. Below are a couple of takeaways that I jotted down from this session.
The afternoon session started with a presentation from Rebecca Jean Alonzi, a former Hive participant, about real food (usually defined as natural, organic and/or locally grown food that is good for your health). I unfortunately missed majority of the presentation because I was scheduled for a free chair massage the Hive program provided, which was wonderful of course. Nonetheless, I caught the beginning of Rebecca's talk and heard her inspirational story of evolving from a line cook to starting her own very successful catering business (her business is 5-star on yelp, which is quite telling). There it was another tenacious individual who is so passionate about what she does that she never gave up on working hard to achieving her dreams. I was yet inspired again.
Mindfulness & Presence for Global Change Makers (Rich Fernandez, Wisdom Labs)
The last talk of the day was delivered by Rich Fernandez, a trained psychologist, on mindfulness and presence. Rich shared some neuroscience-backed theory behind mindfulness and how our brains work under stress. More importantly, he guided us through a couple of mindfulness exercises which definitely brought a sense of peacefulness and self-awareness to the room. Below are a couple of takeaways that I jotted down from this session.
- Mindfulness practice improves response flexibility: simple mindfulness practices such as focused breathing creates space between stimulus and response, and thus, provides us the opportunity to choose our response.
- Focused attention meditation vs. open-awareness (non-striving) meditation: Alternating between the two practices can train your mind to be more nimble in directing focused attention when necessary. It also helps exercise the muscle of meta-attention, which is the attention of attention (being aware of what you pay attention to). Here is how you can practice both modes of meditation in a simple 10 minute exercise.
I particularly enjoyed this talk because of my interests in meditation, mindfulness and human psychology. It was also encouraging to see other participants, many of whom did not know much about medication, try mindfulness practices with openness and curiosity.
The day ended with us taking the bus over the bay bridge to treasure island for an impromptus dance party under the "dancing lady" sculpture, a sunset sing-a-long and a delicious dinner at a trendy winery venue. We conversed into late night over deliciously prepared 3-course dinner and constant flow of wine. Personally, I met more individuals that I hadn't got a chance to talk to during the past two days and had some heart-to-heart coaching conversations. Positive energy and bright-eyed optimism fueled the entire evening. It felt good to be a part of it.
The day ended with us taking the bus over the bay bridge to treasure island for an impromptus dance party under the "dancing lady" sculpture, a sunset sing-a-long and a delicious dinner at a trendy winery venue. We conversed into late night over deliciously prepared 3-course dinner and constant flow of wine. Personally, I met more individuals that I hadn't got a chance to talk to during the past two days and had some heart-to-heart coaching conversations. Positive energy and bright-eyed optimism fueled the entire evening. It felt good to be a part of it.
 The "dancing lady" statue that we danced around |  Beautiful sunset view from treasure island |
Dinner over wine and great conversations on treasure island
Read about my experiences during the other days at Hive
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
Introduction
Day 0 (Welcome Reception)
Day 1 (Your World)
Day 2 (Your life)
Day 3 (Your Org)
Conclusion
