Although over half of India’s 1.2 billion people are under 25 years of age, the country’s secondary and higher education systems pay scant attention to developing students’ life skills, which would equip them to manage stress and enhance job productivity. This lacuna has prompted personal success trainer Amitabh Walia to address the issue in a book titled You are a Superstar — Unleash the Genius Within (Success Principles, 2009). A consultant to Hindustan Unilever for the past six years, during which he trained with the Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Foundation, Walia has worked with international peak performance coach Arfeen Khan and did a certificate course with DLJ International, London in neuro-linguistic programming, hypno-therapy and timeline therapy.
The prime purpose of You are a Superstar is to teach students and youth between ages 15-25 to focus on chosen objectives. “I conduct seminars with titles such as ‘Create the life of your dream’, ‘Goal setting’, ‘The power within’, ‘Neo linguistics and law of attraction’ as well as development programmes for colleges and schools. But I realised the motivational power of such seminars was shortlived. Therefore I felt the need to present my philosophy in print, with numerous examples and anecdotes to sustain the interest of readers, so that they can re-motivate themselves,” says Walia.
A self-made superstar of the motivation lectures circuit, Walia’s book is divided into four sections. ‘Write your own story’ inspires the reader to visualise herself in the peak of life; ‘Pen your own script’ spurs them to set goals related to career, education, family, spiritual, physical, and social growth; ‘Build your character’ urges the reader to mull about the qualities of a good human being and finally ‘Give your best performance’ is about the virtues of hard work, tenacity and persistence.
Thus far, Walia has trained over 10,000 professionals ranging from teachers and students to management profes-sionals in corporates such as Birla Sunlife and Tata AIG in the schools capital of Dehradun.
“Every student has his own unique dream, goals, interests and potential. Parents must recognise and encourage children to follow their dream. With multiple careers, professions and vocations on offer now, parents need to boost rather than control children. Moreover in the 21st century learning must be continuous. We don’t stop learning because we grow old; we grow old because we stop learning,” he counsels.
Write on, brother!
Natasha Pathak (Dehradun)