What is My Center?

TARGET GROUP

Teenagers and young adults

TIME NEEDED

1,5 hours

IMPLEMENTATION

Introduction: watching a movie clip (15 min)

As an introduction to the theme, we watch together a clip from the movie Rise of the Guardians (2012) that speaks about North’s Centre (source).

This is followed by a brief discussion (10 minutes) on the topic of our own inner centre. It refers to the symbolism of “Babushka”.

Exercise: Guided fantasy “Myself as a 5-years-old” (10 min)

Exercise in the form of guided meditation/fantasy. All participants choose a comfortable spot with their eyes closed (sitting, lying down, …).

The trainer guides them through the steps of this meditative journey into their imagination:

Go back in time to when you were 5 years old.

• What is this kid doing?
• What were your wishes? What was important to you? What did you want from the future?
• What would he say in the situation of today?

This way, participants get in touch with their inner child and in the mindset of a young kid. That’s when you knew what you were doing and what you wanted to do.

Drawing your vision (5 min)

What did you see?

Participants have a few minutes to draw/write down their emotions and what they learned from them.

Those pictures are only for them – they do not share them with others.

The Challenge: My Mission Statement – Step 1 (15 min)

Exercise with 5 steps in which participants think about their life goals and mission.

Instructions for participants:

• Identify past successes: write down 5 examples of personal successes in the last few years that relate to successes at work, in the community, and in the family environment.
• Now you figure out what those successes have in common – what is the same every time you were successful?

The Challenge: My Mission Statement – Step 2 (20 min)

Each participant receives a worksheet,» List of Values«.

Instructions for participants:

• Find out what your core values are. Help yourself with a list of values you received.
• Select the six most important values from the list.
• Now underline the one amongst those six that is the most important to you.

The Challenge: My Mission Statement – Step 3 (10 mn)

Instructions for participants:

• Recognize your possible contribution.
• Make a list of all the ways you can contribute to society, the local environment, the world.
• Of course, you should help yourself with the core values selected in the previous step of the exercise.

The Challenge: My Mission Statement – Step 4 (10 min)

Instruction for participants:

• Prioritize.
• Now you can take the time to think about what priorities you have in life and what goals you have for yourself.
• Create a list of personal priorities for the next three years / next year / until completion of education. 

The Challenge: My Mission Statement – Step 5 (15 min)

Instruction for participants:

• Write down your mission according to the previous four steps.
• It should be short and concise and include (as much as possible) all gained knowledge about yourself from the previous 4 steps.

Mission Examples:

• »Live honestly, compassionately, responsibly with a healthy mix of realism and imagination.«
• »Through education, I want to gain important knowledge and help and take care of people around me.«

Short sharing with a neighbour (5 min)

LIST OF MATERIALS

• Computer, projector and speakers,
• worksheet “List of Values”,
• white paper (A4),
• pencils or/and pens.