What comes to your mind when you think of the word ‘thrive’? Do you imagine something
lush and flourishing? Did you think of thriving individuals?

The meaning of ‘thriving’ has evolved over the years, and today, many of us associate it
with being successful. Success if often associated with doing well in education, career or
some aspects of life; thriving is holistic, it encompasses a lot more and is beyond success.
Believed to have been taken from positive psychology, thriving is the point where
development and success intersect. It is about taking charge of the situation, having
persistence, understanding one’s potential, handling challenging scenarios, and finding
solutions to challenges that one comes across.

Moving beyond success in education or career, an individual’s development depends on
competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring. There are many life skills that
result in the overall development of a person. The idea of thriving strongly upholds that
thriving or flourishing in life should be the most significant indicator of success.
Dream A Dream’s Career Connect Programme allows individuals to thrive by helping
them find meaning in themselves and their purpose in life.

About Career Connect Program:

The Career Connect Program enables young adults aged 14–23 years to make a healthy
transition into adulthood by helping them access the correct information, skills and
opportunities. The program offers workshops on Computers, English, Communication
Skills and Career Guidance, enabling young adults to tap into opportunities in the form of
internships, scholarships, vocational training and jobs. The program aims to equip young
adults with life skills like resilience, confidence, adaptability and growth mindset, which
further prepares them to thrive in an ever-changing world by bridging the learning gap.

Thriving – A Way of Life:

Dream a Dream’s report on thriving has found that extreme poverty and failure to thrive
are intrinsically linked, leading to many mental health and developmental issues.
Children and youth who cannot continue their education end up staying at home or
joining the unorganized labour markets. This leads to them losing livelihood
opportunities, thereby impact their quality of life.

Here’s how the Career Connect Program enables an individual to thrive:

Dream a Dream offers a space that is inviting and equipped with the best facilities.
The learning space enables creativity, fun and growth. It provides the individuals with
a safe and stable space to interact and learn.

Jayashree, married off at the tender age of 18, benefitted greatly from the space Dream a Dream offered. This encouraged her to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and also developed positive thinking. Rashmi lost her mother at a very young age. Rashmi was able to overcome the challenges in her life with a positive attitude, like Jayashree. She was determined not to give up her studies despite all the curve balls life threw at her. Trust is the foundation of the Career Connect Programme. This programme offers individuals a space that conveys a message that their thoughts, feelings and desires matter. The space built on trust allows them to gain other skills like problem-solving and peer/mentor interaction.

Rajeshwari used to work as a housemaid to support her family and education. She found her calling as a beautician when she reflected on her life journey and her calling. The Career Connect Programme helped her gain the confidence to explore her interests. A space without judgements allows individuals to thrive and be the version of themselves. The Career Connect Programme embraces individuals with acceptance, fully understanding how they have been judged or restricted throughout their lives. Acceptance fosters recognition and inclusion. The inclusive space of acceptance helped Bharat transform from being a gangster. It helped him reflect on how he can lead a respectable life, helping him change his life to a great extent.

A space just for individuals allows them to thrive. Encouraging individuals to try something new, listening to them with patience, allowing them the freedom to fail and encouraging them to be their authentic selves are some ways by which the individuals are encouraged to grow. Apsara was able to come out of a toxic relationship due to her self-worth from the Career Connect Programme. Mahesh was someone who was struggling with depression and alcohol abuse. The Career Connect Programme helped him acquire the necessary skills to thrive as an individual and redefine himself into the person he is today.

Having someone who cares can make a lot of difference in the lives of individuals. Dream a Dream offers individuals a space that is caring, compassionate and empathetic. When individuals are allowed to understand themselves and interact in an environment that offers empathy, they will be able to follow their passion. Ambika, a young adult and a first-generation learner gave up her dream of holding a white-collar job and instead chose to pursue her passion of being a chef. Dream a Dream’s Career Connect Program encourage Ambika to reflect on her strengths and pursue her real passion.

Collaborative Learning allows individuals to learn together and from each other. The outcome is often meaningful and valuable when life skills and thinking skills are infused in such a learning setup. Rajesh, who had been a part of the Career Connect Programme for four years, gained exposure to many volunteering activities and community service programmes which created a desire in him to bring about changes in his community. He set up a learning space for children in his native, encouraging and supporting them to grow and learn from each other.

Dream a Dream’s Career Connect Programme makes thriving the natural way of life. Sometimes, young individuals need to redefine and move beyond the beliefs around success to access a holistic life of growth and positive development. Thriving individuals are happy, resilient and responsible – all the qualities needed to face life positively. We need to look beyond mere survival and work towards thriving. With the right set of skills, individuals can thrive, shine and do a lot more.

(Ragini Ravichandran is a volunteer with the Communications and Advocacy team, Dream a Dream. This blog has been written based on the insights from Dream a Dream’s report on thriving.)