The Greatest Lesson I Have Just Learnt - FLOW

I have just returned from the most amazing and awesome weekend in Bali. And no... it's not another holiday. It was EBS.

What is EBS?

It's Entrepreneur Business School.

Business school?

Yup. But it's not about business. It's not about the plan.

Most of you readers out there probably wouldn't understand what I'm going to be rambling about for remainder of this post but if you did... you'd know.

Over the weekend, I learnt a lot about people and connection and flow.

I never really thought about flow throughout the weekend during EBS. But then a thought occurred to me at the airport while waiting for my flight to return to KL.

Why is EBS always held in Bali?

I had been wondering why Roger chooses Bali as the venue. At first I thought, hmm... maybe because his family now lives in Bali. But then I thought again. There must be something more.

So, there I was wandering around the boarding gate area waiting for my flight and it suddenly occurred to me.

I know why EBS is held in Bali! It is a lesson that Roger hopes all EBS participants will learn from the people of Bali.

Just think about it. What is it about these simple people leading simple lives in Bali?

Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthest regions thanks largely to the tourism industry. It is paradise to some. Despite all the development on the island, the Balinese people have always been very grateful for what they have. Yes, they are proud of their achievements, but they did not have any ego in them. They were just grateful.

Then, in 2002, the Kuta area was bombed by militant Islamist. It shook the whole island. Every single person in Bali was affected in one way or another. I remember several years back when I made my first visit to Bali and I had a chat with the travel agent there. There wasn't a single tourist for at least 3 months right after the bombing. Not a single one.

Workers went for months without getting paid. People could hardly survive. They couldn't feed their families.

Yet, they persevered. They struggled. And throughout this struggle, they were never upset. They accepted that whatever happened, had happened for a reason. Now, there are also Muslims living on the island. Most of them came from the island of Java. It could have been easy enough for the Balinese people to take revenge as Muslims are a minority on the island of Bali. But yet they didn't. Instead, they worked together to rebuild the island.

Things were only starting to get better when again in 2005, another bomb was set off. Again by militant Islamists. The lives of all the people on the island was once again sent into turmoil. Yet, the people were not upset. They accepted again that what happened, had happened.

And at that moment, when that thought occurred to me, I knew the reason why EBS is held in Bali. The people of Bali are so in flow... What better place to learn about flow than in Bali...

And if all the participants of EBS could just learn this one lesson from the people of Bali, that would have been the most important lesson learnt.