ANISHA LAKHANI
How did you go about accomplishing your achievements? What inspired you?
As much as I would like to say that it was a “cakewalk”, my achievements were closely tied to my failures. Winston Churchill said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” What kept me striving for my success was the enthusiasm to be a better version of myself. It is now that I have learned to focus on my strengths and weaknesses rather than constantly comparing myself to others – the only person I should be competing with is myself. The day I stopped comparing myself to others, I started to feel happy in my own skin, started to embrace my successes with humility and my failures with grace.
What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
The hardest one was and continues to be – staying away from my family and balancing my personal and professional responsibilities. It’s important to find time to connect with each other and make ourselves visible, heard and valued in each other’s lives – no matter what. I suppose the blessing during the pandemic was that I was able to connect with family and friends. All of us, I believe, learned our lessons the hard way.
What has been the impact of your achievements on family, or society or community?
While being an educator for the past 12 years, I take pride in the voices of my former students, excelling in their studies and professional lives. They share how what was taught during their Secondary Religious Education classes helps them become a critical thinker and engage pluralistically in conversations with the people around them – at work or otherwise. On the other end of the spectrum, as a coach and mentor to other teachers, it is important for me to see the teachers find a sense of gratification and enjoyment in their teaching practice that in turn impacts the lives of young minds they are shaping for the future. As an Academic Director, I am humbled to have this opportunity to impact the religious education of our community in ANZ.
What advice would you like to give to other members of the Jamat?
Remember your “ABC”!
A – Aim for the best
B – Balance work and engagement with your faith (RE Teacher hat on)
C – Care for yourself first as the saying goes you cannot pour from an empty cup, can you? And then care for others around you.
If you were to name one woman who is a source of inspiration to you, who would that be and why? It could be anyone either you personally know of or a public figure.
This is a difficult question to answer as I have been influenced by a lot of inspirational women, such as, Brenè Brown, Susan David, Oprah Winfrey and many more. Personally, I am blessed to have female role models all around me starting with my mum, my aunts, my cousins, my mentors and my friends.
Anything else you would like to share.
I would like to share a quote from a recent podcast by Brenè Brown that has changed the way I feel about myself and my loved ones. “How do you spell love? – T.I.M.E”. It’s the time we spend with ourselves, our loved ones, and the people we care for! So, LOVE yourself, give yourself TIME as you prepare to give your TIME for others!
