Sometimes you’ll hear the speaker saying something to this effect: “Why don’t we all just stand up, take a little breather, and stretch our bodies a bit with this icebreaker exercise?” Your initial reaction, most probably, will be of distaste. You may think, “Uh, this is a joke, it’s nothing but a way to break the monotony, and therefore I should not participate in this silly exercise.” What you’re not seeing in this picture is that it is a perfect time to practice the sense of participation. Sure, it may look silly and distasteful, but that’s beside the point of the exercise. Activities, however exciting or mundane they may be, are a gauge – a measuring tool that can determine how much of you you’re going to give at a seminar. And when you want to truly gain something from this seminar, you must give it your hundred percent! So go out there and participate to the fullest!

Activities are mostly designed to promote and emphasize key concepts that you have to learn. They can be in a form of fun games, group projects, correspondence and speaking out to each other, or, to really get the point across, outrageous activities that you’ve never done before. To give you an example, a self-empowerment seminar gives members a chance to walk across hot, burning coal, unharmed, as a means to overcome your worse fears. These activities totally change the dynamic of the entire event – they will give a concept more realistic value and that can carry through in people’s minds longer because it is something that they’ll remember better – better than just sitting throughout an entire seminar. In fact, a single activity may deliver the entire message of a seminar better than speeches! If you don’t participate in activities, you’ll miss out on very important learning avenues.

The key here is forcing yourself to participate in activities in every way possible – regardless of how unrelated or mundane it may seem. Just think of it this way: a seminar culminates a very encouraging and safe environment where people will not discriminate you or laugh at what you’re doing, and yet you cannot carry out very simple activities. How will you fare in the much harsher, bitter real world if you cannot even participate in seminars?

Therefore, challenge yourself by giving everything you have into participating in all seminar activities. Step out! Introduce yourself! Share your heartfelt experience! Laugh with them! Cry along with them! A seminar is the closest thing you’ll have to a perfect world – in there; a million hearts will sympathize and give you a lending hand when you break down. Everybody will make you feel welcome there, and they will encourage you every step of the way. Don’t waste it all by not taking the first step. Go out and participate! Be apart of the crowd!