Learn, Act and Engage to grow in life

Rishi Banshiwal
Feb 3, 2021
5 min read

Updated: Dec 7, 2025

Create Your Own Path: Learn, Act and Engage

The world tries to fit us into a well-formed path that is supposed to guarantee success.If that were really true, why don’t we have 7.8 billion success stories?

So, is this “well-defined” path just an illusion?Can success lie in a unique path that no one has taken before?

The answer sits quietly in the mind of each individual.

We often underestimate the brilliance of our own mind — its power to imagine, to create extraordinary things, and to contribute to sustainable change through community engagement. To channel this potential in a simple and organised way, we introduce the Learn–Act–Engage Model.

This model helps you turn an idea into an organised strategy and walk step-by-step towards your destination. It doesn’t give you a ready-made solution, but it does show you the key pieces of the puzzle so you can complete it in your own style.

LEARN – Research, Discuss and Lead

1. Research: Give Your Idea Direction

When you come across an idea and feel directionless, start with research. Study your focus area, understand the problem, read what others have done, and explore what’s missing. The effort you put into research gives you clarity, confidence, and direction.

2. See Things Through a Holistic Lens

Children talk about their dreams with such freedom and creativity. Somewhere on the way, that curiosity often turns into stress and disinterest.

Do we really have a system that builds innovators, leaders and peacemakers?

A holistic approach helps you find meaning and purpose in what you study and the skills you learn. It focuses on the whole person rather than just fragmented parts of life.

Think about your growth across these 8 dimensions:

Intellectual
Financial
Socio-cultural
Physical
Emotional
Environmental
Occupational
Spiritual

Community engagement for holistic development

When you look at your ideas through all these dimensions, you don’t just “do a project” — you build something meaningful and sustainable.

3. Use the 5W1H Model to Structure Your Idea

The 5W1H Model is a simple but powerful way to structure your idea:

WHY – Why does this idea matter? What problem does it solve?
WHAT – What exactly are you trying to do?
WHO – Who will benefit? Who will be involved?
WHERE – Where will this happen (online/offline, community, city, etc.)?
WHEN – When will you start, and what is your timeline?
HOW – How will you make it happen in practical steps?

When you answer all six, your idea stops being vague. It becomes a clear, communicable plan.

4. Spread Awareness: Make People Believe in the Vision

Once your idea is clear, start sharing it with others. Awareness is not just posting something once; it is about helping people believe what you believe.

Talk to people. Present your idea. Listen to their questions.When people start connecting with your “why”, extraordinary things begin to move on their own.

5. Become a Leader: Plan, Document, Experiment

Leadership isn’t a title; it’s a set of habits.

Take initiative – Don’t wait for someone else to start.
Brainstorm and discuss – Invite diverse perspectives.
Write things down – Ideas, feedback, to-do lists, lessons learned. Writing builds clarity and memory.
Experiment – Try small pilots, test your approach, and use the best potential of your team.

A good leader doesn’t have all the answers, but they create the space where answers can emerge.

ACT – Volunteer, Empower and Create Change

1. Volunteer: Start Showing Up

Volunteering is not just about giving time — it’s about showing up for what you believe in.

If you have an idea, don’t keep it locked in your head because you’re unsure how it will look later. Share it, test it, and ask for constructive feedback. Growth begins when you start acting, even imperfectly.

2. Make a Change in Society

Turning an idea into a working project takes:

Hard work
Dedication
Self-motivation

But the satisfaction at the end is worth it. That feeling of having created something meaningful is deeply empowering.

When you experience that, you naturally inspire people around you to contribute their best and see the bigger picture. Your vision should always be linked to creating real impact in society.

The community engagement you build should help people:

Become hopeful about the future
Feel supported
Take action towards solving problems that matter

3. Take Actions that Match Real Needs

Action is the visible form of your plan.

Make sure your actions are practical and relevant to real needs in society.
Engage more people, explain why your idea matters, and consciously ask for feedback.
Use that feedback to adjust and improve your plan.

A true leader learns from setbacks, remains flexible, and keeps moving forward even when things don’t go as expected. It’s okay to change direction if it brings you closer to your purpose.

ENGAGE – Provide Opportunities and Multiply Impact

1. The Ripple Effect

Imagine a classroom where empty wrappers are lying near the dustbin. In the middle of teaching, the teacher quietly walks over, picks them up, throws them into the dustbin and continues the lesson without saying a word.

What do you think happens in the minds of the students?

Most of them will naturally start thinking:

“Next time, I should throw things into the dustbin.”
And if they see someone litter, they might encourage them to use the dustbin too.

This is the Ripple Effect.

Every small, conscious action you take influences someone. That influence travels from person to person and can eventually transform entire communities. Your everyday choices are more powerful than you think.

2. Provide Opportunities

If you have the ability to create change, use it to create opportunities for others.

Help people build skills, develop independent thinking, and learn how to plan and execute their own ideas. Don’t just give instructions — give them the tools and space to grow into leaders themselves.

Every opportunity you create becomes a stepping stone in someone else’s journey.

3. Help People Learn Through Experience

Setbacks and failures are not the end; they are data.

The mistakes you make while experimenting add to your experience — and they become a learning resource for your team.

Encourage your team to:

Experiment
Come up with new ideas
Do things differently

When you don’t set rigid limits in advance, you allow creativity to flourish.

Create Your Own Style of Success

Create the path in your own style. Do creative things. Work with passion in your eyes and dedication in your mind.

Don’t stop at the first obstacle, or the tenth. Keep learning, acting and engaging.When you focus on meaningful work and consistent effort, success has a way of taking care of itself — and it will often surprise you.

At the heart of this journey is a simple idea:

Build your skills. Take action. Engage your community.

This model focuses on: