Hmmm, I thought. What a great concept. There is nothing quite like letting out a joyous, spontaneous “WOO!” when things are going our way. We might personalize our woo, making it come out as “YESSSS!” or “Sweeeeeet” or even “Woo-HOO!” No matter what elicits this response, we know it means something good has happened.

What is good? How do we define it?

Good is a moving target, but one thing we may be able to agree upon is that it IS a target. Aristotle used Greek word telos meaning “end or completion” and used teleology to refer to study of purpose of things. He believed that everything—not just people—has a purpose, or target. Nothing is random. The whole world is made up of these interrelated purposes.

“The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.” --Montaigne

According to Aristotle, we were born to think. We’re supposed to use our brains to contemplate and to appreciate complexity of universe. Our purpose is to think in order to live a good life.

Ah…back to good. We use this word to describe everything from a haircut to a mathematical theory. Essentially, something is good if it satisfies a certain expectation we have of it—it hits target. A “good cup of coffee” could be strong, weak, bitter, sweet, milky, black, or free, depending on what you value and what you want from your cuppa. But are there certain qualities that make a life good?

“Goodness is easier to recognize than to define.” --W.H. Auden

We know good when we see it, just like we know when something is woo-worthy. If, as Aristotle says, our purpose is to live a good life and be happy, why isn’t there some simple formula we can apply to everyone? What’s minimum woo-quotient of a good life? How do we know if we have enough to be happy? We all know plenty of people who never seem to have enough of anything.

Aristotle believed that we need to use courage, honesty and moderation in pursuing pleasure. For him, moral goodness and enjoyment in life were same thing. It’s okay to pursue anything you want, but don’t go overboard. This concept of moderation became known as golden mean.

Not surprisingly, this became a popular idea, especially among rich. It was just what they wanted to hear! We must remember that majority of Aristotle’s students were wealthy—who else had time to study philosophy all day long? Aristotle’s emphasis on moderation got lost in all excitement about pursuing whatever you like.

Hmmm. Sounds a lot like modern life, doesn’t it? What kind of life would Aristotle suggest we live in midst of all stuff of 21st century? What does moderation mean now?

First, let’s start on far end of stuff spectrum. Let’s talk about television. Instead of thinking about what is enough, let’s take a look at what is excessive. We can probably agree that having five big screen TVs with 150 channels is a bit much. What if we are fabulously wealthy? What limits our consumption when we can afford anything?

"If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive." - Barry Lopez

Story telling is an art and like many arts it can be learnt. As adults, we think stories are for kids. Despite being so-called matured-sophisticated adult, we ourselves get sucked into soap operas, become fans of Peter Jackson and likes, who have basically used audio-visual media to tell stories. As a matter of fact, some of stories we watch on screens are purely fictional. And yes, we pay for it only to make storyteller richer forever for a momentary entertainment.

Story telling as an excellent resource for trainers Story telling can be an excellent way of starting a workshop or can be used as a summary towards end as a review. Personally as a participant in many sessions, I have found stories used at end of session made a deep impact. In fact, as a participant. I still remember my colleagues Customer service training some 3 years ago, where he ended his session with story* of man who made difference by saving star fish on beach. He finished it with a punch line 'Let's make difference'. Well I still remember it. I have also observed that many NLP master trainers use stories as useful resource to make a point.

Story when properly narrated can enhance learning and it can be narrated in many ways that suit all learning styles. Story telling need not be a mere auditory presentation; it can be narrated in many ways using various educational media like:

"PowerPoint presentation with animation and sound"Story telling with some dramatization "Puppet show"Flash shows "Cartoons on flipcharts"OHP slides with visuals "Role-plays / skids" "Stories can also be chunked as Case studies (Case studies are effectively used as a teaching method in many management schools like Harvard Business school)

Stories as Case studies Stories can also be used as an excellent case study to achieve learning outcomes. The following is a simple story presented as a case study to participants. This story, like many, has a moral.

Situation: One day a sculptor came to The King's court with three idols. The idols were perfectly identical in appearance but there was something different in their internal make-up.

Challenge: The sculptor presented idols to Emperor and said, "Grand Sire, these idols look alike, but only one of them is worth looking and to be treasured. Please allow me to challenge thy wise men of court to pick best idol and tell me reason for his choice."