Course 1, Discussion 5: 7 Cups Culture

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

1. Your work matters

We are here to help others and also each other, we actually are making people's days better and even saving some lives.

2. Collaborate

We are here all as one team.

3. Have fun and be fulfilled!

I think this is well enough said. ☺️

@Hope ✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

1 high expectations and high warmth

I think it can help me grow and reach my highest level.

2 We Expect Failure

it would help me not feel bad about messing up and that I can ask for help.

3 take care of my self,

it will help me becoming better at doing self care

@harmonyLearninghope Absolutely agree with you! High Five!

@harmonyLearninghope

Agree with you :)

1/ we are a big team, Collaboration is such important !! I love our community for it!

2/ it's ok to fail, we learn to become better and improve. We will learn from our mistakes, and also from others mistakes as in 1.

3/Self care, its much easier to be there for others when we are good too :) It's a thing i learned on 7cups and did not practice much before.

@vivelespatates

You've picked out incredible values Patates... Especially the "Expect Failure". It reduces the burden off a listener/leader and creates an environment to learn from the mistake and grow. (Patates, I also learnt self-care in 7 cups shhh! 🤫)

To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

• Expect failure
• High expectations and high warmth
• Friendliness and conscientiousness

@charmingFlower8111

Hey, these are really good ones :) Could you explain why they're important to you though?

@charmingFlower8111

I absolutely agree with this.

@charmingFlower8111

I love these 3 points! I agree these are awesome :) ♡

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

There's a lot I learned from the guide but this is what stood out to me:

1) You have a glass tank and 7cups has a gas tank

I feel like the way the entire concept of "good behaviour" vs "bad behaviour" was explained is extremely insightful and impactful. It motivates me to follow certain behaviours to keep my personal integrity intact while also sub-consciously remind myself that I'm part of a bigger mission and hence must also stay inside the line.

2) Not Everyone will be A Good Fit

This message is one I've come across time and time again on the site and it is required. It makes me reflect back on the rights and wrongs and question whether or not a particular role is meant for me or not. At the same time, I'm not afraid to venture out because of the statement and it acts as a reminder that it's okay not to be okay. Furthermore, it's incredibly helpful right after a tough chat or one where you feel like you haven't had the best conversation for no fault of yours.

3) Try Hard

The concept of doing "cognitive sprints" and the "sense of satisfaction" is something I've experienced on here. It's truly motivating and the work ethic is inspiring. It's something I wish to imbibe further!

@beyoutofullkalon

The values that stood out to you are note-worthy. I'm awed by the way you expressed the value, 'Not everyone is a good fit'. I agree. It reduces the self degradation that occurs after a bad chat.

@Hope

1. High Expectations and High Warmth

This value has stood out because it's not easy maintaining high expectations and high warmth. The two components are however necessary to ensure growth and a conducive environment. 7 cups has continuously upheld this value and that has caused it to grow in quality and quantity.

2. Caring for people with fewer financial resources

Before cups, mental care was for the "ones who could afford it". 7 cups identified this gap, reached out to fill it and valued caring for people with fewer financial resources.

3. Belief in Equality

It's honorable that 7 cups values equality. It would be toxic if the site discriminated people based on their classes, gender or race.

@JoyHappyNess

i love how clear and concise you are with your answer:)

@Hope

I want to mention the four most important things that I learned:

1. Don't be afraid of failure.

2. Keep trying but keep going.

3. Make time to revitalize your energy by doing what you like.

4. Don't seek others' validation of your decisions.

😊@FeureVox

These are valid points and relevant. Ty for sharing!

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

7-cups values my work: I love this and it makes me feel more confident in my abilities

Proactive: I love the system that 7-cups has in place for delegating responsibilities and ensuring quality support. It's what has kept this site active for many years.

Training on 7-Cups is nothing I've ever seen anywhere else. It feels like a job being here because of how much training I do, but it also feels meaningful and even the listeners have support systems for themselves. Fantastic Culture!

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

The three most important things I learned from the guide were:

1) Accept failures!!!!

This is important to me because it's not always easy to accept when we fail, we will fail but we can't let that ruin our days. It's important because I've learned to use the fails as motivation.

2) Be happy!

This is important to me because if you can't be happy how are you going to enjoy anything? Almost everything you do is based on your attitude. If you don't have a good attitude how will anything seem good enough? It won't.

3) Self Care------------

This is important because you have to take care of yourself first and then others. If you're always putting yourself last your self- esteem, confidence, thoughts, mental health everything will decline.

@Hope

3 things I learned:

7Cups supports their listeners around the world and try to build trust between all the members to create tight Community. Failure is expected and should be taken as a way to learn.

@ItsMrEnigma

These were definitely great ones to pick out of the many. I'm wondering why these these particularly were important to you? ^-^

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

🌹 Caring for people with fewer financial resources 🌹 We believe in equality 🌹 We expect failure. These 3 things above stood out at, contributing to me feeling so proud to be volunteering here at 7 Cups.

✒️ Please reply to at least 1 of your peers in this thread with encouraging or supportive words!

🌹 I echo vivelespatates comments above that ‘We are a big team, Collabaration is important. I love the community for it.

@Rubylistens22, I agree that helping people who do not have the option to get professional help is the reason for many to be here. I also do not like failure. That is understandable. But we all fail sometimes. It is good that we are aware of that and accept it. Even better that there are clear steps to take when we do.

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

(1) We Expect You To Fail: This was really comforting because, as a recovering perfectionist, this reassures the inner-critic within me and further helps me recondition my mind to embrace failures as opportunities to take reasonable chances and learn. Eerything else didn't stand out as new to me, but the parts I appreciated were, (2) Equality and (3) Have Fun and Be Fulfilled because it aligns with what I hold most true about 7C. There isn't one person that isn't invaluable when they're remaining aligned with the values and mission here- regardless of age, creed, race, education/background, etc. And, what we do here should be fun. In the Gas Tank section, it discussed attitudes etc, and this highly contributes to how fun 7C can be as a volunteer. This should be a fun and rewarding experience for everyone, ourselves and our peers, and that's where magic can really be discovered and further cultivated. <3

✒️ Please reply to at least 1 of your peers in this thread with encouraging or supportive words!

@Hope One thing I really love about 7 cups is that it provides for people with fewer financial resources. I also really appreciate the part about 7 cups helping people to become experts. "Solving problems that matter" is my overall favorite thing about 7 Cups!

@Heart4art The reason these things are important to me is because I noticed a big gap in the availability of mental health care and skills training for people with money vs those without before. The same goes for people who might be really good at helping other people, it has also traditionally been locked behind a big paywall of education and student debt. I was also really frustrated with the fact during COVID most people had no where to turn to for mental health support, myself included. I just happened to recently run across 7 Cups while researching apps that were out there that might help people who had less access to mental health help (because the system seemed broken to me). I see that 7 cups has provided a solution and solved a big problem in our world!

@Heart4art

I also believe that providing free emotional support is filling a huge gap in our worlds access to mental health care. I think that it also brings to light how significant that gap is and how many people are with out basic mental health support in their lives.

Great response :D

@Hope

3 components that truly stood out to me were trust, kindness/conscientiousness & trying hard.

1) trust. trust is key to communication & developing healthy relationships. without it, we'd have a difficult time opening up to others & bottling up emotions within ourselves.

2) kindness. treating others the way you'd like to be treated is definitely a golden rule for me. without respect & being kind to others, we'd all turn on each other when all we truly need is to come together.

3) try hard. knowing that you gave your all into something, regardless of whether you succeed, is an accomplishment enough. putting in the amount of effort shows that you care.

@spedolivia

These are so important! Not just for 7 Cups, but life in general :D

Three things I've learned from the guide are specifically related to the phrase "to have skin in the game." As an auADHD person, terms like this go over my head, so I did a significant amount of research and found that it is to have a personal investment in an organization.

I learned that when you continually grow and learn (self-efficacy or mastery), you can contribute these gifts to those you help. You can do this by starting with little challenges and building on your skills at your pace. You add your "skin to the game by working on these skills." This program is an excellent example of the investment that 7 Cups makes in its users to increase this.

The second thing I learned was that 7 Cups values warmth/friendliness and conscientiousness. These values add to the "skin" by having a culture of working smart towards success with empathy for each other as a team. When we, as listeners and members, all have this attitude, we can achieve a sense of family rather than competition.

Finally, I learned that some behaviours are draining and work against the values previously mentioned. The behaviours listed are:

• "acting like a jerk"
• being distracted.
• making excuses.
• being in denial or avoiding problems

These behaviours not only go against the values of 7 Cups but also are signs that you may need a break to reevaluate why you want to help or your "skin in the game."

All of the guides were immensely helpful, and since I started at 7 Cups about seven years ago, there have been many notable changes. As I invest in this platform, I feel fulfilled, supported and, most of all, like I have "skin in the game."

Thanks so much for reading :) Course one discussion work done YEE! :D💐

@broadfemmelovelive

Hi!! I see we're both in the April cohort. I love your responses and how you've been adding little positive messages at the bottom of your posts! 😄

@Hope

3 most important things I learned from the guide and why they’re important...

• Your Work Matters - I enjoy helping others and I know I'm making a difference in someone else’s life with the work I do on 7cups.
• Strength-based - I get to play to my strengths and be efficient and productive in what I do while enjoying my work. If I were to do something I wasn't good at, it would probably become more of a chore and I would lose interest pretty quickly.
• Collaboration - I get to work with others with a diverse range of strengths and weaknesses. This means there's a wide range of skills to help build the team. Diversity also comes with many new opinions and ideas which will contribute greatly to the team.

@richuyulin

Collaboration is so important!

@richuyulin

I love the collaboration point you made about working with people with a range of strengths and weaknesses. It really works on many levels and shows why 7 cups works - where you may be weak I may be strong and vice cersa.

Great post!

@richuyulin
You sound like a leader :) It's beautiful how you express what is important to you. It's written like you know yourself extremely well which I was told takes forever to do so I'm always happy to see something concise, confident.
I hope you get to stay and exceed expectations in your flow state.

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

1. To practice time management take time for ourselves because otherwise you'll get burnt out.

2. To admit when you've made a mistake or aren't being self aware. This is important because otherwise it can be detrimental to others in the community.

3. To have fun! This is self explanatory :)

To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

1. I already sort of knew this but it is important to me - 7 cups cares about you. I know a lot of people think they need to do things on their own but that's not what 7 cups is about. Every time I've reached out for help in the listener support room I always have several people respond, and they almost always say the same thing at the end of the conversation - do what's best for my own mental help. My mentors have been a huge help and I've also gotten help in the forums with question. In turn I share my knowledge and support when needed. We all care and support each other so reach out for help when needed, it will help prevent burn out as well.

2. I really loved the part that says that problems are gifts in disguise. I agree with this as solving problems helps us learn things - even we fail at solving them.

3. Not everyone will be a good fit. I like this because if I sign up for a role and it's not a good fit for me, I know it's OK so long as I inform those working with me and sticking it out till they can find a relpacement/

@Smrtbibliophile

I totally agree with you! So true.✨

@Hope

✒️To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.

I loved the idea of "High Expectations, High Warmth" - it's something so many organizations should apply to their organizational methodology. I also enjoyed the section on expecting failure (And thus how to move forward) as well as being upfront about the fact that not everybody will be a good fit at the thing.