Home > News > Type > News > Professor Robert Chambers' advice for life

Professor Robert Chambers' advice for life

After holding a workshop on our M&E training course at IDS, Brighton Robert Chambers gives his advice for life.  This transcript is just one of a series of videos in our advice for life series.

“I think it’s good in life to be a naïve optimist, you may not really be naïve, but if you’re optimistic and positive about things, sometimes it’s self-fulfilling. Other people will behave better if they know you expect them to behave better whereas if you’re critical and negative, this may enforce that.  And beyond that I would say, do things.
One; identify what you find in life to be fulfilling; things that you loose yourself in, you cease to be aware of yourself because you’re so completely absorbed in that activity.  Those are often the most important things and creative things in life.
And the second thing I would say is have fun!  Enjoy!  Play! There is a wonderful saying Dr Seuss, who is the cartoonist who produces those wonderful children books, and his saying is just four words but you could write a 10,000 word essay on it.
He said ‘Adults are obsolete children’ and I think the challenge and opportunity for many of us is not to be obsolete, and not to lose the capacity to play and to enjoy and to learn, and to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes very, very quickly without being ashamed of them, that we find in children.
Because children are continually failing and continually learning, and if they are well and have got good parents: continually enjoying life.  And that’s something to try to hold with one all the way through life, if you can, including when you’re entering, or in, which I suppose I may be: a second childhood.

Latest News

Policy Brief Development

What does a policy brief provide? A policy brief transforms research insights into clear, actionable recommendations. These help policymakers understand issues, evaluate potential solutions, and make informed, evidence-based decisions. How...

view more

Copyright © 2025 IMA Internationl. All Rights Reserved.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram