30 Days to a Better You - Day 3
Learn Something New
I had high hopes of coming before you with my face in an encyclopedia (yes, we still have an entire set). Yet, tonight, I sit here in a local IHOP after the longest, most trying day with my kid wondering how I have the right to keep working on myself (or the knowledge to share with others) when I can’t even help her? Then, I remember, I have an example to set. She needs to see that we don’t just throw in the towel when things get hard...or worse, we aren’t “feeling it”. She needs to witness the reality that getting what you want out of life takes hard work, dedication, discipline and commitment. She needs to see that no matter what I may feel like in the moment, when it’s time to boss up, we boss up. We step up, we step out and in that moment, we can begin to discover what we are really made of.
Once you stop learning, you start dying. - Albert Einstein
So right now, in this moment, I am learning that I am more resilient, more capable and even a little smarter than I give myself credit for...and that’s sorta kinda really cool. Class dismissed...ha ha, not even close!
What if the topic of learning is actually a fear covered roadblock in our lives? Last week, I took my youngest son to the gym with me for the first time. When I asked him how it was, his first response, “That was so embarrassing, I didn’t know any of the moves.” Rather than revel in his accomplishment, he immediately felt shame for his lack of knowledge. Instead of celebrating the new health journey he had just embarked on, he quickly began finding excuses to not return. He denied himself the endorphins (i.e. emotional doggy treats) he needed to stay motivated to see it through...and we do that ALL the time!
Whatever we want to be great at (or even just do well): losing weight, running a business, buying a home, being a parent, passing an exam, gardening, designing, etc, we will only get there by learning. Harry Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Life, business, work, stuff, it can eat this habit (the habit of learning) like the little colored ghosts in PacMan. We must re-train ourselves to learn...the health of our brain and emotional wellbeing depends on it! Here are five easy ways we can start doing that today, during our 30 Days to a Better Us:
Read
Listen
This is a big one - be confident enough to admit what you don’t know, rather than depriving yourself of an experience because you insisted on pretending you already knew something you didn’t...can I get an Amen?
Act - we can’t just read, we have to do.
Teach :)
Jump into any one of these things today and see if you don’t learn something new. Be sure to watch the video to see what important thing I learned today. Then jump over to the conversation and tell us what you learned...teach US something new!