Its always good to be learning…
What does ‘Life-long learning’ mean to you? Slog? ‘Lessons’? Tests? For me, it is the excitement of the new, adventure and curiosity. I am endlessly curious – some would say downright nosy - our strengths can sometimes be overplayed to become weaknesses after all…!
For me to have joy and fulfilment in my life I need to have some new learning ‘on the go’ whether that is personally or professionally. Which is why I was so excited to start my pottery night class yesterday. We started small – pinch pots from the different clay to get the feel for the materials – and it felt good. I made something I was quite pleased with. It is about 15-20 years since I last went to a pottery class, and I went home with a spring in my step and slept so well, dreaming of lots of ideas for the projects I might complete this term 😊
Professionally, alongside the Positive Intelligence learning I’ve written about previously, I’ve also been developing my coaching practice, working with TELEOS towards an International Coaching Federation qualification. I’m an experienced coach and it felt like the right time to really hone my practice. The group are truly international – Philippines, Dubai, Europe to the USA and everything in between, and from a geographer’s point of view it’s a joy to have all those different perspectives on life to open your eyes further! My practice is developing, which makes me feel even more confident about what I’m doing and I’m noticing more possibilities in how I can support clients through even more effective questioning.
There is a link with this – the empty vessel. I’ve made an empty vessel at pottery, and am trying to become an empty vessel in my coaching in order that those I work with can more clearly see their own way forward, rather than filling it with my ideas and solutions. The pot is rough-hewn with a lovely texture and shape – like our lives have texture and shape.
Without learning, we stay the same, which means we stagnate as everything changes around us. ‘The only constant in life is change’ as the saying goes. Our attitude to learning can be linked to our attitude towards change. Do we see change as an opportunity - for something new, a new experience, new people, new places, new learning? Or do we see it as a challenge to be overcome and resisted, being comfortable with the familiar. I suppose it sometimes depends upon the amount of change we’re experiencing and what else is going on in our lives – we are only human! But I believe the more we can ‘seize the day’ and enjoy the (inevitable) changes and challenges, seeing them as opportunities for new learnings, the more content and fulfilled we can be in our professional and personal lives.
Learning new things helps us to get comfortable with the discomfort of change, and to see change as an opportunity for growth.
So, what are you currently stretching yourself with and learning or developing?
What changes or challenges are you currently resisting?
How might that change or challenge become an opportunity?
What are you curious about? What would you like to develop?
How might you take some steps to do this?