Exploring possibilities, asking questions, discovering life day by day.

Learning is such fun. It’s profitable. And it changes us.

I made new Painter brushes in class, and then painted with them.

But only if we apply it.

Four of us rode together, returning home from a weekend motivational conference. We broke the trip in half by stopping for lunch.

I had picked up on an idea early in the weekend and was excited to try it once I got home. And so I asked the others, friends and business associates of mine, ‘What will you all do differently this week because of the weekend?’

‘Read, read, read,’ said one.

‘Contacts,’ said another.

The third bit into her Quizno sub and said nothing.

Hmmm… We had just spent five hours in the car, discussing the impact of the many speakers we’d heard.  Everyone had thoughts to share. Opinions, that is, but apparently no ideas to implement.

If we learn and don’t apply, what have we learned?

‘Oh, but we learned so much! And it’s all so exciting!’ All three agreed.

However, I thought, nothing they learned had translated to making a difference in daily activity. So did they really learn it?

Collage I did of Lys Sketching and Journaling... Planning her Tomorrow

I have led workshops and spoken for business folk over the years. My topics centered around self-growth: self-knowledge, esteem, image, value, relationships, attitude, passion and pursuit.

But that day at lunch, I wondered how much difference any of it had made?

If we don’t occasionally change something we do, or modify it somehow, or add to what we’re already doing, how do we grow?

My three friends each had dreams of a fuller life, and could talk endlessly about them…

…Yet they saw nothing in the status quo to tweak.

Is life different, or better, or are we more accomplished and profitable just because we know more?

There’s a saying that translates more or less like this:

If I do today what I’ve always done, tomorrow I will have what I’ve always had.

Must we make drastic changes?

True, technology changes overnight and new concepts greet us with our morning coffee. And while it’s an exciting time to live, I don’t think we need to change drastically.

I’m talking about tweaking our daily routines to allow us to apply an insightful bit of learning. It’s refining our chosen paths to become who we want to be.

It’s called growth.

• What do you think?
• Do you attend conferences or classes, online and on-site?
• Do you take away an idea you can implement? So you discuss them with others?
• Will working with that idea change you somehow? Help you grow?

Thanks so much for coming. Have a fresh cup of coffee and ponder with us a bit… Enjoy your day.

Barb

P.S. Some sites that teach and inspire me to grow:

I take classes to improve my life. Here are some: DigitalArtAcademy — Painting Classes and webinars; Creative Techs, — Live Painting Classes; LVSonline — Blogging and Twitter and CSS classes. And I read so many blogs that teach me to do better what I love doing.

Annually, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker conduct a Successful and Outstanding Bloggers conference — SOBCon — to educate (and inspire) business people, as individuals and as team players, to connect and care and change and grow. Notice the fourth bullet point!

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