Living and Learning
This week I learned that the 100 folds in a chef hat, called a toque, are meant to represent the 100 ways you can cook an egg. I also learned that when I am about to lose something, it becomes very clear to me what matters most.
There are different types of learnings, some are basic facts, some provide lessons and others can be more of a revelation.
Every day, while we are busy living, we are simultaneously learning. Information consumption is inevitable and it happens without our permission. How much, and what we learn, well that’s up to us.
The way I see it, there are three lenses we can look through to bring our life learnings into focus.
Casual Learning:
Take a moment and look back at your past week. Then list all the things you know now that you didn’t at the start of the week. You will have a number of learnings that could look like:
A new restaurant is opening in your neighborhood.
The client passed on your proposal despite all your hard work.
Your child is struggling in social studies when you thought he was doing well.
Your test results were negative.
You were introduced to a new show, podcast, song or person which you have totally fallen for.
These new facts come to you every day; default data entry, casual leaning. You did not go looking for this information, but it came your way, and now you know what you know.
Lesson Learning:
Another way to learn is to search for the lessons that are presented to us. If you don’t stop and bring awareness to the opportunities to learn, they will pass you by. The most direct way to the lesson is to take time to ask yourself questions such as:
What am I missing?
Where is the opportunity?
What will I do next?
How will I change my behavior moving forward, if at all?
What am I learning about the situation?
Self Learning:
Lastly you can choose to level up and get curious about who you are becoming, and how life has been affecting you. If you put in the time, this is where the self revelations happen. The thought provoking reflections come from your soul instead of your mind, and sound like:
What is the message meant for me?
How is this connected to the bigger picture?
What do I want, really?
Who do I want to be on the other side of this?
What am I learning about myself?
Being interested and invested in learning about yourself can shorten the gap between longing for the life you want and living the life you want.
Matty learned this week how much it will cost to replace her dying refrigerator. Which was not fun…at all. However she does love a good growth story and would be super pumped to listen to you talk about all the living and learning you have been up to lately.
