Back on the Horse

Hello all.

It has been a minute since my last post. Life gets busy. Babies are born, scenery changes, responsibilities shift. Throughout all of these changes, one thing remains constant: the drive to consistently improve.

Aren't we good enough already? I don't have time to focus on myself. I have too much on my plate. This mentality is how people get stuck on a plateau. We go to school, graduate, get a job, start taking on personal and financial responsibilities and one day we wake up and find that most of our effort is put toward things that don't get us excited. We establish routines and habits and get set in our ways. Parts of our lives get put on autopilot; drive the same routes to work, cook the same meals, do the same workouts, hang out at the same bars, etc. We have now entered the comfort zone.  This might feel good, but eventually we will feel stagnant, like something is missing. The missing element? Learning, growth and improvement.

How do we get better? Where do we start? A good jump off point is to examine your weaknesses. We tend to hide our weaknesses for fear of being exposed. Talk to your friends and family (and coworkers) and ask for an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. They will most likely list some things that are not apparent to you (and some that are). Pick the one you most want to improve and make a conscious effort to work on it daily. For me, it is a compulsion to be on my phone. I find myself browsing a variety of apps for articles, news and other random things any time I find a pause in life.  While a smart phone can be a powerfully enabling tool, it should not be our default activity. The tipping point for me was having my first child. I don't want to think constant device use is the norm.

Another way to grow and improve is by learning something new. There are so many free online learning sites (Khan Academy, Tutor.com, Codecademy, to name a few) that you can learn most anything you want. Have an idea for an app? Learn to build apps for free. Want to brush up on your math, history or sciences? Take class for free at any level. Knowledge is out their just waiting to be had. And often, the process of deciding what to learn will reveal refine other areas you might want to improve. And as always, read read read.

 Challenge your status quo. Get out of your comfort zone. Keep and open mind. Talk to new and different people with different world views. The world is constantly changing around you; adapt, learn, improve and change with it.

It's good to be back.

Thanks,

Jack