Each Thursday at 11am my teams and shut everything down for 30-45 minutes. In that brief period of time the whirlwind of our jobs disappears and we’re 100% focused on growth and development focused specifically on one of our core values.

For the values of Grit and Growth Mindset we read the books Grit and Mindset. Each week we’d read a chapter and someone would lead the conversation.

My teams had a great idea on how to tackle the value Do Right. Each week one person sends out an article, a video, or some other type of learning opportunity to the team. On Thursday that teammate leads the discussion on that topic.

This week was a prime example of why I am so grateful for this growth focused time on Thursdays. Grant picked out this video: https://youtu.be/5oLfB3tIyHM that shares the story of how one business has gone to extraordinary steps to make an incredible impact in the lives of people in their community. Not gonna lie, there was a case of the feels going on when I watched it.

While we talked about it as a team it was clear to see that many of us were starting to see bigger dreams of how we could make a bigger impact on those in our community. Sure, the ideas were a little different than the video, but it got the conversation going. As we talked it was clear to see that we all were envisioning a future greater than the one we’d seen before watching this video and having this conversation.

It is so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of daily activity. In the blink of an eye we can lose sight of the bigger picture and focus on what is directly in front of us. When we get too busy we don’t take the time to dream a new future. By taking time to pause, focus, and dream we are able to create a better future than we’d imagined. How awesome is that?

Thursday Learning Sessions help remind us to pause and dream bigger. They remind us to pause and think. They remind us to focus on growth and learning. It’s not always easy and there are always trade offs made to be focused and present on Thursday, but I’ll gladly make those trade offs any time.

Thanks!!!