Day 2,985

Growth:

How often in life have I witnessed this cycle repeat itself?

I start without knowledge and need direction, but the direction that is offered provides discomfort. I get frustrated with the person offering direction because they don’t understand where I am coming from. Ultimately, I learn and grow as a result of the discomfort.

Later, I attempt to help another who is without knowledge and needs direction, but the direction I offer them provides them discomfort. From my experience I understand that it is through this discomfort in which the learning and growth really occur. They get frustrated with me because they don’t understand where I am coming from. Ultimately, if they choose the path of discomfort they learn and grow as a result… and I learn and grow as a leader.

How simple it would be to trust the universe when we need help and direction and to follow blindly without hesitation knowing that others have already walked the path. How do I (and should I) work to break this cycle? Is this the way wisdom is meant to grow?

What’s interesting is that in this example, in this cycle, it seems as if the lessons learned as the student also help us to be a better teacher. We are able to see how the teacher didn’t connect well and do our best to change our strategy for our students, while also taking those moments in which our mentors were at their most magnanimous and replicating those experiences for others to learn – through us – from our mentors. It almost seems as if the cycle continues for a reason.

Here’s to the moments of discomfort which lead to growth as learners and to the learning we lead into from our mentors.

Appreciation:

This section has been a bit of a struggle for me tonight. I’ve got a couple of different paths to take so I think I’m going to punt and go with a short list rather than a single topic. That’s one of the nice things about this being my blog – my blog, my rules! 😉

• When I get an out of the blue piece of feedback on my book I’m left smiling from ear to ear for seemingly days. Especially after recording all 7+ hours of it into audio I feel somehow even more connected to it. Hearing that it is helping others and making a positive impact recharges my battery and reminds me that this is only the beginning!
• Funny how much time and energy are wasted in worrying about how something is going to go or what someone will think of an idea. Over the past 24 hours I’ve been reminded of this very clearly. I had an idea I was very excited for, but I was very nervous about how it would be received. As I labored over the nerves of the feedback of others I totally wasted energy that I shouldn’t have. When I rolled the idea out to them they we overwhelmingly in favor of it! I can be ridiculous sometimes, this was an excellent reminder of the gap between who I am and who I should be. Lesson learned.
• Everything is well. Seriously, everything is well. Yes, there is frustration, there are challenges, there are struggles, but all is well – we are still alive. This afternoon I was reminded of a period of time which was one of the most challenging of my professional career – we survived it and grew as a result of it! In the moment it really sucked, but we created something beautiful from it. Do not fear the possible discomfort, do the right thing, work through the challenge, and remember that all will be well. Once there is distance from the pain we can look back and see how we’ve grown and become better as a result. Avoiding the discomfort means avoiding growth.
• The book Outlive by Peter Attia is a MUST READ!!! I am reading it for the second time and am so thankful to be consuming it again!

And there’s more, but I think I’ll save it for later and let this all slowly sink into my brain.

Presence:

There’s a moment in which we become aware of something for the first time. An insight, a realization, an epiphany, a clear view unobstructed for the first time. In an instant our world is different. In that moment we are changed and cannot go back. There are many examples of this in Anthony de Mello’s profoundly insightful book, Awareness.

What I’ve noticed today is that when those moments hit, when we collide with clear vision and and thought, it is often either in or directly as a result of being in a very focused moment of presence. As I’ve been working this sentence I keep going back and forth on whether it is the result of presence in a moment or if the presence is instantly created as a result of moment of awareness. Does it even matter?

What’s beautiful is that the two are so married together – awareness and presence.

Thanks!!!