never stop learning
I’ve written and spoken before about how living your authentic life is not a destination—it’s an evolution. It’s an evolution of your Self as you live and experience life, follow new interests, and allow your Self to see new possibilities. As you grow, your authentic life evolves with the newer versions of your Self—or maybe your Self grows with the evolution of your authentic life…I need more time to sit with that 😀.
An important part of growth is continued learning.
I’m in Orlando for the next few days at the SHIFT conference, which is the “The go-to industry event for financial advisors who celebrate the impact of holistic, human-first financial advice and explore the latest industry changes.” I’m excited to immerse my Self in all things human-first planning. I’ll be surrounded by my profession’s brightest minds in life planning, behavioral finance, psychology, and financial planning–a group of people that makes being away from my family worth it.
I used to be a conference junky—I’d hit up every conference I could, which at that time in my life was exactly what I needed to do because it allowed me to learn and, more importantly, help me build an incredible network of amazing people. But, now, as I’ve grown and evolved, I want to spend less time away from home so a conference really has to be aligned with my authentic life for me to take time away from Ang and the boys, and SHIFT is that—it’s one of two conferences that I’ll be attending this year.
Although I’ve focused on the human side of financial planning for most of my career, my recent shift into life planning and helping people find and live their authentic lives requires me to strengthen and develop new skills—these are areas I’m excited to learn and grow in. I am genuinely excited to become a better listener, ask better questions, and become a better guide for the clients I will help with LifeDesign+---just ask anyone who has seen me in the last two days and just happened to ask me what I’ve been up to; my energy for this is unmatched.
I can’t imagine getting to a point where I feel like I no longer need to learn–life would be boring if I weren’t learning and improving, and I don’t think you should ever stop, either. If you are continuing to pursue your authentic life, you will find your Self in a constant state of learning because your expanding interests will force you.
It’s important to note that learning doesn’t require returning to school. It can be as simple as reading, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube, or just having conversations with others who have knowledge that would be helpful in your growth. Don’t be intimidated by a constant state of learning because it’s not as demanding as you might think.
Go buy that book. Download the podcast episode. Or, watch that YouTube video (preferably an episode of LifeDesign+ 😉) and dedicate some time today to learning something new that YOU want to learn.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
