Life Is A Classroom: Why Learning is Necessary Beyond the Classroom Walls

Earlier this month, we chatted about intentions…

And seeing that it’s still January, let’s elaborate a little more about starting the New Year off with intentions!

Why Intentions and NOT Resolutions?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not a big fan of resolutions…

I find the idea of a new year’s resolution tends to be overwhelming. And more often than not, they set us up for failure.

We build up this idea in our mind of all the goals we’ll crush and all the things we’ll accomplish, and when we fall short (even just a tad), we get down on ourselves. We give up.

For myself, I prefer to focus on setting intentions. For the year ahead. As well as for the day ahead.

An intention is a guiding principle or mindset that you want to adopt, rather than a specific goal. It can be a feeling you want to feel. Or the energy you want to bring with you into the year ahead.

There are many different ways to set an intention (and a whole lot less rules than setting goals or resolutions 😉)

Last week, I shared my intention setting with the help of the Dan Sullivan Question. This particular intention was geared towards the next three years of my life.

But for 2023…

I Decided on Setting an Intention with my ‘Word of the Year’

This year, I’ve chosen my intentional word as “growth.”

I’ve finally hit a point in my life where I’ve come to realize that we are always growing and always learning.

That we are meant to always grow and learn.

And that comfort and stagnation are not a part of our journey. There never will be a final comfortable destination in this beautiful human experience…

There will never be a point reached where we’ll say: “Okay, that’s it, I’ve learned all there is to learn in this life. I’m complete.”

It’s just not going to happen.

So instead, I’ll embrace the forever growth.

(Side note: Growth is not always linear… It’s more like a cycle… Like nature moving through seasons, our growth changes. Sometimes we grow up towards the sky. Other times we take a step back and shed our leaves. But even during those step backs, we grow from them. It is all part of the growth process.)

So this year, to follow through with my intentional word, I plan to say yes to the things I’ve always wanted to learn and try.

To start saying yes to the things I’ve always said:

“One day, I’d like to learn this…”

“One day, I’d like to try that…”

And we all know that “one day” just keeps slipping further away.

Until it never happens at all.

And let me tell you, I’m done putting off growth.

In the last quarter of 2022, I read the book “The 12 Week Year” by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. This book shed some light on the fact that I have more time than I ever thought. That we all have more time than we think.

And we are always capable of learning and growing – especially if it is something we prioritize because we truly desire it for ourselves.

I Desire Growth

And I will do what it takes to keep this intentional promise I made with myself…

This year, I’ll be trying a whole lot of new things.

And learning a LOT more of the things I’ve always wanted to learn.

I hope that by sharing my intention of growth, it will inspire you to set your own intentions for the year. And to embrace the idea of forever growing.