“You’d think I’m insane…”

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Shared by Kristina Smedley

Some people finish high school, possibly go to college, get a job, and call it done. They’re “good” with what they’ve learned and are “happy where they’re at.”

That will absolutely never be me.
There will never come a time when I am not committing my time and resources to learning and continuing to grow.

This doesn’t make sense to some people. They don’t understand why I would dedicate so much personal time and a lot of my disposable income towards classes, immersion programs, and coaches that might not have a completely tangible and obvious payoff or next step.

Many times I really don’t know exactly what I will gain from the investment either; but now I trust my intuition about when it’s the right thing to do.

For example, I completed about a third of my MBA back in 2007-2008.
Everyone said, “You have to get your MBA. Why wouldn’t you, Boeing will pay for it!”

I listened to them, rather than myself.
I didn’t want an MBA. I started because I thought I had to.

So, when time got squeezed off completely between working full time and co-owning Savvy Mattress Outlet, I didn’t have any regrets in quitting my MBA.

Seven years later, I was in the middle of the Incident and Injury Free initiative at work that I referenced in today’s Journey Update email, overwhelmed with the tremendous, positive impact that relationships and care can have in a workplace.

Out of nowhere, I received an email from the Gonzaga Masters in Organizational Leadership Program stating that all formal testing would be waived if I applied and was accepted in the next 2 weeks.

Done.
Perfect timing. A perfect fortuitous encounter.

I didn’t think twice. I just knew that my passions were in that space and started the program a month later.

Completing that program opened my eyes, completely filled my heart, and helped me see the impact I am capable of making.
It has been a huge contributor to who and where I am today, and I could have never guessed that before signing up.

Which gets to the reason why I will always be a committed learner.

I’m not doing it to fill up my resume or look good for a future job interview.
I’m not doing it to compete with other people or make sure I have better qualifications.

I commit to learning in order to discover, evolve, and become more complete.

I learn in order to open my awareness, build relationships, and connect disparate pieces of information.

I learn so I can grow. So I can make an impact. Be a world-changer.

I challenge you to look around and see where you are complacent, where you have stopped learning and growing.

What would it be like to start learning again?

#MindfullyEvolving

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