Optimism. Curiosity. Risk Taking.

Every day, every moment is a chance to learn something new and grow.  Some days that lesson is as obvious as the giant pothole on your daily commute that you've learned to avoid after driving into it and ruining your alignment, and others it's as subtle or hard to recognize as a fingerprint on the lenses of your (sun)glasses.

As adult learners, we have choices; we can let lessons roll over us until they sink in, or we can approach our own growth with thoughtful planning.  It's up to us to decide.  Let's start with the assumption that we want to plan our growth.  That doesn't mean we won't experience unplanned lessons along the way, but it gives us a focus to start planning for our own development.

This all starts with a few important attributes:
Optimism - If you don't believe you can learn something new, you're making growth 100% harder (or more).
Curiosity - Being curious leads to questions which leads to learning.  Be curious about your environment, your role, and your connection to the greater good - whether that's an organization, your community or a spirital center is only important to you.
Risk taking - Whether a major change or a minor shift, any experience presents you with a risk.   I  guarantee that with each lesson and experience you will be changed.  You have to be willing to take the risk to be different today than you were yesterday.  Create a newer you.

Wonders of the Week*
Time to share something that inspired me, made me curious or encouraged me to take a risk.

I'll start with what inspired me this week: Sorta Awesome podcast's "Awesome of the Week".  This is a great woman-led podcast that covers all things awesome.  Each show starts with the co-hosts sharing their "Awesome of the Week".  This can be anything from a recipe, to a household tip, to a valuable lesson.  This podcast is on my playlist for the things they find and the "real life" they cover.  Their Awesome Manifesto covers it.