When I first learned of this Happiness Survey from my coach trainers at Coaching and Leadership Int. I was instantly excited! I have never looked so closely at the areas of my life and it made it easy for me to see where I was putting my time, and clarity on where I actually wanted to put my time.
The mental/intellectual area really drew me in. I love to learn! But I love to learn what I want to learn about, which is admittedly many times way too many things! My love of learning was only further verified as very important to me when I took the VIA Character Strengths assessment and Love of Learning came out as my #3 strength. (closely behind spirituality and gratitude). Then I took another assessment called the Birkman and the take away I remember most is that reading is like breathing to me and I should make sure to read every day.
All that to say- I love learning and talking about learning a lot! I do make sure to read at least some every day, but learning takes on so many other forms. One thing I have learned and love this mindset is to look at life as a learning laboratory. I have learned to ask myself and others questions and ways of learning. I like reliable sources and because of that, I have cut back on social media quite a lot. I love interviewing people, listening to books in the car and taking classes to learn more about a wide range of things.
Here are some things to consider as you look at this area and how you might amplify it.
-How often are you filling your head with useful information on purpose?
-Where, what and how are you learning things that do not benefit you?
-How could you become better at doing your work in the world through learning? Who knows more than you do and how can you gain access to their knowledge to become better yourself?
-What have you always wanted to learn about or study that you have not yet?
This area also calls us to think about strategizing, planning, creating things. And my favorite thing- taking on challenges- shows up in this area. Challenge and discomfort = growth. Learning a new hobby, sport, trying something that you haven’t done before. You can go to talks and presentations, take tours and visit other parts of the world.
-What are the ways and modalities you think of in the area of learning, expanding your mental and intellectual abilities?
Take some time to handwrite your thoughts and answers. Where are you, for you and where you want to be, on a scale from 1-10 in this area? (10 is the best possible). What would make it a 10? What is the first step you are willing to take now in order to move in that direction?
Enjoy learning- it feels good and you’ll have a lot to talk about at social events!