Life is an Open Classroom

Life is an open classroom, though there is no curriculum to tell you which lessons to expect each week or even each day. Lessons are often unexpected and challenges are like pop quizzes that test your character as much as it builds it.

Different seasons in your life represent semesters in which new lessons are learned. There is no pass or fail, only a grade of "complete." Once the lesson is complete you move on to the next. Sometimes you may experience a similar lesson. Not because you've failed a previous one; instead, it's an opportunity for you to achieve advanced learning.

So, what do you do with all that knowledge? Apply what you've learned to your own life as well as to the lives of others. When you teach others you help them to learn and grow. In turn, you learn and grow as well. I find that as I teach others, it reinforces my knowledge and I may even acquire new learning. For example, the more I teach someone about humility, the more I am reminded to be humble. Through my experience with that individual I may learn to be more patient. I may even discover that I am stronger than I realize.

You are always learning. You are always growing wiser in life's open classroom.

What lessons have you learned and how have you applied them to your life and the lives of others? Share your comments below.

Unleash your brilliance without boundaries,
Christine

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Changing Your Behavior for Results

Enjoy this short, impactful process designed to change your behavior so you get results in your business and/or personal life.

Immediately after completing this exercise, share your thoughts and reactions with your group. Then, post comments here about your experience and outcomes.

This process is taken from the Harvard Business Review article, "An Exercise in Changing Yourself." Click here to read the full HBR article.

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Are You Hurting Bad Enough?

One morning a man was sitting on his porch with his dog who was lying there groaning. A passerby stopped and asked why the dog was groaning.

Man: He's lying on a nail
Passerby: Why doesn't he just get up?
Man: He ain't hurtin' bad enough

I heard this story several years ago and it's always worth sharing.

The moral is there are people who talk about what's wrong or what's missing in their lives; yet, they never really take action toward creating change. Instead, they "groan" about their situation. Why? Because they are not hurting badly enough to get up and go after what they want.

Oftentimes people say they aren't pursuing their dreams because, at the moment, they lack the drive; they're low on money; they're too busy; they want to shed a few pounds first; they're too young or too old... When I ask how long they've been putting their dreams on hold, it turns out it's been years!

To achieve a dream or to create change in your life, think about how badly you want it. Begin developing belief and reflect all that is possible within you by changing your thoughts; e.g., "I WILL do this." "This is possible." Imagine yourself already achieving your dream and start taking the action steps that will get you there.

Get off the nail, stop groaning, and start doing!

Unleash your brilliance without boundaries,
Christine

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Challenge Rules If They Don't Make Sense

In 1963, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment on obedience, now known as The Milgram Experiment.

In this experiment, participants were divided into groups of teachers and students. The "teachers" were asked to administer painful electric shocks to "students" who gave incorrect answers to questions. The shocks weren’t real, though the teachers did not know that. As the experiment progressed, the teachers grew concerned and asked if it was okay to continue. They were encouraged to do so and were assured they would not be held responsible for the outcomes.

The participants were given more and more painful shocks and they screamed in pain; some even banged on the wall and pretended to complain of a bad heart. In the end, 65% of the teachers obeyed orders to punish the students to the very end of the 450-volt scale! No one stopped before reaching 300 volts. If the shocks were real the participants would have died.

In 2006 I told the story of the Milgram Experiment in a speech about taking the road less traveled. I provided "7 Steps to the Road Less Traveled"; step number three was "Challenge Rules If They Don't Make Sense." This step holds true today.

Wherever there are rules that don't make sense, exercise the courage to challenge them. Your decision to do so may make a difference in your life or the lives of others.

Unleash your brilliance without boundaries,
Christine

___________________________
Follow the Enrichment Blog: christineferguson.blogspot.com
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