“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein

There is no denying the fact that our world continues to increase in complexity and intensity. Our lives in the home, workplace, and community do not get easier, we just get better at addressing larger challenges.

As we continue on our journey to build and strengthen our character, it is important that we proactively access a steady stream of ideas and insights and remain intentional about learning something new to ensure we stay on a good path to reach our full potential.

For many of us, we may have graduated from school and to some extent, the education system told us we were done learning. We only needed to live a few weeks past graduation to know that was not true.

When we think about being at the top of our game, we think highly of athletes and movie stars having skill coaches, nutrition coaches, lifestyle coaches, etc. However, why is it that some of the most important roles we play like being a parent, a spouse, and a leader outside the home (in business, community, politics, etc.) still have an uncomfortable stigma with getting outside help to be our best? For most of us, these are the most important roles we will likely ever play, and we are still wandering around on our own to figure things out and almost feel shame or embarrassment in seeking a trusted advisor, life-coach, psychologist, or uplifting outside influence to help us be the best we can be.

Here are a few areas to help us all continue to learn something new:

• People. New and old friends can be great sources of insight. Are you making new friends? That is not just a question we should ask our kids transitioning to high school or college. Interactions with somebody new can open us up to learn a thing or two.
• Places of community. We find purpose in community with others, whether that be in our faith, some workout group at the gym, a book reading club, a young mom’s group, etc. Places of community can be wonderful sources of new ideas and insights.
• Formal learning. When was the last time you sat in a classroom to learn something new? I am big fan of online education tools, but there is also something powerful about being physically with others while trying to learn. Whether it is a cooking class, a nutrition class, a marriage and family class, or learning how to build a website, some classroom activity is good for any age student.

Having a large appetite to learn is a good thing. However, we should be careful that all this new insight we gather does not violate some fundamental principle that we know to be true. A principle like the law of the harvest; Simply, we reap what we sow and there is no quick fix to achieving our goals. We can’t have our cake, eat it too, and still lose weight. Let’s all make sure to use some principles that are timeless and universal to act as guardrails as we work to learn something new.

As we continue to place a priority on learning something new to be the best we can be, we will build and strengthen our character and Character Creates Opportunity to reach our full potential.