My Riffs

Every day has something in it for us. Whether good or bad happens, the day has something to take in.  Every day, taking in what we can makes us better people. Learn from the good. Show up in the bad. Keep moving forward and glean everything possible from each day. 

Everyone learns in different ways. If you can really figure out how you learn, you'll save yourself a lot of times. Some learn via audio, some via text. Some learn best with video. Some needs hands on. If you can learn how you learn best, you'll be a more efficient learner,

If you really want to learn, teach.  Teaching means you have to truly know. You can’t teach what you don’t know. 

At some point in life you’ll be faced with the decision to get bitter or get better. You can’t get better when you’re bitter. And you won’t be bitter when you get better.  Life will get hard and be unfair at some point (or points).  You will have to decide if you’ll use that to get better or worse. 

Often the difference between a great day and a bad one is simply our outlook.  Bad days undeniably happen. So does bad weeks, months and maybe even years.  But in those, our outlook still shapes our perception and how we handle those days. A bad day can be a better one if choose to see the good. 

Pain is there for a reason.  Pain can teach us a great deal. We may not want to go through the pain again, but we’re grateful for the lessons we’ve learned and the strength we’ve gained.  Pain lets us know where limits are. Pain lets us know something is wrong. Pain lets us know we can be fragile no matter how tough we may think we are.  Pain can lead to gain. It’s all in our attitude towards pain. 

To learn effectively you have to be willing to learn.  Life offers many free lessons. The more you take for free the better you’ll learn. If you reject learning you’ll only learn through hard lessons. 

Yesterday was about teaching, but today is about learning. To be a good teacher, we have to be an excellent learner. You can't teach better than you've learned. And you haven't truly learned something until you're knowledgeable enough to teach it. Do the due diligence of learning. It's a lot like work, but it's well worth the work.

If it’s worth your time doing, it’s worth doing well.  If you can’t do it well, maybe let someone else do it.  Or learn so you can do it better next time. Maybe get help. 

Try things. Gain experience. Experience is the best teacher. 

Nobody can get it right 100% of the time. That means we will fail. We have to give ourselves the grace and patience when we do. It's how we get better, by trying and practicing. When we fail we can get better and learn. If you don't try anything you can't really make mistakes. So mistakes are part of trying. Give yourself the grace to make a mistake.

You gotta jump in. Standing on the sidelines has to end at some point. Learning really starts once you jump in and do. So jump in and give it a try. If you get it wrong, fix it and try again. But jump in, the sidelines have little to teach. Do and learn. 

We always can and should learn. We only stop learning when we shut it brains off to new things. We stop learning when we think we know it all. Stay hungry and stay curious. 

A good way to learn is to teach. So learn what you can, then teach it. You’ll learn double!

You can see a lot. But what will you do with what you’ve taken in? Will you use it to better yourself? Will you challenge yourself? Will you be full of more gratitude? The things around us and available to see can make us better people if we use them. 

You can learn a lot from an honest, true friend. But you can learn a lot from a foe too. You learn about yourself. You learn about how patient you are. You may learn how vengeful you tend to be. We learn more from challenges and low times rather than high times. So if you're dealing with a difficult person or people, there may lessons to be learned.

One of the best ways to learn is to read. Read things that stretch your knowledge. As you absorb new information you grow. 

Course correction is easier the earlier you do it. The longer you wait to course correct the less likely you’ll get it right or do it in a smooth manner. If you think you’re off course, try and adjust right away. You only need to make small changes when you do it early. 

 You learned something today. But did you take time to figure out what you learned?

The better you know yourself, the better you can be. Knowing yourself means knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Don’t dismiss it when you observe a weakness in yourself. Take note of it and work on it. Don’t be afraid to be introspective and realize your strengths and weaknesses. It’s not weak to admit you have weaknesses. Get to know yourself so you can be your best self.