Lessons Learned

Live and Learn, a phrase I heard today. It was used by someone who made a mistake and was giving themselves an out. Which meant they would not make that same mistake again…we hope. I guess it was a nice way of acknowledging the error, however it left me with a vague feeling. Did they truly know they made the mistake, were they avoiding responsibility, or was that their nice way of ending a situation that made them uncomfortable? I simply reminded them that learning is actually learned when our behaviors change. To live a full life we must learn AND apply it next time.

I asked another person today about a life lesson they learned, a big one. They thought for a bit then told me the story. It was a good lesson and a great story. It illustrated for me that they understood the lesson AND had applied to their life moving forward. Learning works best when we learn AND apply it next time.

We cannot leverage what we do not know. And we don’t know what we don’t know unless we put ourselves in new situations or experiences that require knowledge. No one can know it all, and Googling a UTube video is not always the best way to learn something. Would you trust your life to a paramedic who learned how to give CPR by watching a video? I don’t think so. To truly learn we must absorb and behave with the new knowledge leading the way, put that knowledge into practice and do it over and over and over again.

I always encourage people to educate themselves – read, get that degree, learn a new program, etc. Learning is something that can never be taken away and it ALWAYS adds value to our lives. What we know may not always fit into every situation; however, when it does it can amaze and astound people that you KNOW how to do, or understand a subject, or even have the power to pull that knowledge out and make the issue at hand go away. Knowledge is power, being able to utilize that power is life changing.

Live today as if you were to die tomorrow, and learn as if you were going to live forever. This way of approaching your days will change your world…knowledge is power, only if we have that power.