Learning Binges are like Netflix Binges - But Better for Your Brain

Lately, I’ve been on what I affectionately call one of my “learning binges.” 📚 It’s like a Netflix binge but better for my brain.😆

Over the past few years, I have gone on these learning binges for a variety of reasons:

• Reduce my boredom at work. When I haven’t been fully engaged in my work, or it’s the humdrum of the same old same old, learning gives me something new to be excited about - and figuring out how I can integrate my learning into my work is a problem solving challenge that engages me even further.
• Give me a different perspective. Sometimes, I just need a fresh perspective - whether it’s in my work or in my life. I just need to learn something new, to expand my world, to figure out how to navigate the world a little differently. I do this through podcasts, reading, courses, conversations with people I don’t know well, and sometimes through paid support like coaching.
• Challenge myself. Related to the first bullet, but just in general, sometimes it’s nice to have a different challenge - to see if I can learn something new. 
• Stay in the practice of being a beginner. I’ve done this in the past few years by starting guitar lessons and most recently refreshing myself on my French using Babbel. High school French thankfully has somehow stuck in my brain and I am finding myself surprisingly joyful at this discovery. As you get to be more experienced in your career or your field, there are many benefits, but one of the drawbacks I have found is a complacency in learning new things - sometimes arrogance that you know everything. By practicing being a beginner in one thing, I remind myself how to be a beginner, how to ask more questions, how to continue to be curious, and it often spills over into all areas of my life. And I want to stay curious. 

• Reduce my burnout. I’ve been burned out a few times in my career - usually once every 3-5 years. I am working to be much more mindful of when I am feeling this way, and take steps earlier to mitigate it. One of those steps, and one of the steps that has brought me back from burnout multiple times is taking the time to learn. Learning, for me, is a lifelong passion. I’ve always been curious and wanted to know more about a lot of different things. I love having conversations with people who can teach me things, or give me different perspectives. I love reading or watching videos on things that are new to me. For me, when I stop learning, I stop growing, and that to me is a kind of death. I find that when I’m burned out, along my journey of recovery, this perspective shifting, this type of learning is incredibly beneficial to me and enhances my resilience.
• Enhance my wellbeing. My learning sometimes drives me to shift my mindset, or enhances my knowledge on how to calm my  nervous system, or how to take care of my body better. All of these not only enhance my health and mental wellbeing, but also enhance my work, and other aspects of my life. 

So, what is my learning binge focused on right now? Here’s a short list - and I’m sure it will have all of the benefits I mentioned above, and some I’m not even anticipating.

• As noted above, refreshing myself on my French using the app, Babbel.
• Invested in a course to learn how to market my work better as well as create a digital course to support my clients and students.
• Positive Intelligence coaching. I joined a learning pod with other coaches and am going through a program based on the book “Positive Intelligence” by Shirzad Chamine. I’m excited to bring this approach to my coaching clients to enhance their results and experience with coaching.
• Yoga Teacher Training. I don’t know that I’ll ever be a yoga teacher, but I have wanted to build a consistent yoga practice and so I knew having the discipline of a course would both grow my practice and help me learn more about they why and how and history which would continue to connect my brain and my body a little better.
• Pickleball 101! I’ve been playing a little pickleball, but wanted to get more confident in my skills and connect into a community.
• Joined my local Chamber of Commerce! While this is not the same type of learning, it is an opportunity to gain new perspectives and connections and I think that is part of learning and growing as well.
• Attending 2 different conferences in October to gain more perspectives through content and through the people I meet.
• Added a new podcast to my rotation - in case you’re curious, it’s CEO School by Suneera Madhani - a woman who has been a successful CEO in a male dominated industry and who is also giving me new insights and perspectives - it’s a little ahead of where I am right now, but I find that valuable as well.

So, what are you waiting for? If you aren’t currently learning something new, consider this your invitation to try something new. It doesn’t have to be extreme like my learning binges - it could be a conversation with someone new where you approach it with curiosity and the intent to learn more about them, their work and/or their life. It could be taking a course on LinkedIn Learning or Coursera or Udemy or watching a TedTalk. Find a way to keep growing. I am a firm believer that leaders are learners.

I’d love to hear more about what you’re learning these days and what kinds of learning you’re seeking. Reach out to me on LinkedIn or send me an email through this site and let me know!