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You’re never too old to learn and grow (I hope!)

Guest post by: Jim Smith

Article Overview: Are you being stretched outside your comfort zone? Change in the workplace – and in life – is inevitable. Embrace it and learn from it.

You’re never too old to learn and grow (I hope!)

"Our ability to grow is directly proportional to our ability to entertain the uncomfortable." ~Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life A recent email exchange within one of my coaching groups addressed our discomfort with being stretched outside our comfort zone. Carole shared this recent story, which I share here with her permission:

"A few weeks ago my 97-year-old father-in-law died after the loving attentions of my mother-in-law could not sustain his life any longer. Although attempts by my husband and his numerous siblings have been made over the last few years to set up an alternative living arrangement, my mother-in-law was not ready to leave her home but has always been insecure about being alone (you can get locked out of the house just going out to your car to get something when you're visiting because the doors are always set to the locked position).

Her daughters (one local, the other about an hour away) had been spending a lot of time at the family home as Pops' days wound down and, for the first several days after the funeral, one daughter literally slept in the same bed with my mother-in-law to allow her to be comfortable staying in the house. Then, the following week, the day came when no one was available to spend the night (several in a row, in fact).

After the first night alone, I called my mother-in-law to see how she had fared. What she said was, "I did all right." She talked about how she had gotten herself to sleep and how she had handled awaking in the middle of the night. And then, after a pause she said, "I had to prove to myself that I could do this."

I was instantly struck by the fact that she had probably never anticipated that, at age 89, there would still be new challenges to face and learning to experience!

I recently revisited Carole's story when one of my clients, a 30-something manager who just finished his MBA and had been promoted to senior management, spoke of his discomfort with the frequent change in his workplace, saying, "You worked in Corporate America for a lot of years, Jim. When is this going to level off for me?"

I just laughed. Yes, I'm sorry, it was very uncoach-like of me, but I just laughed maniacally for a minute. And when I could catch my breath again, I managed to squeeze out one word in between my spasms of laughter: NEVER!

And then I told him this story about Carole's mother-in-law. "This is not about work," I promised him. "It's about life. Your experience in the world depends very much on how you view change - is it the enemy, to be resisted and fought at every turn? Or is it, simply, the Way Things Are?"

He withdrew the question.

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Article Tags: change, comfort zone, communication, executive coaching, leadership tips



Related Forum Posts
Re: Hello from North Carolina - Hi Donnie, Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to learn and grow your business. I look forward to reading your contributions and hope you enjoy your time here, regards, Mal.
Hi from New York. - I'm new here, hoping to learn and make some more money. Hopefully will learn and grow with some of the members here. Hope all is well.
Re: Who Did You Learn Most From and Why? - Hi Martin, You missed out on the most essential community that helps you grow - Your Clients. Well, I believe that my Initial Clients have been the ones who have given me the moments of 'aha' in my business. They have stood by me even when I was a starter and that has helped me shape and build my stand. They have helped me grow as an entrepreneur, learn to have loads of patience and make the most of what comes across. They have also helped me to strengthen me as a person. btw, personally speaking, my Grandfather always kept me on track and lent me emotional support when I was down in any matter - be it business or otherwise.
Re: A fellow Business Man........ - It's great to have you here. We always look forward to sharing ideas with new people and we hope you'll get something useful out of it was well. People are very help here so I hope you'll find it a great place to hang out, look, and learn.
Re: If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you. - Very true, we grow during times of adversity and this is how we learn. Without a challenge nothing changes. MichelleJ


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