5 Outside-the-box Ideas for Professional + Personal Development [Leadership Insight]

Foreign welcome to this Leadership Insights episode of the Enlightened Executive where your personal evolution sparks your leadership evolution. In this episode, we're going to share five outside the box ideas for professional and personal development. Because it's a new year and a chance to start again. I don't know about you, but I feel re energized this time of year, and the new year still makes me excited to learn new things. I'm always exploring what's the next thing? What's the next wave of growth? And why is that important? Because having a growth mindset is one of the biggest indicators of success in business and in life. So what's a growth mindset? Dr. Carol Dweck, who coined the term a while back, describes it in this way In a growth mindset, people believe that their basic abilities can be developed through dedication and exploration. Brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and resilience that's essential for great accomplishment. If this time of year has you yearning for something new to test your abilities and expand, here are some tried and true tips I highly recommend. Number one Try attending a growth oriented retreat. Do you learn best in a structured environment with projects or exercises or group discussion? If that sounds like you, seminars and retreats are where you will learn best. For example, the Landmark Forum is grounded in a model of transformative learning, a way of learning that gives people awareness of the basic structures which they think, know and act. My journey to become a leadership coach started with Landmark over 20 years ago. I know it's crazy, but there are also other types of programs like these. There's the Insight seminars, which are highly interactive and experiential for each and every participant and attendees. Learn through a series of short presentations, one on one exercises, and a lot of lively group discussion. Some of our favorite personal growth retreats are, as I mentioned, Landmark Insight. There's Byron Katie's the Work series, and I'm also a huge fan of Dr. Joe Dispenza and some of his retreats. Number two commit to learning to meditate. If you're wondering how meditation could possibly influence your career, hear me out. Numerous studies have proven that meditation increases focus, patience and creativity, all traits of a great leader. I practice meditation daily and it has truly rewired my own brain, especially during times of great stress. And here are some great apps and excellent books that can help you get started with meditation. There's the Calm app or Headspace app. There are Monday meditations on YouTube, or there's the book Learn to a Practical Guide to Self Discovery and Fulfillment. Learning to meditate would be a great goal if you haven't already started a practice. Another wonderful tool to use is Audible to listen to all those business books or personal books you've been meaning to read. Do you have an entire shelf of business books gathering dust? When you're busy leading a company and trying to maintain some semblance of work life balance, it can be hard to find time to read. I know it. I certainly have a pile of books in there. Enter Audible. I love it. I use this platform to listen to books when I'm in the car, during flights, or even when I'm making dinner. I'll even listen to 10 minute snippets while I'm getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth. Audiobooks make it so easy to learn new things, stay on top of changes in your industry, or just catch up on that bestseller everyone's been talking about. So lack of time is no longer an excuse. Here are a few of our favorite books to get you started. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman the Untethered Soul by Michael Singer the Subtle Art of Not Giving a Flip by Mark Manson or Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani Number 4 Learn keywords in a New Language Learning languages is so good for us. Learning a second language improves your functionality of the brain, improves memory and staves off Alzheimer's and dementia. I mean, talk about a win, win, win. But becoming truly fluent in a language is a multi year process. So instead I'm going to suggest that you learn 15 or 20 keywords or phrases in a language spoken by your clients, vendors or team. Your team members in Beijing will be so happy to hear you wish them Happy Chinese New Year in Mandarin. Or your vendor in Brazil will probably appreciate when you greet her with how's it going? These tiny efforts go a long way towards strengthening professional relationships, and they're good for your brain. Here are a few places to learn key phrases in the new language. Google Translate. You can just type in the phrase you want to learn and it will say it back to you in the target language. Or try the Duolingo app, or take a look at Pimsleur and of course, the tried and true Rosetta Stone. And that's just to name a few. Number five finally, another great suggestion is to revisit something you loved as a kid. As we get older, it's tempting to turn our attention exclusively towards activities that bring in money, business or prestige. We take up golf because it facilitates networking and we forget how much. We actually used to love playing softball. Or we abandon our tango classes because what's the point? That time could be used to pitch investors or meet with clients. I encourage you to revisit some of the things you used to love as a kid. What did you like to do before you were concerned about an activity being monetized or business expensable? Whatever you liked as a kid. There's probably an adult version of it. Join the company softball league, do some community theater, rent a mountain bike and see if you still love barreling down the hill on narrow dirt trails. I recently started riding horses again, something I hadn't done in years, and I was just floored by how much I loved it. It helped me reconnect with myself in a way that's just not possible in the office or at workshops. And I love being in nature. So how does this apply to your career? Well, it's about balance. When you're happier, more fulfilled, you're a better leader. You're less likely to take a reactive stance or approach problems in a much more creative mindset. Fun is good for you. Places you can check out your previously loved interests, look at community recreation sports leagues, your local YMCA or YWCA community education, or visit websites such as Skillshare, Udemy or YouTube tutorials. And lastly, you can look for local meetup groups or find other people who are interested in the same stuff that you are. If you're not sure where to start with your professional development, we'd love to help. Get in touch@susandrum.com and if you liked this episode and want more leadership insights like these, hit the subscribe button and the like button and we always appreciate our five star reviews. Let's lead the way. Hope you enjoyed today's episode and I'd like to point you to the next important step. Hit the subscribe button to get notified when we release new content. I'll see you on the next episode of the Enlightened Executive. Sa.