Dogs are “a man’s best friend.” They are even better friends and fit more functionally into your family when they are well behaved. Obedience school is good for them as they thrive on structure. But the best part of obedience school is what you will learn about yourself.
My time at obedience school with my first puppy, I learned more about myself than I ever imagined. Patience was the big learning!
The idea here though is not about obedience school. It is about making sure that you find ways to explore and try new things through learning. Our brains will turn to mush if we are not stretching them with new ideas and ways of doing things. The machine I call the brain is constantly making new connections with the close to 100 billion neurons we have in our heads. Making these new connections never stops if we are able to expose our brains to something new. This is why personal growth is imperative.
The curiosity that comes from discovery, even if it is not in your field of expertise, allows us to become better leaders because we:
– Discover new things about ourselves.
– Become more strategic in our thinking when we are able to connect more dots to desired outcomes.
– Become less judgmental of others as we develop a better understanding of others.
– Use our brains in a mode of higher level thinking.
Obedience school is not the only way to get this amazing benefit. You can:
– Take a pottery class or learn basket weaving, painting, photography, chess, etc.
– Learn to juggle. You will be amazed at what you can learn about yourself by learning to juggle.
– Always be reading (Social Media and the news doesn’t count!).
– Listen to books in your car.
– Write. I put in about 100,000 miles (160,000KM’s) a year inside an airplane going somewhere in the world. (I’m at 35,000 feet right now). That’s about 200 hours or 8.3 days most of my fellow passengers are watching TV. I use this time to write blogs and my latest book. Writing down your thoughts by journaling will help make so many things clear in your life. You might even craft the next bestseller!
– Teach. The very best way to learn something and to become expert at it is teach others. Be a coach of a minor sport. Share your wisdom with High School or University students by guest lecturing.
