Why learning is more important than achievements...

My son’s school does show-and-tell on Fridays.
 
The kids can bring an item in to show the other kids and talk about it.
 
Many kids do after-school activities like dance or football and they'll get medals or certificates from this, so they bring these in.
 
My son has additional needs, so after-school activities aren't an option for us right now.
 
So he doesn't get medals or certificates or anything like that.
 
Every now and then I rack my brains trying to think of something he might be able to bring in for show-and-tell, because he loves to feel included (don’t we all?!)
 
And it got me thinking… I'm obviously a big fan of accomplishing things.
 
I mean, I'm an accountability coach – I'm all about getting things done!
 
But at the same time, we can put too much focus on this.
 
So in addition to my son’s ‘show and tell’, I’d love to see them do something like: What did you learn this week? 
 
Because learning is often as important as what we've achieved.
  
An example… 

Last week a child said something mean to my son. I asked what he did in response.
 
He said it hurt his feelings, so he went over to another child and asked if he could sit with her instead.
 
I said I thought this was really smart... that he didn't respond to the unkind child, but went to find someone kind instead.
 
So his learning for that week could be: if someone's mean to you, walk away and find someone nice!

(And as adults, maybe we could use that for social media etc ;)
 
A suggestion for you… 

Something to think about this month if it helps: what have you learned recently?
 
I love to hear people's goals and dreams, and how they're moving towards them.
 
I find it inspiring and exciting.
 
But, as my clients will know, I'm also all about the learning ;)
 
What did you learn from this?
 
What could you take from this?
 
How could you tweak things so it's easier / better etc moving forward?
 
For you, that might be something like:

• Maybe you learnt that hanging out with that person doesn't feel so good anymore…
  
  
• Maybe you learnt that that sixth alcoholic drink is too much ;)
  
  
• Maybe you learnt that having the house 60% clean but having peace and sanity in your week is more important than having the house 100% clean but feeling constantly stressed and “behind”.
  
  
• Maybe you learnt that what society says we should want, isn’t really what you want.

 
Those are just examples, of course.
 
But learning is such a huge part of life.
 
[And carrying on from this, this is why I don’t believe in failure, per se. If you learned something, it’s not a failure!]
 
If you ever want to message me with goals you’ve accomplished or your progress towards your dreams, I'd love to hear.
 
But I'd also love to hear any learnings you have (and feel free to pop them in the comments, so other people can learn from them too!)
 
More musings again next month but, in the meantime, I hope you’re doing well and are learning ways to be kind and true to yourself.
 
Claire  

❤
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