Professional Development

Weekly Challenge: Educating the Inner Child

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Ever heard the term inner child? I'm sure you have.  As for what it means, well, it seems whatever meaning it once has is now diluted by jokes, assumptions, and pop-psychology.

But, we're going to drag out this tired term for your challenge this week.

You probably think of yourself as mature overall, but there are things where you are ignorant, where you don't know, where you are, in one way or another immature.  Inside the "adult you" are little pieces of yourself that have yet to grow up and mature, parts of you that may be painful to deal with because of their flaws and immaturity.

Pick one of these "inner children", perhaps the ignorance of a subject or a petty and immature behavior.  You're going to work on it.

Take this troublesome inner child, and ask what opportunity is needed for it to grow up – what is the right time, right environment, right situation to let this annoying piece of you mature into something grand.

Now, how are you going to make that happen this week?

Sometimes our problems, our troublesome inner children, are best dealt with by seeking the right situation – and by handling them one at a time.

– Steven Savage

Weekly Challenge: Cultivate a Seed

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What we are in the future is determined by our past and our present.  The past is, well, past.  The future is yet to be determined.

So it's what we do in the present that matters.  We can miss this fact as we're looking too far back or too far forward.

So here's your weekly challenge.

Right now there's something you want to be or do in the future.  You aren't there yet, but you will be and hope to be.  Much like creating a garden, you've got a few planted seeds that you are hoping to cultivate into something wonderful.

Identify one of your "sees" right now.  Maybe it's trying to exercise more so you loose weight.  Maybe it's to learn a programming language to be a programmer.  Maybe it's to read more and get smarter.

Pick one of these seeds and ask yourself what you're doing to cultivate it and protect it so it can grow.  Are you reading up on eating better to improve your health?  Are you studying every day to improve your programming skill?  Do you have a big sticker on your television to remind you to read a half hour a day?

Identify what you're doing to protect and nurture that seed.

After that, maybe you'll want to take a look at the other seeds you've planted for the future . . .

– Steven Savage