Get Uncomfortable and LEARN SOMETHING!

I have an issue festering inside me that I’d like to share…

Last week I had the opportunity to work for Smartwool in Steamboat Springs.  We were at the Howlesen Hill Ski Area.  Howlesen is a facility for Olympic hopefuls in winter sports (ski jump, moguls, slalom, etc).  Now, the facility was shut down for the year so no athletes were there, however, their presence was definitely felt.  As I bent over a drinking fountain grabbing a sip, I glanced to a doorway to my right.  Above the doorway read a sign, “What are you learning today?”  A seemingly simple question, and reminder, to the young athletes there preparing for a chance at greatness.  The sign brought on an especially difficult period of introspection for a fitness-geek battling with the reality that his Olympic hopes are buried in the field of “coulda beens”.  I was stuck.  Last summer I tackled mountain bike racing, last winter it was telemark skiing, this spring it is….what?

Learning for the sake of fulfilling a desire, completing a lifetime achievement, or simply enhancing one’s happiness is both a challenge and a strict need for all of us.  Now, I’m not talking about the type of learning that is needed to fulfill a new responsibility at work, or the learning needed to help the kid with geometry homework.  I’m talking about the type of learning that is solely for YOU.  The learning needed to become a better at-home chef, a gardener, a rock climber, or a guitarist.  The type of learning that makes you one step closer to Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man Alive”.

Your challenge is to answer the question.  What are you going to be learning this spring/summer?