Keep On Asking Questions

A lot of the time we get sideways looks or exasperated sighs when we ask questions. Honestly, how else are we going to learn?

There’s a fine line between asking out of pure curiosity and asking repeat questions because of a lack of confidence in your own skills. But squashing curiosity is the killer to a love of learning. In general, I love to learn and so far it’s been a major benefit in the jobs that I’ve had recently and in keeping me afloat with the rate of information that I need to acquire to work efficiently. The one area I don’t ask enough questions though is finances. Aside from knowing it’s a good idea to keep records, balance that checkbook, and save what you can and set up a retirement plan, it’s always been more of an annoyance than interesting.

It’s kind of an important thing though, I mean, that’s how we survive right? So along with the theme of pushing myself and delving into research, I was lucky to catch an online Summit Skillcrush put on about entrepreneurship and finances. Normally I’d skip that kind of thing, but I checked it out and found some really good information that can apply to non-work life as well. Just a few of the ideas that really struck home.

“Analyze your time- track how long it takes to do tasks. Don’t make yourself work at times you normally reserve, help yourself to succeed, don’t fight yourself and don’t fight reality. Don’t hide your ‘side hustle’, let people know what you’ve got going on.”

“Figure out if it’s a hobby or a side hustle. Or is it how you want to change your life? Decide and go for that goal, decide on your purpose and follow it.”

One of the most important to me was- “Challenge your core ideas about money, your ideas about money are not necessarily true. You decided it’s true, you weren’t born with those thoughts.”

Being able to challenge your way of thinking and to really make a decision on what you want to do is terrifying at best, but I’ve seen it be ultimately rewarding. The only constant thing in life is change anyways. I know I have decisions to make on the subject of what I’m going to do with this online course I’m going through, and where it’ll take me in the near (or far) future. It’s always harder to ask yourself questions because you’re also the one who has to come up with the answers.

And like I mentioned, these quotes can really be applied anywhere in life. I’m so glad that in the career path I’ve chosen, I have an endless opportunity to challenge myself, to learn new ways of thinking, and to grow and ask questions. Plus, it’s been a definite creative outlet and lets me stretch those artist muscles that haven’t been used in a while. My love of learning and asking questions frequently gets me into taking on too many projects at a time and stressing myself out though… Because why could you be doing one thing when you could be doing three! This is where moderation and boundaries come into play. And so far I suck at them. I guess I need to turn my love of learning towards learning to build up my weak areas, even though it’s not as fun as overloading on the cool stuff.