Yesterday I was waiting for the email from James Clear to see if there was anything in there I wanted to write about.
We had a number of things planned, including an early start after which we wanted to clear the side area near our shed.  To me it was like the final frontier.  All over grown and quite frankly scary.  We did not know what lurked in the growth.  A snake had come from there and one was smelt when we were clearing earlier.
After that Merril was making a trip into town and I was setting up for an event.
All that to say I was wanting to write stuff as early as possible.  Anyway I did not get the email in time so wrote on other things.  I finally got to read the email in the afternoon and there was something in it I very much relate to.
It was the following and while it may be something well known, though recent experience  I have very much found it to be true.  “The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.  If you really want to learn a topic, then "teach" it. Write a book. Teach a class. Build a product. Start a company. The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will."
I guess it highlights what I go on about regularly.  Learning is about doing rather than just reading.
A friend recently volunteered information that told me they were experiencing exactly the same as me.  They lead a group as I do, and they said they probably get more out of it than anyone else.  Same same for me.
In fact I have recently changed the way I do things.  I am giving as many as possible the opportunity to lead.  It really is straight forward, but it does matter the leader knows their stuff.  My reasoning has been if I want others to get stuff out of what is being shared, I have found the best way to learn is to lead.
As the leader it is important I know my stuff.  Yet the sharing of the duty to lead means others are getting good stuff that in the past was singularly my (and occasionally a few others) domain.
So to me James Clear was right to say, “The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher” and “The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will." 
I like to share good stuff I have found to work, around.

It is interesting to me that some of the most pertinent quotes regarding success come from generals.  For example, Colin Powell said “there is no secret to success, it is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.”  George Patton said, “success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”
What I find fascinating is how both, though very successful, learned important lessons from failure.  To me it is just the way it is that on the road to success there are potholes of failure.  As I so often say there are no losers until they give up.
But success is not guaranteed with out  effort.  As I read that someone said, “you can’t expect to make a place in the sun for yourself if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.”  To me success is about forging my own path.”  I amy not be as talented as someone else.  Yet I agree with something else I read.  “The important thing in life is not to have a good hand, but to play it well.”
That to me sums it up nicely.  Some seem to ooze talent.  Every thing they put their hand too they seem to be good at.  Others seem to have singular abilities.  Yet to me it is not the latent talent that counts but what I do with what I have good.  It is sad but true that the world is full of unfulfilled talent.
Woody Allen said that showing up is 80% of life.  I do feel I know where he is  coming from with that one.  There are times I do not feel like something.  It is so easy to not be where I am to be on the way to fulfilling my dream.  As I highlighted yesterday sometimes clouds obscure the star, but the star is still there. 
But I am glad there have been others that have gone before and tell it like it is.  It is not easy but it is worth it.

As is often the case, I was looking at the sky early this morning as it was becoming light.  There was a star at a distance, and it reminded me of Lucky Eddie saying to Hagar the Horrible.  “Look at the stars” and Hagar saying, “yeah they’re so small and puny and we are so big.”  Err wrong. It occurred to me the closer I get to things the bigger they are.
While looking at the star a cloud drifted in front of it, so it was hidden.  It occurred to me that although it is covered it does not mean it is not there.
It reminded me that so often I set goals and have maybe a big dream in mind, but life and storms so easily cover it.  It does not mean the goal is not there anymore.  It just means it is hidden for a time.  It does not render the goal as invalid, only that I need to ride out what I am going through at the time.
Things happen that obscure my dream.  It can be the legitimate business of everyday life that for a season seems to pile up.  It can be storms that are hard to take and seem contrary to my thinking and aspirations.
At those times I can walk away from what I aspire to.  It is like “not seeing the wood for the trees.”  The thing is though, the star is still there.  It is just hidden.  The temporary does not negate the permanent.
No matter what happens I need to hold to the dream.  It reminds me of the old saying “never doubt in the dark what was true in the light.”  I find that really easy to say, but much harder to do.  I know I need help with it.
I hold to dreams not just “because of,” but on occasions it is “despite” the circumstances and everything that can conspire to cause me to give up.  Give up or not the star is still there and the closer I get to it the bigger it becomes.