Why do we box ourselves in?   Because it's easier and more comfortable.  It's also boring. 

I'm a big fan of learning new and interesting things outside of my wheel house.  It keeps me fresh, excited, and creative because it introduces me to people and concepts that I otherwise wouldn't have encountered if I remain only a student of my own field.  

Some things I've been learning lately…

• Creating online courses (stay tuned BTW).  I've taken several online courses myself – Seth Godin's freelance course and Ramit Sethi's Earn 1k have been my favorites so far.
• Web design – related to aforementioned online courses.  As much as I resisted and hated this at first, I'm actually really proud of myself for learning the basics. Also, Course Cats makes it learnable with their templates, shortcuts, and tutorials.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had the patience or smarts to figure it out otherwise. 
• Backend website management.  The way websites were built and managed was always a mystery to me until I started this blog.  But my understanding has grown exponentially in these past few weeks. 
• What makes thought leaders great.  I listen to a LOT of podcasts because I have a fairly long commute to and from work each day.  Life changing.  A couple of my favorite podcasts that have introduced me to dozens of thought leaders through their interviews are Entreleadership and the Tim Ferriss Show.  This is where I get a lot of the book recommendations for things I read – either from the authors who themselves are interviewed, or books that are mentioned by the host or interviewee.  
• A recent book I really enjoyed is The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.  The title makes it sound like a way to get out of working and to be lazy, but it's actually quite the opposite.  It's about how to streamline your day to day living and not waste as much time on tasks such as email (I'm down to only checking my email 2x per day Mon-Fri, not at all on weekends).  This has freed me up to focus on completing meaningful tasks that make a bigger long-term difference.  It has also freed me up to enjoy little tidbits of my day more – a walk or some yoga at lunch, a quiet start to my morning.
• Experimenting with my morning routine.  Also inspired by Tim Ferriss, I've been playing around with my morning routine to find a peaceful and high quality way to start my day.  I noticed that I was starting all of my days stressed out by feeling rushed and frustrated with my toddler.  So now I am getting up 30 minutes earlier, having a quiet cup of coffee by myself while I pray and read a little bit.  Some mornings I do some stretching or meditation.  I've also been doing a "5 minute journal" where I write down the 3 most important things to do that day.  It helps me prioritize and not waste time on things that feel urgent but aren't actually important.    

The point of all this isn't to brag about myself or to imply that you should be doing these things.  It's to demonstrate that we can all be lifelong learners, and it's really fun to experiment with things outside of your usual realm.  It opens you up to people and concepts you've never even thought about before.  

These things also give you perspective that life isn't just about the way you look, how much money you make, what you weigh, how big your house is.  It's easy to waste a lot of time focusing on these things, and comparing ourselves to others in these areas makes us feel like crap about ourselves.  

How about finding passion for other things in life?  Things that spark your intellect, that get you excited, that make you feel more alive?