Everything is learning and playing

I love when I meet fellow camp lovers, because I get to ask them what it is about camp that they love so much. And I also always ask how they would describe camp to someone who may not have had the experience of it. A recent Idea Camp client said something really great about their experiences as a camper growing up…“everything is learning and playing when you are at camp.”

What if we approached the big scary ideas we have for our lives as if they were just learning and playing?! It takes some of that big scary energy out of it, doesn’t it? I love working with people who have big ideas for their life and for the world. Maybe there is a career they’ve always wanted to pursue or something they’ve always wanted to build and see in the world. A lot of times my clients describe these ideas they have as a “calling.” And with that kind of big-time energy, it can be easy to forget that everything is just learning and playing. And trust me, I get it. I am pretty convinced that it is my life’s purpose to help people create lives that they love, and sometimes I also get incredibly overwhelmed by this calling. It feels so personal and so big, and how will I ever “figure out how to do it all”?!

But at the end of the day, the same thing that made camp work, is the same thing that is going to make your idea or goal work. Lean into the learning and the playing. So, what does that look like practically? Let’s talk about it….

When we are playing, it’s all about imagination. It’s all about the fun of the thing. I absolutely love thinking of life as a big game. What are you willing to do just for the sheer love of the game? Doing it for the sake of doing it. Maybe bringing that approach into your “big scary life changing” ideas might remove some tension and open you up to find creative paths forward.

When we take on new paths forward with a learning mindset, we get less scared of each step “going the wrong way” and more excited to see what is going to happen. Ask yourself what you are committed to learning in the process of bringing your idea to life. For each milestone or step in your plan, get clear on what you will know (learn). This anchors the forward movement in learning not in getting it perfect of getting it right.