You learned a lot as a child, and my guess is that you have also spent the last few years, or even decades, unlearning it all.
If you don’t use it, you lose it. All those math equations, science facts, and English terms that you learned when you were a kid have probably left your brain long ago. And that’s okay. It just means that your brain is making room for the stuff you do use.
But what about all that stuff you forgot that maybe shouldn’t have been forgotten? If you take a moment to walk through the 6 things I learned as a child, I bet they’ll jog your memory of when you were a child. The best part is, once you’ve unearthed these childhood skills, you’ll start enjoying more success in your professional and personal life.
1. Listen to your intuition
Kids don’t spend a lot of time debating whether a choice is good or bad. They don’t second guess their emotions and they don’t apologize for how they feel.
As a child, I learned to listen to my intuition. The best way I can describe it is as a little wiggling sensation in your stomach. The more serious the situation, the stronger your intuition. It’s easy to hear your intuition when it’s telling you to run in a dark alley when you’re all alone, but your intuition can be harder to pinpoint when it comes to deciding what step to take next in your professional life.
Get in touch with that feeling again. Spend time listening to and cultivating it. It has a lot to tell you.
2. All you need is love
The Beatles said it right when they said “All You Need Is Love,” but you may not be understanding the concept correctly as an adult.
As a child, anyone you care about is someone you love. You love your parents, grandparents, teachers, and best friends. You like people who show you love and reject people who don’t. When most people grow up, they think about love in a romantic sense, and the greater, expansive feeling of love is lost.
Cultivate a child’s sense of love. Show love and compassion to your in-laws, coworkers, and even that soccer mom you can’t stand. Develop a deep appreciation of nature all around you, the house you live in, and all the modern conveniences you enjoy. Surround yourself with love and day-to-day living becomes easy, just like it was when you were young.
3. Have more fun and laugh every day (especially at yourself)
If it’s not fun, you probably didn’t want to do it when you were young. As an adult, our days are filled with responsibilities that may not be fun, but they need to get done, which means you probably don’t get to have fun on a regular basis. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you laughed uncontrollably? How can you make some of those tasks that seem so fun … more fun? Could you break it up into smaller, less time consuming pieces? What about treating yourself to something special before or after? Could someone else take it on?
Children laugh every day, and you would do well to do the same. Laughing offers health benefits! Not to mention, life is a lot more fun if you don’t take everything so seriously and you let things bounce off of you!
4. Spend time alone
At some point, spending time alone becomes scary. Spending time alone means spending time alone with your thoughts, and if you have a job, a house, and children to care for, those thoughts are likely to be more like worries.
As a child, I could play for hours alone. Not only did it not bother me to play alone, I actually preferred playing alone! That’s because I lived in the moment. I didn’t feel like a loser because I was playing alone. I didn’t worry about homework that was due the next day or the fact that it’s only Monday and I have four more days until the weekend.
Try spending a little time alone doing the things you love to do. Go for a walk, take up a musical instrument, or spend some time journaling. The more time you spend alone, the more in-touch you’ll become with your hopes, dreams, and goals, which will allow you to live a richer life.
5. Encourage a vivid imagination
All it took for me to travel to another place and time when I was a child was a magical hula hoop. I had imaginary friends, all of my Barbies had their own distinct personalities, and my dog could transform into a fearsome lion when I needed to be defended from an evil witch.
What happened to all that imagination? Well, it probably got pushed aside when other things became more important.
The adult version of imagination is wonder. Have you ever wondered how old the oldest tree is? Or what it would be like to go without TV and the internet for an entire week (is it even possible!)? Take some time to cultivate your imagination. Not only will it make life a little more fun, your children, nieces, and nephews will enjoy spending more time with you too.
6. Learn and grow every day
Learning is a life long process. It keeps us from being bored and adds depth to our lives. Learning is a way to grow and be successful in our businesses, careers and lives. It allows us to look at the world with a different perspective and keeps our mind sharp. It’s easy to add learning into our day by reading more, taking up a new hobby, traveling or listening to audio books.
7. Pick real friends
How many of the people that you surround yourself with every day are actually your friends? I’d be willing to bet that you hang out with one woman because she’s your husband’s friend’s wife and you hang out with that lady at the park because your kid likes to play with her son. Sure, you can be cordial with these people, but since when did you pick friends that aren’t really your friends at all!
As children, we have a knack for giving everyone a chance, which allows us to pick real friends. True friends make our lives richer by offering support and allowing us to learn and grow. Start picking real friends again and you’ll experience more love, you’ll laugh more, and you’ll get practice building a vivid imagination, which are all things on this list!
Get in touch with your inner child and work hard to preserve the things you learned when you were little. They are essential to your health and happiness. Plus, they’ll make you a better spouse, coworker, parent, and friend.
If you’re looking for more ways to consistently build on your success sign up for a Discovery Session today.