The Unconscious Habit of Growth
One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I usually don’t make a conscious effort to say, “Okay, now I’m going to start learning about…” or “Today is the day I change my life.”
I just do it.
Most of the time, I don’t even realize I’m doing something new until it has already become a part of my regular routine. For instance, I don’t consciously think about eating better or developing a regular workout routine until one day, a few weeks in, I look up and realize it’s just a part of my everyday life. I don’t announce my growth to myself; I just wake up one day and realize that I’m growing.
Hardwired for Curiosity
That willingness and motivation to learn is something that makes people great students. I’ve always been a lifelong learner. If I had it my way, I’d go to school forever. In my world of worlds, I would learn everything about everything, travel everywhere, and try everything (except for the illegal stuff, of course). I’m a teacher by trade, but I honestly wonder what I would be like if I worked in any another profession, because this curiosity is just hardwired into who I am.
Inheriting the Old Man’s Grit
I like to think I inherited a lot of this from the Old Man, at least to an extent.
When my mom and dad got married in their 20s, they struggled financially, just like every young couple does. Inevitably, regular routine maintenance would come up. When my dad didn’t have the extra funds to spend on getting the oil changed on his car, he bought the equipment, put his head down, and learned how to do it himself. He did the same thing with the brakes. Out of pure necessity, he learned how to do things so he wasn’t spending what little money he had paying other people to do it.
Now, I don’t pretend to be nearly as handy as the Old Man was, but over the years, I’ve learned how to do a couple of things around the house and on my car myself. I’ve learned to fix a broken dryer, an air conditioner, and a hot water heater.
However, unlike the Old Man, I have the benefit of the internet. It’s amazing the amount of information that’s available online when you’re trying to figure out how to repair something. I remember hearing a story a few years back about a woman who built her own home from scratch just using things she bought at her local Lowe’s and information from contractors. It proves what’s possible when you refuse to be helpless.
The Evolution of the Toolbox
Lately, I’ve even been leaning into AI, particularly Google Gemini. For all the controversy surrounding how we power artificial intelligence, it is a remarkable tool. I’ve literally taken photos of my dryer when I didn’t even know the model number, sent it over, and said, “Hey, here’s what I’m trying to do.” It identified the model and walked me right through the repair.
But I never want to get to a point where I am too dependent on technology. Technology is a tool, not a replacement for actual learning or doing actual work. After all, somebody had to know how to fix a dryer in the first place to feed that information to the AI or to create the YouTube video about it. There will always be a need for human experts.
As a teacher, one of my big pet peeves with the younger generation is that I firmly believe social media has completely replaced socialization for many of them. That’s why it’s always so refreshing when one of my students says, “No, I’m not on social media at all.” They are choosing the real world. For me, technology is a lever to fix my real life, not a place to hide from it.
The Ultimate Classroom
And just as I don’t make a conscious decision to start things, the same has been true about this 1,000-day blogging streak of mine.
When I started, I didn’t think it was humanly possible to blog every day for 1,000 consecutive days. It wasn’t something I ever thought I wanted to take on. But the streak quickly took on a life of its own.
More than anything, it’s been insanely introspective. It became the ultimate classroom, and I was the subject. It taught me what I will and will not tolerate in relationships, how I interact with people, and my career goals. Because I just kept showing up to do the work, I accidentally rebuilt my life. I cleaned up my finances, established firm boundaries, and deeply worked on my relationship with Kid 1 and Kid 2.
I didn’t plan the destination on Day One. I just grabbed the tools available to me, copied my dad’s grit, and started fixing what was broken.
Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Whether I’m closing in on 1,000 consecutive days of blogging or reflecting on the decade of work that brought me here, the mission remains the same: No glitz. Just the work. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint and the ‘Tricorder’ perspective behind the rebuild.
Today’s post is inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt. While I’ve taken the topic in my own direction for the Road to 1,000 Days, you can find more responses to today’s prompt HERE.
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like 👍, comment and subscribe below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media and check out my recent posts!
- Accidental Momentum and the Modern Toolbox
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- Rolling the Hard Six: Leadership and Adulthood In the Pale Moonlight
- A Shift in Reality: All of This Has Happened Before
AI art created by Google Gemini
The article “Accidental Momentum and the Modern Toolbox” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob
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