Why Skill Growth Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Talking about the value of training and growing your skill set because it's not just about you growing, it's what you're giving back in the process.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel podcast. I'm Lauren Langman. I'm one of the world's leading dog trainers, and it's my mission to help owners become their dog's top priority. In each episode, you'll discover how to gain trust and communicate with your dog like never before, creating unbreakable bonds that make you the most exciting part of their world. Justin, I love that you're here. And most of all, I love that you suggested this topic. So this was your suggestion. So here you are, Dog Training Podcast. We're talking dog trainers, people who want to sort of lead their field, people who want to understand more, people who want to be better in connection, communication. Ultimately, dog training really is about connecting with people because if you can't connect with other people, then it doesn't really matter if you can connect with the dog because it's ultimately the people that are paying you and working with you. So for dog trainers, it's really important we connect. It's really important we we know how to discuss things. Now, what you said is about also the people knowing how to grow and knowing how you want to grow and knowing where you should grow or when you should grow or what opportunities you

Learning As An Antidote To Fear

SPEAKER_01 1:18

should take. Tell us a bit more.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Woof, this sounds like a deep topic, Lauren. Well, first of all, hello everybody. No, I think this is one of those things that is so easy to forget, right? So in life, one of the things that uh that has always helped me is the ability to learn and grow. And I think that, you know, I've got three kids, I've had dogs in the past, I've had everything else. And one of the things that keeps me united, especially with my kids and even with my pets, was that bonding element of continual growth. And so what I wanted to talk about today in particular was really looking at the the opportunities that are out there. And that means training opportunities. And the reason the subject seems so important right now is that there seems to be a lot of things going on that are scary to people in this world, whether it's AI, whether it's war, whether it's, you know, whatever. There's a lot of stuff going on. So the best way around that is to grow your skill set. Okay. If you are doing something to make yourself better, to put yourself in a position of success, one of the tops we talked about a little while ago was called confidence. And one way to get confidence is to learn, right? To have a new skill set, to be valuable in some way. And so to me, one of the values, especially of this community as a whole here at Absolute Dogs, is the idea of community that supports these type of individuals. And I've been part of it for several years now, and I freaking love it. And part of this is everyone's building upon their skill sets. When I go, like this last time, we had an event in November that I went to, and they did something that blew my mind. I was there and I can't remember who it was, but one of the people, it may have been Michelle, had a dog that did like a backwards eight through the legs. I was like, are you insane? Like, how do you do it? And they're just like, oh, this is how you do it. I'm like, how do you do that? Like it blew my mind. And what that did was it did two things. One, it made me want to learn that. And two, it made the person that was showing me valuable in that moment. And so what I want to express to you guys today, and what we're doing in this podcast today, is talking about the value of training and growing your skill set because it's not just about you growing, it's what you're giving back in the process of it that gets everyone else involved and grows you as an individual, but you're also then contributing at a higher level and gets you less scared of everything that's going on because you're less worried because you've got a skill set, you've got something that you're working towards that will be valuable to someone at some point in time. What are your thoughts, Lauren?

Small Daily Steps That Add Up

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Massive, massive. And I think those people who are maybe scared of like how they might grow or where they might grow or when they might grow or what opportunities might come up to them. I think it doesn't always have to be a big thing. I think it doesn't always have to be something that's like, let's do a new degree or let's do a new, like, I don't know, certified, like accredited scheme. Actually, how about spend like like for me, Matt and Liza were out of the weekend, they were at a horse event, and I had 15 minutes to read a book. And I sat there and just read a book and and thought about what was in the book for 15 minutes. And that is growth, and that is you exploring that space. And sometimes I know it sounds a really easy thing to do, but when you're running a family and you're running a business and you've got multiple dogs, or even you just got life, or like when my dad was poorly, you were looking after a person who's sick, or all of those things are really valid and really time consuming. Spending 15 minutes with a book that is on your topic or even off your topic, like sometimes that can be really good growth and really good learning and really good. It doesn't have to be big. I suppose that's the the thing I would I think a lot of people quite easily feel inadequate or like they haven't got the opportunity, or they can't afford the big course, or they can't afford the big learning. It might be 30 minutes looking into games club. For those of you who are not part of games club, it's one pound right now. There is a mega, mega, mega opportunity for you to jump in at. And for me, it might be like spend 30 minutes just looking at videos and mimicking other trainers and mimicking how they train and what they train and what they're doing and how you might enjoy it. Like there are so many cool opportunities. I think the biggest thing is sometimes they look like they are hard work, but you don't need to pick the hard work. You can actually pick the easier options, like what is the doable in your day? For me, the 10 minutes of reading a book or the 20 minutes of of training my own dog. When you are training your dog, you are getting better. You're getting mechanically better because you're doing it. So you're getting good at what you're doing. Like those things also like matter for me. So they they they massively, yeah, it's it's good, it's good. What do you

Free Skills That Build Bonding

SPEAKER_01 5:53

think?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah, no, I think it's great. I would say so. Like a practical example for me was my kids were out here a couple weeks ago, and a buddy of mine, Bill, showed them this really weird thing where you like snap, snap, and pop, and it just was like. And it was so stupid, but it was so engaging. We spent hours and all my kids picked it up. I still can't do it. I feel I feel ridiculous. But they all picked it up and then we recorded videos and sent it back. But it was one of those things that bonded everybody together. It was totally free, and it's one of those skills that you can show someone, and it is pretty impressive to see. It's almost like a magic trick, but it's so stupid and so easy. But it brought everyone together and we've spent hours. In fact, the other day, uh Jackson, my youngest, uh, hurt himself. And so yesterday he was showing me, he's like, but I can still do this, Dad. And it made me giggle. And so, you know, to Lauren's point, learning is not about spending a ton of money. It's about continually growing your skill set. And that skill set can be snapping, right? And it doesn't sound valuable, but someone out there does know how to do it. And you can you can bond on that. Or, like, you know, one of the things that Bailey does that makes me giggle is she does this whole taco thing with her tongue, right? Where you go like that, but she can't do it. She's mesmerized. She's like, Dad, am I doing it? It's like, it's like still a flat tongue. I'm like, no, Bailey, you're not doing it. And she keeps trying it. No one's giving her crap for it. But it's just fun because she's trying really hard to gain a new skill. It was not something that was difficult for me. It's difficult for her. And it's fun to watch her go through that. And it's the same thing with, you know, you guys. Think about something that you've wanted to do or take on.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

I mean, I've got to say, like, I know it sounds ridiculous, but when I was about 12, so I was probably not much um younger than Bailey. I really wanted to learn to whistle. And I don't mean whistle, I mean like this sort of whistle, like really loud whistle. And it took me probably six months to learn it, Justin. Like it took me like a long time. I've got really good whistling. You won't hear it because we're on Zoom, but in person, I'm gonna do it for you. I the other day I got proper big mum points because we were at a gig. We were listening to Benson Boone, who was incredibly good, and I did so many good whistles. And Eliza and her friends were all like, Yeah, go mum, yeah. I loved it, and Matt's name. So I love doing the whistles, only because they praise me, I think. And so I think the big thing about doing something like that, it took you time to learn it. And yet, learning doesn't have to be, like I say to people, it doesn't have to be a course, or it doesn't have to be someone else's instruction. It can be you learning to ride a bike or you learning to trade a dog or you learning to ride a horse, or it can be, of course, it can be a certified course, or it's whatever your flavor of learning might look like. But I think that learning gives us motivation, and that motivation gives us momentum, and that momentum gives us more opportunity, and that opportunity gives us more motivation. And it becomes this really big circle of like confidence through learning something new. And that learning something new, like you said, it could be a silly game that you played with your friend Bill, or it could be a degree, like it really can go like full circle, can't it? It can go, it can go every every level, like every level.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Absolutely. I I mean you sound like Yoda a second ago, with and this leads to that, and that leads to that. I mean, for those who don't know, I mean, this really is off the cuff here. We don't script this thing out. And some of you are going, that's obvious. But most of you are saying, what? But in reality, that's part of learning too.

The Reward Loop Of Learning

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Like learning is about growth, right? At the end of the day. And the whole idea is you want to be growing every day. And so take a step every day to build upon something that you're doing. Whether it's like a great example that Lauren said a second ago is a book. I love to read. And there's a movie out now that my son really wanted to see. It's called Project Hail Mary. And it looks good, but I was not like overwhelmed by it. So he's like, Dad, let's read the book. So we're reading the book together. The book is phenomenal. I mean, I love the book. And I'm learning stuff in it because it's a very science-based book, but it's hilarious. And anyways, it's little things like that. Like, look at learning as an opportunity to bond as well. Because as Lauren said, it's not just about what you get from it, it's about the idea of contributing back and building a community around that whole essence of it. Because what this does is it triggers a new endorphins, which then make you want to do more, right? Because think about it's it's almost like that cycle of the, you know, the reward cycle. When you've learned something, and to your point, it may take you a year, could take you five years, could take you 30 seconds, whatever that time frame is. But when you learn it, you get that hit of, I did it, right? Like this is awesome. Then you want to do something else. You're not like, well, I've learned, I'm done for the day. You're like, I want to learn more. And that's the whole idea here is because it's infectious. It is like a little virus that metastasizes inside you and grows. I guess that's cancer. So maybe it's like a cancer in a good way that grows inside you and you want to do more of it and you can share it with others, and your ability to be contagious is awesome because it inspires others in that process. And so when we talk about this education and learning and growth and training as a whole, it's not about keeping it to yourself. And it's not about, well, I learned this and ha ha ha. It's about sharing it with the world to get other people involved and to keep growing that. Because one of the things that we talk about in all these podcasts is that absolute dogs, sex in the squirrel, this whole thing is just a giant community of awesomeness. And part of that is because everyone's learning. No one's sitting here going, I don't want to learn today. They're all saying, I want to learn more. And that is infectious and awesome. And so part of today's topic is to really get you excited about what can you learn today? What can you right now in Lauren's world, it's like five o'clock at night, almost six. Mine, I'm still mourning, right? So I've got a whole day. Lauren's got a little bit left in her day. What can she do? What can I do today to crush it out of the park and learn something?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Real simple stuff, Justin. Like you can listen to a podcast. I very regularly listen to a podcast. You guys are out there now listening to a podcast. You can say, Yeah, I am crushing it. I'm killing it. I am doing my best because I'm learning. The other thing I wrote was because I was writing some notes when you were chatting, like the the fact that you said inspiring and contagious, like that is what it is. Like someone who's in learning mode is in life mode. And for me, this is life. Because when you're not learning, you're dying, in my opinion. Like you're not, you're not in the mode of like living. And I think living is learning and learning is living. And then learning and living is giving, like, because you'll then you'll recycle that learning in some way. So I'm often like when Liza has a lesson with her instructor, she I get her then to teach it to someone else. So I ask her to teach that same lesson to another kid. I really like that idea that you you then pass that learning along and you push that learning forward. So I think that's a really nice thing to do. And then the other thing I wrote is that actually by passing it over to someone else, you're doing a good deal for someone else's learning. So so I learned something talking to one of my friends earlier, and then I'll pass that on to someone else in the next few weeks, I'm sure. I've learned things talking to you today. Other people in the podcast are going to pick that up. So, and then there's this massive good feeling about giving as well, because when you're learning and sharing, you're then giving, and that's like a another really big like good feeling, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Absolutely. And I

Vulnerability And Non Linear Progress

SPEAKER_00 12:57

think the piece that we we haven't touched on yet as we get ready to wrap up here is the idea that like learning is self-exploration as well, right? So you are learning about yourself through learning. Like me, just going back to this dumb example of the thing. Like, I learned that why the heck can't I do this? It looks so simple, but um, it gives that introspective look to say, what can I do to improve? What can I do to improve? And then there's other people involved helping me. And so I'm learning about myself, what my capabilities are, and where I need to grow. And so that is exciting as well. Because as Lauren said, if you're not growing, you're dying. And growth is the key here. And learning, especially in the human world, and you know, the dogs love it too. Think about your dog. If you come home every day and the dog has been indoors all day, that yes, they're excited to see you, but they want to go do something, right? They want to go learn, they want to have an active brain. Learning keeps your brain incredibly active, and that's really key. Sorry, Lauren, what were you gonna say?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

No, it like absolutely a hundred percent and and absolutely aligned. And I wrote down there a couple of things, like learning could be as simple as going surfing, because for me, it's not I had a saying when I was at school and it was for life, not school, we learn. And I really like that saying. So you're learning for life. Like when you surf, you learn for life. You learn like patience, you learn resilience, you learn um tolerance to frustration, you learn balance, you learn coordination, you learn timing, you learn so many different things. You're learning for life. Like we watched the greatest like like waves and and people catching waves when we were walking along the coast. And yeah, just again, it kind of reminded me of surfing. And there is also a vulnerability in learning because you may go wrong at times or you may not be correct. Like, there is a vulnerability in learning, and I think that vulnerability in learning is really impactful for what we do in life because I think it teaches so many lessons. And then the other thing I wrote down was learning doesn't have to look like something linear. But for me, Mel Sivio, she comes here, she teaches, and I might be strong at some things, and I might not be strong at others, and and that's her coaching, and that's how she coaches, and we work through the things you're not strong at. And sometimes you have a step back or you have a step sidewards, and it's not always linear. So, just a few, a few of my thoughts and all of them around learning. What do you think?

Organic Learning Through Conversation

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, so I'm just gonna add one more to this because it something that you and I do very organically is like just discussing. Like this four, I mean, before we joined today, there we talked about several books. We talked about food, we talked about a new drink, like there was a ton of things that went back and forth, and we're both learning. Like it was very organic. At no point did I say, Lauren, it's now time to learn. And Lauren didn't say, Justin, you now need to learn. It was just a very organic conversation. And it was very infectious to me because I learned, and then all of a sudden she was like, What about this? And I was like, This, and it was fun. So I think that, you know, when we think about learning, one of the things I'd like you guys to really take away from this is just a conversation. Lauren mentioned a podcast, this podcast, whatever. It's not a structured, formal. You're not necessarily in university sitting there saying, okay, I've got an hour and a half left in class. I sit in desk A, you know, A4, and I need to take rigid note. It's more about sometimes, yes, that's appropriate, but sometimes in life, it's just having these organic things where you take these little nuggets away, you learn, and then you change your behaviors or your habits and you improve continuously over and over and over again.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

I absolutely love it. And I think we're gonna sign out on learning and fun being aligned. If it's not fun, you're doing it wrong, in my personal opinion. And if you can make it fun or you can add something to it to make it a little bit more enlightening or a little bit more, I think when you have the fun, it makes it more memorable anyway. So you'll get the hook better and you'll you'll stick with it. So yeah, Justin, this has been super fun. Learning for life, for life, not school we learn. Um and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. And I hope you come and join us real soon.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

I can't thank you enough, Lauren. I love being here. I'd love to come back. I love the community, and thank you all for your time and listening. I hope you learned a lot because I had a heck of a great time. Thank you.