Time moves fast the older you get. It seemed like it took forever to grow up and then bam, you’re turning 50 this year. Obvious questions come up like, have I lead a purposeful life? Am I where I want to be? Am I doing the things I want to do? Am I surrounded by people who love me?

The answer is yes to most of these questions. However, as I get older, I feel like I should be giving something back to others, to my community, to my family. I’ve lived a pretty selfish life. Not selfish in the sense that I don’t attend to the needs of others that depend on me, both at home and at work. But selfishness in the broadest sense - How can I put my own interests aside and help with things within my community?

I don’t know where to start. I’m not a club or group person. Never have been. I’m not a team sport guy, always preferred individual sports. Why? I never felt or wanted the need to be part of a larger group. I have a small group of friends and that has always been enough for me.

I make my living by running a learning & development team at my company. Most days, I’m helping my team prioritize work, clear obstacles, following up on assignments, and outlining new programs. I rarely do live instructor-led training anymore. When I do, it is usually purely operational. Showing people how to perform simple tasks using a new system or changes to an existing one. Nothing exiting.

I’ve had an idea for a while that I’d teach a class at work differently than most corporate training programs. Instead of 60 minutes, 90 minutes, half-day workshop, I’ve always thought it might be interesting to pick a subject and go deep. Run it like a college class where we meet 1X or 2X a week for a quarter or semester length in time. Purchase a text book and go through it. Long form learning is what I like to call it.

What subject would I teach? One that I am very interested in mastering is Interpersonal Skills. This is a wide subject area but involves active listening, self-regulation, managing relationship, resolving conflict, negotiation, persuasion, the list goes on as it is a pretty big subject area.

I might give this some more thought. I’ve been working from home since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This would give me a chance to go back into the office and get in front of people again. Maybe a small group of 10 people who want to improve their skills.