The Lifelong Learning Journey
This summer I traveled to DC to see my family and friends for the weekend. On this trip I had no idea that I would personally experience learning something new. Specifically, I had an open mind so when approached to learn new technology, I did not hesitate to welcome the challenge. I mean, what could it hurt? Well I learned quickly that grit alone was not going to get me to accomplish learning how to conduct a financial analysis on Excel in two hours. As a middle aged woman who considers herself pretty adventurous, bold and tech proficient, I began to doubt myself when I was forced to take the initiative to learn Microsoft Excel, rather than being a gentle user of the software program.
On the 23rd of July 2026, I accepted the challenge of learning Microsoft Excel. As if learning Google Sheets wasn’t enough, learning Microsoft Excel was a whole new world. I mean, literally, as I explored the Advanced Financial Analysis courses the instructor’s directions seemed like a foreign language that I had not been taught and never took time to learn. Of course, I've used Google Sheets and Excel at work, but quite frankly I had an administrative or program assistant to create the formulas and the dashboards. Specifically, while these valuable team members developed these formulas, I simply plugged in the numbers or delivered the presentation so I did not have to be concerned about the development of the graphs, charts and dashboards, just that the analysis was correct—--- the magic just happened and the report was ready to be shared with my audience.
Embrace Learning for a Lifetime
So in this moment, the magic did not just happen. In this complex landscape I knew that there had to be a lesson in the chaos. It was at this time that I learned and want to share with others, that as you continue to grow your businesses, your nonprofits and become transformative leaders,
“Don't forget to learn something new.”
Don't forget to embrace being a lifelong learner. In that space, I was working every single neuron, or neutron, and all the muscles in my brain to process what was being asked of me. And to be honest learning the Excel functions was not that hard. Specifically, It wasn't hard if you had the time to go through the video sessions, figure out the alignment with the Apple versus Windows version and begin to practice multiple times on the lessons. The more I learned, the less time I had and the more I saw the importance of using AI and Youtube University to support my learning and challenge my answers. As an ED, CEO or Director, using artificial intelligence and social media tools as valuable resources to work more efficiently when your plate is full can alleviate feeling overwhelmed and overworked.
Clear Your Mind-Breathe, Pray, Reset
So, again, as you continue to grow your businesses, nonprofits and model exemplary leadership in your community it's important to take a moment–breathe, pray, and then begin to process exactly what you are responsible for? What is the deliverable? Through this one experience, I learned that once you can think with a clear mind, then you will be able to articulate, to clarify, to define what it is, and exactly what you need to do. You will understand that the task may not be as challenging, but you may need to first figure out how to do it. It may help to write it down or just verbally say, Okay, I am supposed to be completing a dashboard of my prospect donor list that includes contact information, when I will reach out, how I will out and our fundraising goals for each organization, then the load becomes lighter and the task seems accomplishable and manageable.
Value Innovation to Overcome Stagnation
As we mature as entrepreneurs, envisioning learning opportunities as manageable also helps our work not to become stale or stagnant. It provides space to birth innovation and creativity as our businesses grow and flourish. To reflect back on learning Excel, that is a skill that can help anybody, anywhere, and any organization to be stronger, to be more efficient, to collect data driven stories, to share your impact in innovative ways. Data that is shown in a chart, table, dashboard and comparisons demonstrates to funders, community members and partners that your business is making a change and a difference in other’s lives and making informed decisions.
Leave a Legacy
Innovation and legacy building complement one another. One must possess an entrepreneurial spirit to think about and to plan for leaving a legacy. For some reason, everything for me at this point in my life continues to circle back to legacy. What legacy are you leaving? What legacy are you building? And if you're able to say, and I'm just going to use my sister, that I impacted the eye health of 1,000,000 residents in the Charlotte Mecklenburg community for over 10 years. Wow! Think about the role that plays in how your grandchildren and your children, even your great grandchildren, get to know you. Even though, you know, maybe you might not be around anymore. However, maybe you are around, but that just helps others to get to know the type of person that you are. Through your intentional actions to lead your organization, you are leaving a legacy of entrepreneurship, empowerment, integrity and fidelity.
Never Stop Learning
These qualities are a blueprint “to never stop learning.” I challenge you to learn something new daily that can help you to be a better organizational leader—-better health, better wealth, better socially, spiritually, physically, whatever it may be, learn, learn, learn. Additionally, I challenge you to put your learnings into action. What can you do to take the next step to execute how your learnings can impact your community? How does this impact your business? How does this impact your legacy of building? of All of these things matter as we, as business owners, as nonprofit leaders, continue to build strong organizations that not only impacts our clients and our customers and our community, but also impacts our personal growth and development.
At Anaya Enterprises we strive to C.A.R.E and to work with organizations that are interested in:
Becoming lifelong learners
Being committed to learning something “new” often
Valuing innovation to overcome stagnation
Leaving a legacy to be a model for other individuals, business leaders ,and organizations
We look forward to working with organizations that practice these values and want to become lifelong learners to build strong working relationships with their partners. Contact Anaya Enterprises Stacey Brown, Ph.D., CEO for more information on how to become a lifelong learner.