Always Learning: Knowledge, skills and attitude!

Row of women at a firing range shooting guns.
Live and Learn & Learn and Live

As a self-protector, chapter leader and firearms and personal safety instructor and AWA’s Executive Director, it is essential to continually seek to test and further develop my skills, knowledge, and yes, even my attitude!

Owning a handgun doesn’t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician. ~ Col.  Jeff Cooper

Photo collage with certificate, book, class photo and photo of instructors demonstrating.

Not that my attitude needs developing, as it can be quite robust, but it certainly can use some refining and adjusting from time to time!

When it comes to my thoughts on the need for us to be continually challenging ourselves through training and growth opportunities, I’m not alone. Every single member of the Armed Women of America Board of Directors is committed to continuing to build upon their skill set and knowledge base, not just for their own benefit but for the benefit of their families, their chapter members and their clients, and you could even say, for the benefit of their communities.

And, judging from what I see from my fellow chapter leaders and instructors, they too are committed to ensuring against complacency. Watching the growth of this organization in the 11 years since our inception, I am continually amazed and overwhelmingly proud of what we’ve accomplished.

Many started out with little to no firearms handling experience yet became chapter leaders because of the need in their communities and their own interest in helping others become prepared and capable. They trained and eventually gained an instructor certification. From there, they continued to train, to diversify, to seek out nationally recognized instructors and certifications. And they have set the example, blazed the trail and encouraged their fellow AWA chapter leaders to do the same.

The more you know, the more you realize the less you know and the more you seek to know.  Gaining knowledge leads to applying knowledge which leads to sharing that knowledge.

So get out there, stretch the boundaries of your comfort zone! Bring a friend or two along so you can encourage one another! It’s okay to fail and make mistakes, it’s how we grow and learn.

“There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don’t know.”
― Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown

Sign that says Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.