What strategies do you use to intentionally better yourself?

Last week was Take Your Kid To Work Day and I had the pleasure to have my 14 year old daughter Aliyah spend the day with me (I'm not sure she felt the same way haha). It just so happened that I had a Leadership Class scheduled for that particular afternoon so she had the opportunity to participate. After the meeting was over and everyone had left, I asked her:

"So, what do you think?" (quite curious of her response)

Aliyah: "To be honest, I never really thought about trying to be better intentionally. I just thought that I would be better and learn more as I get older. You know, learn from experience."

Me: "Well, that is definitely true. Experience is a great teacher but also the hardest. It gives the test first and the lesson later. Many people keep taking the test but don't actually take the time to learn the lessons from them."

Aliyah: "So what's the best way to learn from experiences?"

I was not 100% prepared for this question but was so impressed that she asked... I had to think of something. What are some strategies that I use to milk the gold out of experiences that I have? Do I actually extract everything that I can myself? Or do I just move on to the next experience and hope that I handle it better than the last?

Me: "Well, there are a couple of things that have really helped me to get traction in bettering myself and learning from my experiences.

1. "Finding people whose normal behaviour is my desired behaviour." I explained to Aliyah that there are many people who get the results that I am looking for whether it be leading a Business, Coaching a Basketball Team, being a Father, or just simply how good of a job they do looking after themselves. I now seek those people out and try to spend as much time as I can with them and ask them questions like:a) What are you learning right now? (I am looking for passion because passion is motivating and contagious)b) What is the greatest lesson you've ever learned? (I'm looking for Wisdom)c) Who do you know that I should know? (I'm looking for Networking)d) What have you read that I should read? (I am looking for Knowledge)"Who do you spend your time with? What is it about them that attracts you to them?" I asked. These are important questions to ask our kids (and even ourselves) because we become who we hang out with every day.
2. "You make your habits and your habits make you." I realized that I am simply the sum total of what I do every day... not what I wish to be. This challenges everything that I do with my time. Am I getting the ROI on every minute of every day? If not, what are the roadblocks. (humble realization that it was ME)At this point, I realized that I was boring her with "Life Lessons" and decided to back off. (LOL). But at the same time, I enjoyed the opportunity to share a conversation with one of the people in my life that "matter most" about a subject that "matters most" that is not learned in the classroom.