EPISODE 072 | Designing a Learning Pathway: The Behind-the-Scenes Process

Learning doesn’t happen in isolation - it happens inside full lives. In a year that holds leadership responsibilities, business growth, graduate studies, travel, family life, and personal capacity, often the roadblock isn’t “What should I learn next?”, but rather, “How does continued learning fit into the life I’m actually living?”

In the final episode of the Continuing Professional Education mini-series, Melissa shares how she designed a learning pathway that fits inside an already-full year -  not as a theoretical exercise, but as a lived practice.

You’ll hear how annual and quarterly planning become containers for learning, how seasonality and personal capacity shape what’s possible, and how her four learning priorities landed once they were placed alongside the realities of the year ahead.

We explore:

▶️ Integrating leadership, facilitation, financial empowerment, and systems work into a single year

▶️ Designing around real capacity, seasonality, and life rhythms

▶️ Why Continuing Professional Education is something we live, not check off our list

This episode marks the end of the six-part Continuing Professional Education mini-series. Did something spark reflection or resonate with you along the way? We’d love to hear from you.

Connect with us on Instagram @otsgonerogue or share this episode with someone who is making space for continued learning in an already full year.

There’s more to come ⏩

This also marks the beginning of a new season of OTs Gone Rogue - one grounded in identity, sustainability, and leadership learning that fits real life. 

As always, thank you for tuning in and for being on this journey with us. We’re looking forward to what’s ahead! 

— Melissa & the OTGR Podcast Team

Transcript

Melissa LaPointe [00:00:03 - 00:01:01]

Welcome to the OTs Gone Rogue podcast. I'm your host, Melissa Lapointe. Over the years, I've worked closely with thought leaders, changemakers, and OTs who are ready for something more. And now I'm inviting you behind the curtain where you'll hear stories about overcoming adversity, challenging the status quo, and finding the courage to do things differently. Let's dive in. All right, welcome back everyone to another episode of the OTs Gone Rogue podcast. This is the 6th and final episode of this miniseries, our creative exploration of continuing professional education, where we have looked at identity development and leadership learning in mid-career. Across the past 5 episodes, we've explored why I returned to graduate studies, We've looked at how adult education theory has reshaped my work.

Melissa LaPointe [00:01:02 - 00:02:05]

We've talked about the role of two-eyed seeing and cross-cultural learning in my perinatal health practice. We've explored the frameworks that shape my leadership philosophy. And last but not least, we've looked at the broader vision for my continuing professional education plan. And today we're closing the series by going behind the scenes into the part that rarely gets talked about publicly. How a learning pathway is actually designed in real life, when your career is layered, your capacity is finite, and your identity is evolving. Because it's one thing to imagine the next chapter of your growth, and it's another to design a plan that your life can actually hold. Now, when I started designing my learning pathway a few weeks ago, I didn't begin with a learning plan per se. So I am very appreciative that the timing of this final assignment was in alignment with an annual planning process that I already go through.

Melissa LaPointe [00:02:06 - 00:02:49]

So this assignment was due at the end of November, and it's usually the 3rd week of November into the 1st week of December that I go through this annual planning process. So it's the same process I move through every year. And the same one I guide many of my clients through. Because before I really lean in on deciding what I want to learn, I really want to make sure I understand the year that I'm designing it into. So not the ideal year, not the imagined year, the real actual year. So my annual planning process, it always starts the same way. We pause, we look back. And we do a review of the last 12 months.

Melissa LaPointe [00:02:50 - 00:04:57]

So one month at a time, I get out my workbook, I get out my journal, and I do a full brain dump. I look at what happened, what went well, what didn't, what flopped, what stretched me, what surprised me, and what got in the way. Then I look at what I learned in each month. So what were the lessons? What do I want to carry forward? And what am I ready to leave behind? After I've done this for all 12 months, then I shift from reflecting on the past to looking ahead to the future, this time with a focus on design. So first I map my lifestyle by design. So for the year ahead, I take some time and I get really clear on asking myself questions like, Where do I wanna be living? What time do I wanna be waking up? What's my morning routine look like? When do I start work? When do I stop work? So what kind of hours am I working? What days of the week or days of the month? What does my workspace look like? How much time am I taking away from the business? And what do I actually wanna do when I'm taking that time off? Then I move into my business by design. So getting clear, what does 2026 look like for Three Peak Performance Group? What contracts are we carrying? What partnerships are we in? What programs are we delivering? What are we marketing? What are we selling? What are our enrollment goals? And what revenue goals am I holding? So for the company, but also how does that translate into my salary? And once I have that clarity in place, so on both my lifestyle by design and my business by design, That's when I can finally begin weaving in my learning priorities into the year itself. So if you tuned into episode 71, you'll remember there were 4 learning priorities that I'm carrying forward into this next chapter of my work.

Melissa LaPointe [00:04:58 - 00:05:35]

So they were leadership at a deeper, more grounded level. Then it was facilitation and program design mastery. The third learning priority was around women's leadership and financial empowerment. And the fourth learning priority was around sustainable systems and operations. Those priorities, they're holding steady in my plan. They're not going anywhere. But the way they land inside the year, the sequencing, the pacing, the shape, that part looks different. Once I laid them alongside real life.

Melissa LaPointe [00:05:36 - 00:06:32]

So when I planned out the next 12 months, I'm not going to go into fine amounts of detail here, but here's the high-level summary of how those learning priorities settled. Some things stayed exactly as they were. So graduate coursework, that remains a core structure that is anchored by the school calendar and by our designated term breaks. Some priorities naturally moved earlier. So identity and leadership development, that I pulled into Q1. So Q1 is very consistent for us, and I knew I really needed the grounding of Q1 for that. Then in Q2, things shift a little bit, but I knew in terms of identity and leadership development, there would be some space for reflection. Then we would have time for another intentional push in Q3, where we're leaning into bringing in community and program facilitators.

Melissa LaPointe [00:06:33 - 00:07:11]

Some of our priorities slowed down. So financial empowerment work, that became a long arc commitment woven into the year. So not rushed, not focused on one quarter, but spread out month to month. Speaking of slowing down, I also had to accommodate for a bigger international trip this year. So this means recalibrating my capacity again. Some of those learning priorities shifted. They shifted in how they'll be learned. So my work in facilitation and program design, for example, that became less about formal training and more about experiential practice.

Melissa LaPointe [00:07:12 - 00:07:46]

So through teaching, through hosting conversations and refining our program delivery rhythms in real time. And the sustainable systems work, that's unfolding alongside my operations manager. So it's integrated directly into how we're strengthening infrastructure and running the business. It's not a separate course. It's not something I've signed up for. It's part of the lived reality of leading a growing company. So nothing was dropped. The learning priorities are there, but everything has shifted to align with the life that I'm actually living.

Melissa LaPointe [00:07:48 - 00:08:42]

And some of those priorities, they've changed shape entirely. So I had one around mentorship, and instead of enrolling in another certification or a structured program, the most meaningful mentorship for me this year is going to happen through the podcast. So through the guests that I'm inviting, the conversations we'll be having, and the leaders that I'm going to be learning from in real time. So that's the mentorship model that really fits the season that I'm in. It supports my evolution without overwhelming the system that we already have in motion. And because the podcast, so both production and the episodes produced, that was already part of my business goals. So it's not one more thing that I had to do. I had already done that when I set up those annual business goals.

Melissa LaPointe [00:08:43 - 00:09:18]

So it was a reframing of something that was already here. So what does this all mean? Well, before we wrap this up, I want to bring this back to you because the real takeaway here isn't my plan. It's the process behind it. It's about shaping your learning around an actual real life. It's when you're mapping your own learning pathway. Of course, you need clarity on what you want to learn. That's a given. You want to get clear on those learning priorities and the areas that are calling for attention or development.

Melissa LaPointe [00:09:19 - 00:10:28]

But don't forget to also ask yourself the deeper question: how and where does this learning fit into the life I'm actually living? Because your learning doesn't happen in isolation. It happens inside the same season that holds your work, your family, your health, your responsibilities, and your energy. A learning pathway isn't a test of willpower or discipline. It's an alignment practice with your values, your timing, your responsibilities, and your becoming. And like any living thing, it's meant to evolve. And with that, we are closing this 6-part series. What began as a creative artifact for my graduate program became something much deeper. This has been a space to reflect on identity, capacity, culture, and what it really means to grow as a professional in midlife.

Melissa LaPointe [00:10:30 - 00:11:13]

It was also a very intentional way for us to kick off this next chapter of the podcast. So if you've been listening from episode 67 through to now, thank you. Thank you for being part of this process, for joining me on this little academic adventure of sorts. My hope is that something in this series helped you see your own learning a little more clearly, or gave you permission to design a professional path that honors your values, your body, your season of life, and who you're becoming. Because continuing professional education, it's not something we complete. It's something we live. All right. Thank you for being here.

Melissa LaPointe [00:11:14 - 00:11:27]

Thank you for listening. And I'm going to see you in the next episode where we officially wrap up 2025 and we shift gears for a new season of OTs Gone Rogue. Take care, everyone. Bye.