Kaylaa Blackwell sees the New Year as a good time to commit to self-improvement and has advice for those who want to stay the course right through 2019.
Welcome to a New Year! It’s exciting, isn’t it?
You’re right at the edge of a New Year and it feels so invigorating and empowering.
This is the time for you to achieve what you’ve always dreamed of.
It can be intimidating to take on a new proficiency or tackle a fresh version of yourself.
It could be a small change, such as adding a new skill to make you more marketable, or a complete transformation.
In order to keep from getting tripped up before you even begin, here are a few steps that can help get you on the right path from the start.
First, you need to begin:
You may have been contemplating a change for a while before you actually put things into motion.
Now that you know you want to begin you have to be willing to fail.
Sounds counterintuitive, but if you’re not willing to be bored or frustrated or disappointed by the steep learning curve that comes with a new skill, then it will be hard to get to the finish line.
I remember when I first started in the IT field as a temporary worker in one of the largest conglomerates in my home country, Jamaica.
As a trainee, I had to prove myself in a very complex and fast changing job, so I often stayed late to work on my own time to practice building computers, loading the operating systems and the software programs.
Soon I was seen as a ‘go to’ person and the company invested in my education, allowing me to start night classes at the university.
I took my knowledge and expertise and continued to build on it, choosing to acquire a deep understanding of technology and mastering the fundamentals.
I continue to hone my skills and always believe that I can learn from others.
I seek out ways to improve what I’ve already learned while working to make a process or solution even better.
My only goal ‘is to know’ and fully understand what I am doing, so I can improve and work smarter.
You need to know how to improve:
Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, Daniel Kahneman says that the acquisition of skills requires a regular environment and an adequate opportunity to practice.
Also essential is a rapid and unequivocal feedback about the correctness of thoughts and actions.
If your goal is to improve your tennis serve, then practicing your serve every day for three months won’t necessarily create the improvement you’re looking for.
That’s because practicing the same thing over and over, without knowing how to improve will not work.
You need to practise with purpose:
To be able to turn knowledge into skill, you must practise with an improvement blueprint in mind.
This is because when you do something repeatedly, you rewire your brain.
In other words, learning a new skill is doing the new skill.
Practising in a proactive way that aligns with the blueprint will make all the difference, serving as a launching pad to push you even further.
Accept qualified feedback on your improvement:
You have the motivation, you know what to do in order to get better and you are putting your skills into practice.
The last piece of the puzzle is to be open to feedback on your actions.
You do not want to be limited by your own narrow viewpoint.
You cannot see yourself at a 360 degree angle, so there will always be blind spots.
Professor of Management and Organisational behaviour at Babson College, Joseph Weintraub says you must ask yourself: “Who in my organisation, other than my boss, would notice my changes and give me honest feedback?”
When you have someone you trust to offer constructive criticism, it can quickly bring your new skills into alignment.
*Kaylaa Blackwell is an IT Professional and a student with a penchant for writing, researching and helping others resolve real world issues. She can be contacted at commonsensegal.com.
This article first appeared on Kaylaa’s blogsite.
