Posts Tagged ‘dedication’

“You can’t do everything. But you can do one thing, and then another, and then another.” This was a quote from the book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long Term Fullfillment and it’s a great point. Though in an age where with so many distractions and so many options it is something that is extremely difficult to do. Yet, the largest benefits usually come once you get really good at something. Musicians can play a tune once they master their instrument, a basketball player is able to consistently put the ball in the hoop, and an artist can control his hands precisely to make beautiful works of art. So how do does someone become great at something they do?

I hear a lot of people use the words gifted or talented when they discuss someone who is really good at something. It is true that some people have a certain disposition that allows them to excel quicker at something than others, but anyone can obtain these talents with enough dedication and practice.

Dedication

Focusing single heatedly on whatever it is you want to learn. To do so you will have to give up doing other things. However, I have found the benefit of doing something really well far out weighs the benefits of doing many things averagely. Dedicate a time to your activity and don’t let anything bother you. And definitely don’t multi-task. Multi-tasking has become popular in the last decade, but it is not efficient or effective. Once you dedicate your time, focus clearly only on that one thing.

I also recommend you choose the things you do very carefully. Since you will be spending a lot of time on something, it’s important to make sure that it is important to you. If it’s not, then you will be more likely to give it up and try something else. I have started a lot of activities on the spur only to give them up part way through. Its not that I didn’t enjoy some of them, but that time would probably have been better spent getting better at something I really cared about.

Practice

We have all heard the phrase “practice makes perfect”. My father must have told me this a thousand times as a kid. There is no doubt that the more time you spend doing an activity the better you will get at it. But putting in time practicing is only part of it. If you want to get good, and get good fast, then you need to practice in the most effective manner.

The easiest way to find this information will be in from the people who are the best in the field. Whether that be from a book or audio program or personal lessons. The time you spend finding good training materials, a good instructor, or the best methods will save you a lot of wasted time.

Stop Juggling Activities

I did this for a long time. There were so many thing I wanted to try that I ended up being able to do  bunch of things poorly. Having limited my focus to only a few, I now realize how much better it is to be good at a few.

When I was in college I choose to study Japanese. I was fascinated with the culture and really wanted to be able to speak the language. In the same language department I met a student who was taking Japanese, Chinese, and Russian all at the same time. I was very impressed. She was a very good student and defitely put in more time studying her three languages than I did with just my one. But at the end of that semester I was able to have simple conversations in Japanese where as she could only say a few words in each language. Even though she had put in more time than I had it was dispersed over three different languages and she received almost none of the benefits that studying just the one had yielded for me.

I recently came across an article on Men with Pens about cheap education and continuing learning. Working in education myself, I thought I would give my views on the subject as well as a few tips for getting started.

One of the largest problems with most peoples view of education is that it is focused on a way to get some where or something rather than to learn something for the fun of it. Most people tend to think of a degree as a way to get a better job and a higher salary. And to be honest, I used to view it the same way. The problem is that people stop trying to learn something and focus on receiving the credential. With everyone trying to get degrees and credentials you end up with academic inflation. This is something that has really increased. This can easily be seen by looking at the requirements for job positions. Many jobs that use to require a high school education now require a bachelors and the ones that required a bachelors require a masters.

In turn the education quality also lowers as you have more degree seekers. More people start looking for ways to get a degree and not really caring about learning the knowledge. Completing online degrees and masters programs just to have the credentials.

However, learning to gain experience and a new skill is a great idea. Focus on learning rather than obtaining a degree and you will learn a lot more. While the internet may not be the best place to get an MBA, MD, or PHD, it can be a great place to learn about technology, web design and marketing.

self-learning can be difficult and does require dedication, perseverance, and time management. Though if you are learning because you want to learn, and not just to gain some type of credential, then this should be no problem. Below I have listed some of my favorite ways to learn new things as well as some tips to stay focused.

Learning Mediums

1. Classes at local community college- class room setting and super cheap. Many professors also work in their fields.

2. Books- there are a number of best seller books with lots of great information. Many of the books will also have much better information than common text books as the writers have usually been very successful in their fields. If my text books were half as good as some of the best sellers I might have read more in college. Audio book is another great way to educate yourself while you commute.

3. Internet classes-I am not just referring to to schools online. There are a number of online courses you can take and many are free. For anyone interested in online marketing and increasing traffic to websites, checkout the 30 day challenge. Amazing tips and advice and all for free.

4. How to videos- Besides the videos you can buy there are amazing videos on a range of how tos on sites like You Tube.

5. Mentor- most people are very proud of their skills and if you ask, then most people will be enthusiastic to teach you. This is a great option and gives you the chance to have your own personal teacher.

Study Tips

1. Set your goals- decide what you really want to accomplish and learn. It is fun to learn something new, but you will be more successful if you clearly define what you plan to get out of it.

2. Create a schedule- this one is really important. No matter what medium of learning you choose you must set aside a designated time to study and focus only on your learning matter.

3. Seclude yourself while studying- remove all outside distractions. If this means going to the library or the park to read a book or use your internet course then you should do so. It is easy to get distracted and say you will work on it later (not preaching, only speaking from experience) and not come back to it at all. If you do internet learning, only open as many tabs or pages as you need to accomplish your work.

4. Reward yourself- even learning fun things can be difficult at times. Learn to discipline yourself by giving yourself small rewards for your accomplishment. May be as simple as getting a drink after finishing a chapter or something such as going to dinner for getting a 90% on the test.

5. Have fun- Hopefully you are learning because you want to learn. If you enjoy learning then not only will learning be easier, but you will learn much quicker. Don’t stress about not getting it right away. Just have fun and you don’t give up. Eventually you’ll figure it out.