Learning new skills can be greatly beneficial for your personal and professional growth. It can allow you to begin new projects and take the current ones to the next level. Being a ‘quick’ learner not only puts you closer to success but also makes you a key team member.
The good news is that learning is not a fixed skill set.
It is more like a muscle that if you work on over a period of time. New skills can be developed with constant practice and effort. So how to learn new skills very quickly. These are seven suggestions:
- Set your learning intention. Decide what you want to learn, and what you can compensate for. It could be in terms of your commitment, time, and energy.
- Identify the potential barriers. There can be various obstructions that may potentially stop you from learning. At times, it could be the motivation to be able to perform the skill set. You should be prepared to have a productive approach and a strategy to combat the situation.
- Apply the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule, also called the Pareto principle, is a statistical rule that states that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of causes. So, if your goal is to work on your communication skills and if you apply the 80/20 rule, then you can master 20% of your communication skills such as building vocabulary, writing messages, reading books to master 80% of your overall communication.
- Focus on one skill at a time. Prioritise the tasks as taking a new skill with everything that you already do can be overwhelming. Separating the big projects into multiple doable tasks really saves your time and energy.
- Have an allowance of failure. Understand that making mistakes can be valuable. Take failure as a learning tool. As you practice your skill, you are bound to make mistakes and it is through practice, repetition, and with your resilience the skill will be able to get to an expert level.
- Keep a record of your learning, consider taking photographs or even writing a journal. A clear record will be a visual guide of your growth.
- Finally, be patient with yourself. It is going to take time and effort to learn a new skill set. If you do not remain patient with yourself, you can lose the progress you have made. Give yourself some grace for being open to learning in the first place.
Hope you find it helpful.
Learning to weave a Putiputi(a flax flower) with my amazing Kaiako(instructor) Marama. Curiosity often leads to a beautiful korero(conversation).
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