Hello, everyone, and welcome to the blog. Today, we’re talking about skilling up and how to accomplish that feat in ten easy steps. If you’re ready to rock and roll, and you’re aching to learn something new, grab a cup of something to sip on, and let’s get going!
Everyone has a skill, whether it’s cooking, cleaning, an art form, or watching television, you can’t short yourself when it comes to knowing how to do something well. Not all skills are created equal, and some take a bit more practice, but there’s always ten steps to learning something new.
Let’s dive right in!
1. Decide on a Skill – This is the easy part. You decide what new thing you want to learn. It can be anything from bread making to knitting, but making a list of things you’d like to know how to do, and whittling that list down to one thing, is essential to the rest of the process. You can’t learn a new skill unless you’re laser focused on just one thing. If it’s an art form, which one? Be specific in this step so the rest of the process goes smoothly.
2. Answer the Why – Now ask yourself the hard question of why you want to learn this new skill. If it’s just because you’d like to have it in your back pocket, that’s fine, but if you don’t know the why, you won’t have motivation to learn or practice.
3. Start Research – Find out who has the skills you want to learn and what materials you’ll need to practice. Follow those people on social media—YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.—so you see when they have new information or lessons for you to consume.
4. Watch, Read, and Listen – Start your journey by watching videos, reading books, or talking to people who know more about the subject than you do. Consume every bit of everything your brain can hold at this step, and tuck it away for the next step.
5. Dabble – Give it a go with a small project. There’s no time like the present, and you have to try something to know what else you need to skill up at or understand what you don’t know and need to learn more about.
6. Back to the Drawing Board – Make a note of those things you need to learn more about, and find out where you can get the information or tutorials to walk you through that thing. This step is essential because it helps you find information that fills in gaps in your education.
7. Absorb Even More – Watch, read, chat. Believe it or not, YouTube and Facebook are key hubs when it comes to learning a new skill. You can get walkthroughs for processes on YouTube and chat with other people with the same interest on Facebook in a group. There are hundreds of thousands of groups, so get on out there, join one, and start asking questions (after you’ve searched and can’t find the answer elsewhere, of course).
8. Practice – Now that you know how to do the thing, practice is the only thing that will help you get better at it—whatever it may be. Remember, practice doesn’t make perfect if you’re practicing whatever it is incorrectly. Practice does, however, make permanent, which is why all those other steps are necessary. Don’t skip any of them.
9. Share – You now have to share your work for the world to see because you need feedback. Even if you’re binge-watching television, share your setup and write a small review. Take all feedback and absorb it.
10. Apply Feedback and Continue to Grow – Congratulations! You’ve learned a new skill, and you’re out there, putting it to good use. One thing left to do: Continue to take feedback and improve. This is a perpetual action you’ll do for the rest of the time you have whatever skill it is you’ve learned. We, as humans, are always growing and learning more about things we know how to accomplish. Don’t ever give up on yourself.
There you have it—ten steps to learning a new skill. Every single one of those steps is essential, so no matter what you’re learning to do, go through all ten every time. In case we didn’t mention it before, we’ll do so now: Be sure you’re choosing a new skill every few months. Never stop learning. If you do, you’ll grow bored in this crazy thing we call life.
We hope you enjoyed this article! While you’re here, why don’t you check out some of our other posts? We have things on many topics related to life and IT. Until next time!
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