Upgrade your
Key Skills
The only certain means of success is to render more
and better service than is expected to you, no matter what your task may be. -OG
MANINO
Upgrading your skills is one of the most important
personal productivity principles of all. Learn what you need to learn so that
you can do you can do your work in an excellent fashion. The better you become
at eating a particular type of frog, the more likely you are to just plunge in
and get it done.
A major
reason for procrastination is a feeling of inadequacy, a lack of confidence, or
an inability in a key area of a task. Feeling weak or deficient in a single
area is enough to discourage you from starting the job at all.
Continually
upgrade your skills in your key result areas. Remember, however good you are
today, your knowledge and skills are becoming obsolete at a rapid rate. As pat
Riley, the basketball coach, said, “Anytime you stop striving to get better,
you’re bound to get worse.”
Never Stop Learning
One of the most helpful of all time management
techniques is for you to get better at your key tasks. Personal
and professional improvement is one of the best time savers there is. The
better you are at a key task, the more motivated you are to launch into it. The
better you are, the more energy and enthusiasm you have. When you know that you
can do a job well, you find it easier to overcome procrastination and get the
job done faster and better than under any other circumstances.
One piece of information or one additional
skill can make an enormous difference in your ability to do the job well.
Identify the most important things you do, and then make a plan to continually
upgrade your skills in those areas.
Rule:
Continuous learning is the minimum
Requirement
for success in any field.
Refuse to allow a weakness or a lack of ability in any
area to hold you back. Everything is learnable. And what others have learned,
you can learn as well.
When I
began to write my first book, I was discouraged because I could use only the
hunt and peck method of typing.
The best news is that you can learn whatever skills
you need to be more productive and more effective. You can become a touch
typist if necessary. You can become proficient with a computer. You can become
a terrific negotiator or a super salesperson. You can learn to speak in public.
You can learn to write effectively and well. These are all skills you can
acquire as soon as you decide to and make them a priority.
Three Steps to Mastery
First, read in your field for at least one hour every
day. Get up a little earlier in the morning and read for thirty to sixty
minutes in a book or magazine that contains information that can help you to be
more effective and productive at what you do.
Second,
take every course and seminar available on the key skills that can help you.
Attend the conventions and business meetings of your profession or occupation.
Go to the sessions and workshops. Sit up front and take notes. Purchase the
audio recordings of the programs. Dedicate yourself to becoming one of the most
knowledgeable and competent people in your field.
Third,
listen to audio programs in your car. The average car owner sits behind the
wheel 500 to 1,000 hours each year while driving from place to place. Turn
driving time into learning time. You can become one of the smartest, most
capable, and highest paid people in your field simply by listening to
educational audio programs as you drive around.
The more you learn and know, the more
confident and motivated you feel. The better you became, the more capable you
will be of doing even more in your field.
The more
you learn, the more you can learn. Just as you can build your physical muscles
through physical exercise, you can build your mental muscles with mental
exercises. And there is no limit to how far or how fast you can advance except
for the limits you place on your own imagination.
EAT THAT FROG
1. Resolve
today to become a “do-it-to-yourself” project. Become a lifelong student of
your craft. School is never out for the professional.
2. Identify
the key skills that can help you the most to achieve better and faster results.
Determine the core competencies that you will need to have in the future to
lead your field. Whatever they are, set a goal, make a plan, and begin
developing and increasing your ability in those areas. Decide to be the very
best at what you do!
This Article is Taken from EAT THAT FROG!
Written by ARSHAD. A
