Committing to learning new skills today has become hard because everyone gets busier as they age.
The return on investment on personal and professional career development is worth it if you are willing and show commitment to bettering yourself.
There are several organizations will help you learn new skills at different levels and phases of your professional career.
You can join professional volunteer groups to learn new skills and activate your leadership skills. You can work on projects to gain substantive learning experience on some core ideas.
Some organizations will teach you skills that will empower you to drive change that will help you in your career and even create a better world around you.
Here are five simple steps you can follow to learn new skills. You can also use these tips to get back to your learning phase.
1. Step out of your comfort zone
If you want to develop yourself so you can have a brighter future, you need to force yourself to move from the daily routine and find new opportunities.
Doing something for a long time will leave you a master in that area.
This will lead you to feel more comfortable with the role and this is how comfort usually becomes complacency, which is an enemy of career development.
In your organization, spot the key business areas then network with people associated with them.
Look at it from different angles then choose one that you are going to give your full attention and energy to.
Look for a way of helping the business reach its goals faster, with greater efficiency, and cheaper.
You can take it a step higher by empowering others in the organization to drive the change.
By doing this, you will inspire other employees in the business to recognize their responsibility and also step out of their comfort zone.
2. Ensure you make out time to learn new skills
When you decide to add something new to your day to day routine, then you will have to effectively manage your time.
Your job is going to take the biggest share when it comes to time, which makes it important for you to figure out a way of taking time out of your day and focus on the new opportunities without affecting the important parts of your life.
The same way that you motivate yourself to go to the gym daily because it is good for your health should be the same way you motivate yourself to learn new things because it will go a long way in helping you with career development.
Keep in mind that it is a matter of weeks to learn a new habit.
Continue doing the things you usually do daily, but you should also take time to learn new things and evolve.
3. Be ready to take risks
There are times when small risks can help in doing big things.
When you take risks, they challenge the brain and shake people out of their comfort zone.
You will not be hesitant to go out and meet people, ask questions on things you don’t know, and taking a project that you have not done before.
You will get a lot of fulfillment in your professional life when you take risks because you will always be learning new things and acquiring new skills.
This means having your career development in your own hands.
4. Strategizing your task list
There are times when you feel like learning something then failing to do it in one day.
You started well by planning the day but you found it hard to complete the task because it takes a lot of time.
This could be a result of failing to strategize the day which leads to poor execution.
One mistake many people make is confusing planning and execution with strategy.
A strategy is not how a task needs to be done; it is about making things easier to do, less time-consuming, and more efficient.
You can see this when you observe pro getting more work done in less time.
Start by finding and following important people, and also brushing up on business knowledge before you begin strategizing your work.
This skill will go a long way in helping you with career development.
5. Ask for new work that will help you grow
You should always accept working on new opportunities even if they don’t have monetary benefits.
You might be forced to learn a new skill before you can do the work, which can help you completely move to the new role that comes with monetary benefits.
Your resume must contain strong achievements, what better achievement than learning a new skill.
One of the best ways to develop your career is by being open to taking more work because it will help you grow your skills.
Learn to define your success, your identity, career and life’s purpose in a way that will give you room to grow without placing any undue pressure on yourself.
Once you have the skills to manage projects outside the area you have been in, you can ask for monetary benefits.
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