S.M.A.R.T. Goals Made Simple - 10 Steps to Master Your Personal and Career Goals (Productive Habits) by S.J. Scott

Author:S.J. Scott
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Oldtown Publishing LLC
Published: 2014-02-18T18:30:00+00:00

Step 5c: Learn New Skills for a Specific Goal

Sometimes it’s not enough to plan out a project because you don’t know how to do something. The solution is simple—you must take the time to learn the required skill.

Refer back to the list of steps for a project. Look at each item and ask yourself if you’re avoiding a specific task because you don’t know how to do it. If so, you can either delegate it to a co-worker or hire a freelancer to do it for you. However, if you feel like the task is important for your personal development, then you’ll need to focus on improving your skills for that task.

Fortunately for you, every task in the world has been successfully completed by someone else. All you have to do is take a proactive approach and educate yourself on how to do it. Here’s a six-step process for getting started.

Action I: Identify the specific skill.

First, figure out the exact thing you’re trying to learn. For instance, your goal shouldn’t be to “become a better public speaker,” because that’s not an actionable outcome. Instead, it’s more effective to have a specific goal in mind that shows you’ve achieved a certain level of competence.

Using the above example, you could create this goal: “Deliver compelling, step-by-step five-minute YouTube presentations.” This is actionable because your success is measurable—either you create the five-minute YouTube videos or you don’t.

How you learn something is a lot like developing a project list. Get out a piece of paper and write down every step you’d need to take. Start with your end goal and work your way backward. If there’s an unanswered question, then create a task to research it along the way.

Action II: Focus on one skill.

Even if you have a laundry list of things to learn, it’s always better to focus on one at a time. Maybe you have a list of “someday” items like running a marathon, learning to juggle, becoming a great public speaker and being a better guitar player. The trick here is to pick the skills that are immediately applicable.

You should also think about the impact learning one new skill will have on your life. Using the above example, you might decide to focus on “public speaking” because it could lead to an improvement in job performance, which means more money and an increased capacity to afford fun activities.

Focusing on a single skill is the quickest path to instant competence. While you won’t achieve “mastery” overnight, you can learn a lot by concentrating on a single outcome for a few weeks or months.

Action III: Get an education.

I'm sorry to say this, but the traditional model of education is slowly dying away. We currently live in a world that’s filled with an abundance of information. All you need is Internet access and a desire to learn. Think of it this way—right now, somebody, somewhere has mastered the skill you’re trying to learn. Simply find a person who is kind enough to share their

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