Learning A New Skill…

What would it take? Here are the steps…

Declaring Your Intention

It starts with intention.

You have to tell yourself, “I will learn X”.

“X” is something you are interested in learning…

…Like a language.

…Or, learning to cook.

Or, “X” is something you need to learn to move forward…

…Like a skill you don’t have, which may be an obstacle to getting a job.

…Or, a life-skill you don’t have, like managing your money, or learning to present yourself confidently.

Whatever the skill, you need to take action.

Don’t say “I have to learn X”, or “I should learn X”, or “I could learn X”.

Say “I will learn X”.

Declare your intention.

Taking Action

After declaring your intention, the next step is taking action.

Find out where and how, you can pick up the skill you want to pick up, or the skill you need to pick up.

Is it online?

Is it on the job?

Is it from a family member or friend?

Is it by working on a job with someone who already knows the skill?

Don’t be afraid to ask around.

Don’t be afraid to express interest.

You just may find someone who can help, or who opens a door for you.

Paying Attention

Once you find a learning resource, or find a learning opportunity, use your learning resource or learning opportunity well.

Be attentive.

Ask questions.

Make mental or physical notes.

Maximize the value of your learning.

Practicing

It goes without saying that you should practice what you’ve learned.

Practice, practice, practice!

Utilizing Your New Skill

Theoretical knowledge is different from applied knowledge.

Someone explaining how to do something is not the same as doing it yourself.

Knowing how to do something is not the same as actually using the knowledge in real life.

So become a doer by using what you’ve learned.

You can look at a recipe.

It becomes a dish only when you follow the recipe and cook the dish.

And you can’t stop after you’ve cooked your first dish, and say, “I’ve learned to cook.”

You may have learned to make a pot roast.

But have you learned to make rice?

Or learned to make chappathis?

Or learned to make Tiramisu?

In much the same way, whatever the skill, you can’t say “I know that” after using it once.

You have to use it again and again.

The more you utilize a new skill, the more competent and confident you will become in that skill.

Bouncing back from your mistakes

Every skill was new to everybody at one time or another.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, both when you are new, and when you are not so new.

You will bounce back from mistakes, if you stay the course.

This is true whether the skill is a physical skill like driving; an artistic skill like painting, a professional skill like new software; or a life skill like investing or public speaking.

Going from Starting to Master

Use all the resources available to you - formal and informal – to speed up your progress.

There is no set time to go from Starting to Master.

You can always add to your training and increase your competence.

And you do not have to depend on formal training - from a college, or a class – to do this.

You can find alternate resources to add to your training and increase your competence.

You can tap the knowledge and experience of people who have a better mastery of that skill than you.

Or you can use library books and online resources.

I learned public speaking by joining Toastmasters. 

I learned taxes online.

And I learned all the tools of the trade in my second career, Commissions Administration, without doing any formal training.

Initially, it was my manager who trained me.

After she went out on maternity leave, I turned to books.

Later still in my career, I turned to online resources, including vba code and Youtube videos.

As an example, when I was on my Fortinet assignment, I found vba code for 20 different Excel macros to use in my work.

Utilization is extremely important when it comes to any skill.

If you are learning a new language; you have to use the skill again and again, until speaking in that language, or writing in that language becomes natural for you.

It is the same with driving.

It is the same with public speaking.

It is the same with investing.

If you pick up any of these skills, but never use them, or use them for a while, then stop using them, or use them only in a limited way, you will develop only reluctant and hesitant competence and confidence in them.

As a result, you will get only limited use from them.

You will certainly not get full and meaningful use from them.

You want to make sure you are using your skills in such a way, it leads to a clear sense of mastery and accomplishment!

Reinventing Yourself

What do you do when your career reaches a dead end? How do you regroup and move forward? How do you get by until you find something new?

Reinventing Yourself...

This is a time of “portfolio careers”, rather than single careers.

You can suddenly be in a position of having to reinvent yourself.

Perhaps technology made what you do obsolete.

Or you spent many years in one company, and it suddenly closed down, or moved your job offshore.

Where do you go?

What do you do next?

Do you call it a day?

Or do you try to find something new?

What are your options, when it feels like it's so late in the game for you?

It may seem daunting to find something new - after having done one thing for years, or been in one company for years.

You assumed you would ride into the sunset doing that job.

But as it turns out, it was not to be.

It didn't work out, and you have to find something else to do.

The good news is you are not alone.

There are many people who were in the exact same position as you.

For one reason or another, their jobs began to lose steam, or abruptly ended.

What did they do?

Were they forced into early retirement?

Or did they find something else?

You don’t have to wonder.

I can suggest a website where you will find those answers.

It is called CareerPivot.

Marc Miller who created CareerPivot, says its purpose is to help people in the second half of life.

But the articles and podcasts are useful to anyone whose job or career has begun to lose steam, or come to a sudden halt.

You will learn what people in the same boat as you, did to regroup and move forward.

How they spent their time until they found something that made sense.

Marc Miller interviews many people from different walks of life in his CareerPivot podcasts.

All of them experienced jobs or careers that came to an end, slowly or suddenly.

They had to try out a few different things, before finding something that worked for them.

You may have to do the same.

Your background, personality, and make-up is unique.

Your gifts are unique.

Plus you have unique sensitivities and limitations, which may impact the kinds of work you can do, and the kinds of work you are willing to do.

Also, unique preferences regards the kinds of people, managers, and companies you would be comfortable working with.

Because of this, Marc recommends some of his clients do the Birkman assessment test, to figure out what kinds of future work (or business) might suit them.

You don’t have to do the Birkman assessment test.

Just listening to Marc interpret the assessment test of someone who did the test, may trigger some thoughts for you!

CareerPivot is packed with content for someone who is at a professional dead end.

I would listen to the podcasts in order - i.e. starting from Podcast 1, and moving through each of the podcasts.

The interviews with people who successfully made their way out of a job or career standstill, are so inspiring, you don’t want to miss even one of them.

You have other options besides CareerPivot.

If you are a reader, pick up Richard Bolles’ What Color Is Your Parachute? book.

You can get it at a library or a bookstore.

It is another incredible resource for someone whose job or career has come to a standstill.

When it comes to reinventing yourself, you can put together your own plan - by going through a bunch of online resources.

Or you can get professional help. There are organizations that can help you.

You can tap into EDD resources.

You can also enroll in a more formal paid program.

The Halftime Institute offers a bunch of programs for both individuals and couples.

Job search help and interview help is also abundantly available online, and may be something you should consider.

In fact, it may be all you need to get a fresh start.

Resources such as CaffeinatedKyle can help you tailor your resume and job search.

InterviewSuccessFormula can help you prep for interviews.

These online resources have both free and paid services.

Explore the free resources first.

I have researched all the suggestions I have made to you in this article thoroughly.

I find them to be excellent resources for anyone who is at a dead end in their current job or career.

Best of all, most of the resources are entirely free, unless you want to sign up for specific tools like the Birkman Assessment, or one of the Halftime Institute programs.

I have written a review of the book, What Color Is Your Parachute? earlier on my blog.

Appropriately titled, Can A Job Hunting Book Show You The Path Back to Yourself?, it will give you a taste of what’s in Richard Bolles’s best-selling and path-breaking job search and reinvention book.

If you haven’t read the post, do go back and read it.

It might give you some ideas about how to fine tune your approach to job search and reinventing yourself.

When you read it, I hope you will say to yourself (and I wouldn’t be surprised, if you do):

“This book is just what I am looking for!”

One final word…

A few posts back, I wrote a post about things you can do to earn money outside of a traditional job…

…Part time jobs, side hustles, and flexible jobs you can explore.

The good part is you can dive into many of those options almost instantly.

Don’t rule anything out, until you have tried it.

Don’t let your fears or pride hold you back from the self-respect you can gain from using your talents, gifts and abilities, and providing a service people will pay for.

Doing something is better than doing nothing.

That’s what you need to repeatedly tell yourself, as you begin the important process of Reinventing Yourself.

Where Do We Get Our Energy From - From Within, Or From Without?

There are different kinds of energy…
Physical energy.
Emotional energy.
Psychological energy.
All are finite, and different people have different levels of energy, for different amounts of time, and at different ages and stages of their life.
Physical energy:
Physical energy has to come from without. From food, from stimulants like caffeine.
Physical energy depletes at different rates for different people, even of the same age and gender.
You can train yourself for higher levels of energy.
If you want to participate in a grueling event like the Boston Marathon, you will have to build up your energy through training.
Without training, your body will tire fast.
Even with a normal routine, that does not involve much physical exercise, the body will get tired in 12–14 hours, and rest is then essential for an energy reset.
Physical energy depletes as you get older.
Emotional energy:
Emotional energy is impacted by physical energy, chemical states, and stressors.
Emotional energy, like physical energy is also finite.
You can be too spent emotionally to react to an emotionally loaded event, if it comes too soon after another emotionally loaded event.
I remember being too spent over Lady Diana’s death to respond to Mother Teresa’s death.
I also remember someone telling me that there were two deaths close to each other in a family; a mother died, and then one of her children committed suicide within 2 days of that; when notified, the surviving family members said “oh”. They were too emotionally spent to react.
Emotional energy is precious, can be drained easily, and can cause your physical and psychological energy to drain, as well.
After a tear-jerking movie, you may find yourself drained of willpower and physical energy.
Psychological energy:
Psychological energy is our great hope.
We can have it in spite of low physical energy, and low emotional energy.
This is why when I was at a low point of my life, I was still able to carry out my business activities successfully. I have written about this in answer to the question…Do you possess the courage and strength to overcome life's hard things?
A recurring inspiration for me with respect to psychological energy is Laura Hillenbrand, and a few others who fought off debilitating illnesses, while they pursued their passion or purpose.
I have written about that too in answer to the question, What is your inspiration, that helps you "never give up"?
The list includes 1) an advertising friend, 2) Dan Ariely 3) Laura Hillenbrand, and recently has grown to include St Julie of Billiart, and the Hole in the Donut, travel-blogging gal.
However Laura Hillenbrand is the dominating figure, and the most recurring inspiration for me for psychological energy.
Psychological energy is best boosted from without - by inspiration, and also by encouragement from other people. If you are a follower of my Quora answers, then you know that I only succeeded in my second career of Commissions Administration because of an encouraging boss. You can learn more about this story from my answer to the question, If you believe you can do something, do you have a better chance of actually doing it?
So if you want my advice, take care of your physical energy needs, and then give yourself regular psychological energy shots by consuming positive support from people who care about you, and where you want to go, and also consuming whatever inspirational content you can lay your hands on. If that means weaning off emotionally, psychologically, or physically draining activities, people, or substances, including Social Media and alcohol, so be it. Do whatever it takes to be psychologically strong - you can't do anything without it!

Sincerely Yours

We sign off our letters, Sincerely Yours.

But are we sincere?

Do  people in our lives really know how we feel?

Or do we hold back?

Do we have secret thoughts and feelings about ourselves that we don't share with them?

Do we have secret thoughts and feelings about them, that we don't share with them?

We may think we have good reasons to keep some of our thoughts, feelings, and actions secret:

If the hidden truth is about ourselves, the truth may be embarrassing or devastating.

We are scared of our image being tarnished.

We are afraid people will shy away from us, if they knew something about us.

Some people were scandalized when I admitted to being carried out drunk from restaurants in my younger days.

If the hidden truths are, not about us, but about other people we deal with, it is because we may not want to hurt their feelings.

Or we may want to keep the peace.

Hidden truths can be small truths.

Or big, devastating truths.

A depression.

A desire to end your life.

A communicable disease .

An addiction.

Or just not being what, or who, everyone thinks we are.

Examples:

Perception: Everyone thinks you are rich.

Reality: You are bankrupt.

Perception: Everyone thinks you are an upstanding member of society.

Reality: You have a terrible addiction, or you are, or have been involved in, some seedy underhand dealings where you used your power to use, manipulate, bribe, seduce, threaten, or deceive innocent, powerless, or vulnerable people.

Perception: Everyone thinks you are pro-life and care about children.

Reality: You have had children out of wedlock that you couldn't care 2 hoots about.

Perception: Publicly, you are outspoken in your disapproving thoughts about homosexuality.

Reality: You are a closet homosexual.

The truth is a terrible and scary thing.

When I suffered a depression, I initially hid it from everybody.

It was my big, devastating hidden truth.

You can see how the successful owner of a business, who seemingly has everything - " a great business, a fit body, a great marriage - would want to hide the fact she is depressed.

And yet, the more devastating the truth, the more it needs to be poured from one heart into another heart.

Even if the truth knocks you off your pedestal.

For sure, having a depression knocked me off my pedestal as the "gal who had it all".

But I knew keeping it a secret was not the right thing to do.

If there was any hope for me to recover from it, it would come from sharing it with someone else, which I did.

So these are my thoughts on the truth...

I believe sharing the truth helps us more than it hurts us.

Hopefully, this means you can count on me to tell you the truth.

Just say, "Minoo, I want your sincere advice, " and I will give it to you. Sometimes I will give you the truth, even when you don't ask me for it.

This is because truth has become a value to me.

Which is why I am writing a blog post about it.

Signing off,

Sincerely yours,

Minoo

Life Is A Puzzle

And we are always looking for answers.

Should we go to college?

Should we not go to college?

Should we  switch tracks?

Should we drop out and not finish college?

Should we get a better job?

Should we give up full time work and start freelancing?

Should we go back to school?

What should we go back to school and do?

Should we eat whatever we want because life is short?

Should we eat right because what if life isn't short?

Should we buy a house or should we rent?

Should we junk our car and buy a new car?

Am I sick?

Am I well?

Am I a hypochondriac?

Is there a God?

What if there is no God?

What if there is a God?

Is there a Heaven?

What if there is no Heaven?

What if rebirth is true and I am going to be born as a rat?

Each of us arrives at our own answers to our questions.

Some of our questions are uniquely ours, some are universal questions every human being asks.

When we arrive at our own answer to a question, we think we have settled that particular question for life.

Then things happen.

"I can't break into my field in the U.S. - oh-oh".

"I have an opportunity to become a Commissions Analyst - hmmm".

"I am suffering from a clinical depression - whoa".

Why becomes the question.

Why was fairy dust (like the Commissions Analyst opportunity) sprinkled in my life?

Why was gremlin dust (like the clinical depression)  sprinkled in my life?

We look for answers all over again.

How can I attract more of good things like the Commissions Analyst opportunity?

How can I avoid the bad things such as a clinical depression?

Can I even do that?

Am I even in control of things like that?

What is my future going to be like?

Am I going to be okay?

We will be looking for answers to questions like this all our life.

It's part of being human.

And I, for one, think it ranks up there as one of the most wonderful parts of being human.

Even if you find out some of your previous answers are wrong.

Even when the questioning seems to be excessive and not getting us anywhere.

I say, go ahead - be human.

Ask those questions.

And ask the questions that come from those questions.

And the questions that come from those questions.

Ask all the questions people have asked, and some new ones.

You may just find the answer to a question no one ever has been able to find an answer to before.

Even if it's a puzzle only applicable to yourself.