Practice is a must in the world of athletics. If you don’t practice, you won’t win.
The military knows proper training can save lives.
Rehearsing a simple tactic, such as how to get into and out of vehicles, can save precious seconds when every second counts on a mission.
In the business world, we often forget about the need to practice.
Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous swordsmen once said,
“As a study, you should practice without end.”
How often do you practice anything related to your job?
How often does your boss help you rehearse or role play a scenario?
If you are a “knowledge worker” in today’s economy, there are more than a few basic skills that you can and should practice:
- Time
- Priorities
- Communication
- Products
Time
We all get the same 168 hours in a week.
How can you avoid losing your time to “busyness?”
Are you accountable for how you spend your day?
Engineers, Architects, and even some Contractors log their time daily.
You don’t have to be “required” to write your time down to improve how you manage your time.
Do you know where your time goes?
Are you spending your time on the right activities, the right people, the right companies?
If you are always rushing from one meeting or task to the next, you likely need to get a better handle on your time.
Priorities
Choosing the right thing to work on is tough. It is a skill that must be practiced.
A simple way to improve this skill is to ask yourself daily:
What is the most important thing for me to work on right now?
Your priorities can change depending on the timeline – today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this year.
Task lists, calendars, notebooks, productivity apps are all tools that you can use to get better at setting priorities.
But the most effective tool is the PRACTICE of actually trying to figure out what your priorities are, and attacking those tasks.
Mistakes will happen. But you can learn from those mistakes.
Communication
Unless you work in a zoo, you probably interact with other humans at your job. Even at the zoo, you will talk to other people at some point.
How do you communicate effectively?
Do you practice using Email, Phones, Voicemails, Texts to better connect with other humans at work?
Products
While Musashi’s tools of the trade were two swords, a knowledge worker’s tools are likely a multitude of software and products.
How often have you drilled the basics of typing speed, keyboard shortcuts, app functionality?
Think what it would do for your job if you learned how to use these products with greater purpose:
- Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Edge, etc
- Google Mail, Calendar, Meetings, Tasks, Docs, Slides, etc
- Apple iTunes, iCloud, iPhone, etc
- Evernote
- Spotify
- Chrome
- Dropbox
- Box
The list goes on.
Imagine committing 2.74 years (1,000 days) to practice a basic part of your craft.
Now imagine what your life would look like if you commit to 27.4 years (10,000 days) of training.
Being a better teammate in today’s economy, requires that you commit to mastering the basics.
“See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice, and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training. You should investigate this thoroughly.”
– Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings
What basic skills can you master to improve how you perform?
What basic skills can you commit to practicing for 3 years?
In 30 years, what do you want to master from consistent training?
The Real Con is that you can do these things today.
Now.
On your own.
The Real Con 001