How to be better at whatever you do: (In life, the universe and everything)
Recently I have discovered that the tools I use for improving one skill are almost (if not completely) transferrable to another activity. Given that I have never revealed something like the theory of relativity in my blog anyway, this is midly surprising. So if there is one thing that you are trying to be better at, anything ranging from cricket to relationships to creativity, reading further would not be a waste of time.
I owe this revelation to my love hate relationship with music, and I call it love hate because of my amazements and disappointments at the same. However, that is a different story which I shall write about some other day. These are some pointers I have learnt in the practice of music which help me learn or improve almost anything that comes my way. In my case, this other art is badminton, just to show how different it can be.
1. Absorb Cultural and traditional knowledge: Trust me when I say that what you are trying to do has been done before. Atleast significant work about the same. Make sure you have read/watched/observed how other people have handled the same thing. Wireless network on? Go Google. Talk to people. Go to the library.
2. Feedback: One thing I have found helpful is to watch yourself as a third person. An objective evaluation is absolutely necessary and this can come only from you. In continuation to this, working on your weakest links (from above honest observation) in a focussed manner helps. Staying in denial does not.
3. Planned and Slow: Be it cricket or music, beauty in execution is being slow and exact in your moves. What is your next move? Think, prepare to execute and boom! Practice this and it becomes habit.
4. Think out of the box: After you have mastered 1 2 and 3, start thinking about how you could redefine. Disclaimer: Note that jumping to step 4 is a sure shot self destruct button in most cases. You have to think inside the box before you decide to move out of it. However, if you very confident you are a genius(and many people have told you the same), please go ahead at your own risk.
Try it.
I owe this revelation to my love hate relationship with music, and I call it love hate because of my amazements and disappointments at the same. However, that is a different story which I shall write about some other day. These are some pointers I have learnt in the practice of music which help me learn or improve almost anything that comes my way. In my case, this other art is badminton, just to show how different it can be.
1. Absorb Cultural and traditional knowledge: Trust me when I say that what you are trying to do has been done before. Atleast significant work about the same. Make sure you have read/watched/observed how other people have handled the same thing. Wireless network on? Go Google. Talk to people. Go to the library.
2. Feedback: One thing I have found helpful is to watch yourself as a third person. An objective evaluation is absolutely necessary and this can come only from you. In continuation to this, working on your weakest links (from above honest observation) in a focussed manner helps. Staying in denial does not.
3. Planned and Slow: Be it cricket or music, beauty in execution is being slow and exact in your moves. What is your next move? Think, prepare to execute and boom! Practice this and it becomes habit.
4. Think out of the box: After you have mastered 1 2 and 3, start thinking about how you could redefine. Disclaimer: Note that jumping to step 4 is a sure shot self destruct button in most cases. You have to think inside the box before you decide to move out of it. However, if you very confident you are a genius(and many people have told you the same), please go ahead at your own risk.
Try it.
posted by Puru Iyengar at 8:44 PM
6 Comments:
>> I mean, look at yourself in the mirror. Would anyone date you? If the answer is no, lets work on it.
aha...?!! Getting desparate, are we?!
agree with balaji. Seems like a very different person writing this.
funde?????
Balaji and Vayasya and others - no these are NOT restricted to dating or any such thing, maybe I am going to modify the post cos its giving everybody that impression!
-puru
tut...tut...the damage has been done!
Alas, a work of rationale mind. How would you factor in faith/belief in this step-by-step algorithm?
Isn't it true that any decision one takes is ultimately driven from a faith/belief ? In other words can a rationale mind understand faith/belief? Or rather can it ever be understood?
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