WEBVTT 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:30.289 Welcome back, everybody. Well, this is Food for 00:00:30.289 --> 00:00:31.870 Thought Thoughts, if it were you, season two, 00:00:31.949 --> 00:00:35.189 and I'm your host, Neogentrics. It's been a while, 00:00:35.289 --> 00:00:37.229 and I'm back in the driver's seat. We're gonna 00:00:37.229 --> 00:00:39.929 go ahead and pick up where we left off with practical 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:44.549 steps to personal development, okay? A lot of 00:00:44.549 --> 00:00:46.250 stuff's been going on. School finally came to 00:00:46.250 --> 00:00:48.369 an end for me, you know, and a lot of other things 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:51.170 are building up on blast. I kid you not. This 00:00:51.170 --> 00:00:54.770 year is gonna be one hell of a teaser as we try 00:00:54.770 --> 00:00:57.780 to go back. from the pandemic into what we call 00:00:57.780 --> 00:01:01.899 the norm. Today's topic, the practical steps 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:04.079 for personal development, picks up on the piggybacks 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:07.060 off of the last podcast I did. And I just want 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:09.219 you to know, there are a number of things that 00:01:09.219 --> 00:01:11.120 are vital in supporting your personal development, 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:13.579 okay? Including developing a vision of where 00:01:13.579 --> 00:01:15.319 you want to be and planning how you're going 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.200 to get there. But alongside these, it would also 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:19.980 be helpful to take some simple but practical 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:21.900 steps to change how you organize your life. These 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:25.299 changes... that I will outline will help you 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:29.060 to give you more time and space to manage your 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:31.140 personal development activities. Without that, 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:33.560 you may actually struggle to find the time and 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:35.680 energy to improve your skills or study. Hell, 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:38.760 even I need to take a number off of this. Okay? 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:40.980 Practical steps can be taken to enhance personal 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:43.000 development, including organizing your time, 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.519 producing a personal CV or resume, you know, 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:51.200 in a way, to help you, and overcoming... barriers 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.519 to learning any or all new skills that you decide 00:01:54.519 --> 00:02:15.639 to take on. Okay? Alright, let's begin. Let's 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:17.620 talk about organizing your time. If you're considering 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:20.080 making changes in your life, then finding additional 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:23.520 time may often possess a problem for a lot of 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.400 people. It could be that the changes you're thinking 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.919 of making are to ensure that you have enough 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:32.860 time to, oh, I don't know, let's see, spend time 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:34.919 with your family, spend time on things you enjoy 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.240 doing, devote to your work, devote to your education, 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:40.860 you know, things of that nature. In my case, 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:45.409 I want to say working on my next book. Okay, 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:47.789 I got three of them done. I need to finish the 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:49.990 next one so I can put them up there for release. 00:02:50.650 --> 00:02:52.629 But in the meantime, I'm trying to find a way 00:02:52.629 --> 00:02:54.270 to sell them, but I can't do that if I don't 00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:56.789 set aside time to learn what I'm missing and 00:02:56.789 --> 00:02:59.669 what I need to do, okay? And, you know, that 00:02:59.669 --> 00:03:01.830 goes into another topic of time management, which 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:04.569 I'll cover next time, so, you know, look forward 00:03:04.569 --> 00:03:09.590 to that. But, I mean, without these, we wouldn't 00:03:09.590 --> 00:03:12.729 be able to move forward in the way that we need 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:17.860 to. So, I want you to learn how to say no to 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.520 jobs or requests that you feel are not your responsibility. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.659 Okay? This requires the ability to be assertive. 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:26.539 And I do believe I did cover that in another 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:29.560 podcast previously. So, feel free to go check 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:32.259 that out. You need to learn how to delegate your 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:36.439 jobs. Sorry, not delegate. Delegate. Which means 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:38.960 sharing jobs with other people. It can be fun 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.500 and it can leave you with more time. Obviously, 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.319 not a lot of people are going to want to do stuff 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.539 for free, so offer the proper incentive. But 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:51.039 you get what I'm saying. You have to make what 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.080 they call a to -do list of tasks that you need 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.699 to do each day. Taking off tasks as you complete 00:03:56.699 --> 00:03:59.580 them. Give up things you do not really want or 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:02.500 need. That way you have more free time and you 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:04.939 can move forward. Identifying your highs and 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:07.439 lows of the day. Everyone has a time when he 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.120 or she feels more or less energetic, and then 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:12.400 try to do the most demanding tasks when you have 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:15.039 the greatest energy, as you will do them probably 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.279 more quickly, and thereby releasing more time 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:20.040 to spend on other things. For many people, their 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.439 personal development will involve setting goals, 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:25.600 which is a whole other topic in itself. So, you 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.959 know, we'll cover that in detail another time. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.600 But this might be to change behavior, such as 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.399 looking at time management, or learning new skills, 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:39.439 or advancing your career. The reason I make this 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.540 a point is because many employers are looking 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.579 for the same sort of skills. These include good 00:04:45.579 --> 00:04:47.519 communication skills, the ability to work as 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.160 part of a team, and the ability to learn. They 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:53.680 call them soft skills. Beyond that, the skills 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.680 required are dependent on the particular job 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.129 that you're trying to get. I don't know if I've 00:04:59.129 --> 00:05:00.970 covered soft skills yet, but I will definitely 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:04.490 do so in a later episode. So look forward to 00:05:04.490 --> 00:05:35.509 that. Okay, so let's talk about your personal 00:05:35.509 --> 00:05:39.870 curriculum vitae or your resume. And if you want 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:41.589 to know what a personal curriculum vitae is, 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:45.009 that's essentially your CV. Drawing up a CV or 00:05:45.009 --> 00:05:47.290 resume is not only necessary when applying for 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:49.670 jobs, but it can also be useful for your own 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:51.930 benefit as, you know, it'll help you appraise 00:05:51.930 --> 00:05:53.589 the skills you have gained through education, 00:05:53.889 --> 00:05:58.529 training, employment, voluntary work, leisure, 00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:02.019 and other activities. This is based off of what 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:05.019 you've done up to the current date. In turn, 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:07.600 a personal CV will help you to highlight skills 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.620 that you should work or improve on, such as developing 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:16.500 your cooking skills or your customer service 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:19.160 skills. There are numerous ways of sitting out 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.420 and presenting a CV or resume for the purpose 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:26.139 of applying for a job. You should be careful 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:28.439 to include all relevant information and make 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.639 sure your document is well written and well presented. 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:34.480 That being said, I probably should go into preparing 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.339 a CV or resume, but again, that's an episode 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:42.579 for a later date. However, for the purposes of 00:06:42.579 --> 00:06:46.699 personal CV or resume, for your reference, your 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:49.620 own reference, and as a way to access your skills 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:52.220 in a simple format, that is all that is needed. 00:06:52.670 --> 00:06:55.350 A quick guide to preparing your personal CV would 00:06:55.350 --> 00:07:01.410 be, let me see, split your document with headings 00:07:01.410 --> 00:07:03.910 including education, training, past experience, 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:07.310 skills, etc. Do it like that. Then use dates 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:09.170 to establish when each item on your personal 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:12.149 resume was achieved, i .e. when did you graduate, 00:07:12.389 --> 00:07:15.269 just to give an example, or when did you learn 00:07:15.269 --> 00:07:18.930 a particular skill, or when you became proficient 00:07:18.930 --> 00:07:21.970 at it in some cases, that depends. And then keep 00:07:21.970 --> 00:07:27.930 your CV or personal resume concise. The aim of 00:07:27.930 --> 00:07:30.269 the list is to show your skills and abilities, 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:34.709 not write an essay about them. People want to 00:07:34.709 --> 00:07:37.069 know what you can do. They don't want to read 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.389 about it. If they're going to read about your 00:07:39.389 --> 00:07:41.250 skills, you might as well just write a book about 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:45.529 you. That being said, writing a biography might 00:07:45.529 --> 00:07:47.709 be a good way to utilize your skills and improve 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:50.290 on others and give you something to do if you're 00:07:50.290 --> 00:07:54.300 bored. But many skills that you have learned 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:55.959 and developed either through work, education, 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:59.040 or your personal life can be successfully applied 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.839 to other areas in your life if you know how. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:03.579 For example, good listening skills are important 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:07.019 in many aspects of life. Such skills are known 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:11.079 as transferable skills. A term which is usually 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:13.620 associated with a skill set that can easily be 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:16.180 transferred from one job to another. Like customer 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:18.860 service can be used for phone calls, interviews. 00:08:20.509 --> 00:08:24.089 or receptionist, or even just dealing with people. 00:08:25.329 --> 00:08:27.269 Analyzing your existing skills will help you 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:29.610 to identify both skills and personal qualities 00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:32.929 that you can use in other fields. Examples of 00:08:32.929 --> 00:08:35.669 transferable skills are IT skills, interpersonal 00:08:35.669 --> 00:08:39.389 skills, communication, whether verbal or written, 00:08:39.450 --> 00:08:41.850 doesn't matter, organizational skills, literacy 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:44.350 skills, believe it or not, numerical skills and 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:46.950 problem solving are also transferable, as well 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:50.820 as understanding. Okay? The needs of others in 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:54.639 other emotional states and also emotional intelligence 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.659 are other transferable skills that many people 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:02.539 need but don't have. Okay? There's a lot of topics 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:05.000 to cover, so I'm going to be looking into going 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.559 over all of these in the future, so stay with 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.580 me as I go through all of these. It's going to 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.639 take time to put it together, so bear with me, 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:16.240 as it may take a while before each episode is 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.259 released. As long as you stay with me, we'll 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:37.820 be able to move forward. Okay. Last thing I want 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:40.460 to cover for today's podcast is overcoming barriers 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:43.659 to learning a new skill. Okay. When learning 00:09:43.659 --> 00:09:45.899 a new skill, it'll help broaden the opportunities 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.919 available and open to you, okay? But at the same 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:51.820 time, also empower you as an individual. There 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:53.639 are many things that prevent people from learning 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:55.600 new skills, but these barriers can be overcome 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.139 with some thought, depending on what they are. 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.200 These might include lack of confidence or self 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.539 -esteem. Hold on a second, let me go into that 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:07.000 before I go further. This one's actually one 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:08.960 of the greatest obstacles facing a lot of individuals. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:14.240 However... If this is a problem, just ask yourself 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:18.659 this. If there's anyone who would support you 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:21.779 and help you to take the first steps towards 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:25.019 learning a new skill. There's always going to 00:10:25.019 --> 00:10:27.860 be someone who's willing to help you. Even if 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:29.879 you lack the courage or self -esteem to do so. 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:34.159 Often, once that first move is made, then the 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.559 greatest hurdle is overcome. And you can continue 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.980 moving forward that way. And a little bit of 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:42.059 confidence goes a long way. as it helps increase 00:10:42.059 --> 00:10:44.940 as you develop that new skill. The more you learn 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:46.580 it, the better you see you're good at it, the 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.139 more your confidence will grow as you utilize 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:53.440 it. Next would be the economic situation. You 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.379 may see your financial situation as a barrier 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:57.639 to learning new skills, but this may not always 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:00.460 be the case. As you know, the internet is full 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:03.360 of a lot of free things that you can find all 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.200 over the place, whether pages, tools, resources, 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:07.940 or even some free courses that can help you develop 00:11:07.940 --> 00:11:10.779 specific skills. Okay, you can browse a lot of 00:11:10.779 --> 00:11:12.860 different pages for comprehensive guides and 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:14.659 things of the sort that will help you. There 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:16.659 may even be courses offered at local schools, 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.559 colleges, universities, which are free or, you 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:21.779 know, offered at an extremely reduced rate for 00:11:21.779 --> 00:11:23.620 people with lower income. So it just depends. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.659 Distance learning allows you to study from home 00:11:26.659 --> 00:11:29.159 and it has become a very big thing as of recent, 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:31.700 especially with the pandemic since no one can 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:33.480 really go anywhere. And it can help you reduce 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.860 the cost of learning by a large margin. There 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:39.460 may also be trust funds and charities that offer 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:41.779 grants for people developing new skills in your 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:44.320 area, so, you know, look into that. It's even 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.100 possible to learn a new skill with the aid of 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:48.360 books from the local library, if you can find 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:51.360 one that's still open, or they have an online 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.840 library, I guess. But essentially, you know, 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:01.399 they're... Things that you can do. There's also 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:03.759 voluntary work, which can also provide excellent 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.639 opportunities for learning and developing skills. 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:08.220 As you know, being part of a group, as a member 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:11.620 of, I don't know, a cleanup crew or something, 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:13.840 you can learn something interesting or something 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.460 new. Next would be family commitments. If you 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:18.980 have family commitments that prevent you from 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.059 having time to learn a new skill, it may be possible 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:23.500 for you to enlist the help of a friend or family 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:25.740 member to give you a few hours free each week 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:28.889 to make that available. Colleges and universities 00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:31.610 often offer vocational training courses, which 00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:35.649 may also have free or subsidized places that 00:12:35.649 --> 00:12:44.409 you can go to to learn. As far as lack of time 00:12:44.409 --> 00:12:46.870 is concerned, this is where time management and 00:12:46.870 --> 00:12:49.649 minimizing distractions can help you reorganize 00:12:49.649 --> 00:12:51.710 your time to fit the development of that new 00:12:51.710 --> 00:12:55.080 skill you're trying so hard to learn. The question 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:57.940 that you need to be asking yourself, is there 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:00.220 really a barrier in front of you, or are you 00:13:00.220 --> 00:13:04.100 just giving excuses? Many of these barriers may 00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:08.679 be no more than just excuses, but they're just 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:12.460 fundamental blockages that are there in front 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:14.159 of you, whether created mentally or physically. 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:16.740 If you're using any of these as a reason for 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:19.169 avoiding your development, though, It may be 00:13:19.169 --> 00:13:21.250 worth looking deeper to see if there's any reason 00:13:21.250 --> 00:13:24.269 for why you're thinking that way. Perhaps deeply 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:27.090 held values may be in conflict with one of your 00:13:27.090 --> 00:13:30.149 personal development's goals or, you know, something 00:13:30.149 --> 00:13:33.450 of the sort. But just keep this in mind. The 00:13:33.450 --> 00:13:38.289 first step is often the hardest. Okay? But barriers 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:40.090 to personal development are often more in the 00:13:40.090 --> 00:13:43.450 mind than anywhere else. So they're not as physical 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:47.139 as you would think. Okay? Essentially, the first 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:49.019 step, whether it's signing up for a course, getting 00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:50.919 some books from the library, or finding a website 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.779 that can help, while this may be harder, why 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:56.279 don't you take that first step? Remember, the 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.299 process is described as lifelong for a reason. 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:01.659 You're always going to be learning. You're never 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:04.159 going to not be learning. It's only the level 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:08.820 of formality that changes. Okay? Just when you 00:14:08.820 --> 00:14:10.379 think you're leaving school and you're not going 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:13.779 to learn anything else, as a result, that's when 00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:16.110 you stop learning is when you stop growing. Okay? 00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:18.750 You're never going to stop growing. Once you 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:21.909 leave school, you're going to continue to learn, 00:14:22.009 --> 00:14:23.809 even out there in the workplace, because just 00:14:23.809 --> 00:14:26.549 because you earned your degree, or if you already 00:14:26.549 --> 00:14:28.289 have your degree, doesn't mean there's not something 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:31.350 out there that you don't know. Okay? You're going 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:33.070 to have to learn it, just like everyone else. 00:14:34.309 --> 00:14:38.769 Alright? Anyway, this has been Food for Thought. 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.669 That's if it were you. Neogentrix is your host. 00:14:41.730 --> 00:14:45.330 That would be me season two on the personal development 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:48.750 practical steps. I'll catch you guys next time. 00:14:49.110 --> 00:14:50.129 Thanks for listening.