Learning Skills to Improve Your Self-Confidence
I was thinking on how to go about learning a new skill and what could be a valuable skill to share. After pondering it for a while, it came to me that the basis of learning a skill helps to improve a person’s self-confidence and their ability to face and solve any problem that comes their way. As a kid, I didn’t have the happiest of childhoods, but I did have (and still do have) an insatiable curiosity. My inquisitiveness led me to learn a wide number of different skills, and those skills gave me a sense of self-worth and confidence to try almost anything new. So if you want to improve your self-confidence, follow these steps to learn a few things and soon you will be on your way.
What Are Your Learning Strengths
One of the first things I needed to figure out was how to determine my style of learning. People learn in different ways, some are kinetic (hands on), some are visual, some by listening, some by smell (cooking), and most of us are a combination of the senses. I personally do well with hands-on and visual learning and reading. On the other hand, listening as someone tells me how to do something will leave me completely baffled and frustrated. So as an exercise, determine your learning strength by remembering what comes naturally when you learn something new.
Pick a Skill to Learn
Next step is to pick a skill (or several) to learn. It can be easy, complex, or just something you have always been impressed when you watch others do it (such as socializing with strangers or climbing a mountain). Now before you get started, always consider safety, safety, safety. Nothing will ruin a good day of exploring your capabilities or adventure then being unnecessarily injured. Depending on the type (social, mental, academic, physical, action, and emotional) and complexity of the skill you are trying to master, you will need to be brutally honest in your own capabilities and realize that in the beginning, everybody will make mistakes. Use the mistakes as a means to know what you need to improve on and what to avoid.
Learning the Skill
Finally you are at the point of learning your choice of skill. To be successful do the following steps:
- Break the skill down into easily accomplished sub-skills,
- Identify what basics you need to master to be able to do all the sub-skills (if you can’t do the basics well, then add it as a new sub-skill to learn),
- Gather both the knowledge and materials to perform the skills,
- Practice the sub-skills for 11 to 15 minute increments with a minimum of 2 minute breaks (use your learning strength),
- Repeat the practice of the sub-skills under varying circumstances until you master it to the appropriate level that will enable you to perform the final skill (incorporate lessons learned from all mistakes),
- To learn the skill faster, associate it with unusual or unique experiences and preferably practice the skills right after waking up or just before bedtime,
- Start putting the sub-skills together until you have now mastered a new skill set.
Enjoy the Benefits
This process will work with any skill you need to learn. Once you apply this to learning how to do things you thought were beyond your capabilities, it will start boosting your self-confidence. With your increased self-confidence, it will lead to a path that will let you live up to whatever you dream of doing. After all, why skulk in the shadows when you can dance in the sunshine.
Other Articles by Robert J. Broughton PE
Skiing vs. Snowboarding – Improving your fun by learning how to snowboard.
Living Without a Car – Times when it is better to not have a car.
Parenting Teenagers – Parenting tips for those with teens.
Save Money and Be Green – Help save the planet and your wallet.
