FinancialStory
In 2006, I received my Social Security benefits statement in the mail. This is the statement that lists how much taxable income we have made in previous years. But, something was different on mine. That year was unlike other years. I noticed that within 6 years time I had went from making $15,000to $122,000 in one year. I was shocked! I didnt win the lottery. Nor did I geta degree in anything new. So, I was flabbergasted at the difference in pay. And,then it hit me what happened. Seven years ago I began practicing business.
During that timeframe I started reading personal developmentbooks and attending personal development seminars. The same message kept comingback to me.practice, practice, practice. So, I did. I began practicingbusiness. There were specific things I would do over and over again. I would attempt daily business tasks with a single-minded focus to do it better than Idid it last time. Looking back from my $15,000 year and my $122,000 year the cause was practice.
Advice
Make it a habit to practice business. We know that in sportswe need to practice in order to get better. Well the same rules apply forgetting better at your career. You can practice attending a meeting, or doing areport, or even meeting with your boss. It may be a little hard to uncover howto practice certain tasks. (You may want to use the Ask Will option at the bottom ofthis blog for specific ideas.) It is ideal to practice something before youhave to do it again. But, if you are stuck and cant figure out how to practicesomething beforehand focus on one thing to do better when you have a chance to repeatthe task. Remember, practice makes better!
Steps
1. Look at your last annual review to identify keytasks for your job.
2. Prioritize the tasks based on the greatestimpact to the success of your career.
3. Study your task regularly.
4. Pick specific areas of each task to focus onimproving versus being to general in your scope.
5. Define key milestones and breakthroughs and usethem as a goal for improvement.
6. Practice the top priority first and work yourway down your list as you improve.
Additional Options
Focus Ideas: Instead of focusing on being betterat conducting meetings switch your focus to being better at getting everyoneinvolved in meetings. There are always people who feel left out of meetingsthat they attend. Practice eliminating this occurrence from your meetings.
Study Ideas: focus on tasks by reading books,attending seminars, observing others who are talented at the task
Dose of Willpower: Sign up for our regularnewsletter Willpowerand receive additional information on this topic
Ask Will: Use the Ask Will advice option atthe end of this blog for specific advice on how to practice specific areas ofyour job.