It’s good to look back and see how we’ve improved in certain areas, both on a personal and professional level. Sometimes we get a better feel for the direction we want to go with our career just by looking at the areas in which we’ve developed.
I run my own home-based company, and I don’t have the luxury (or annoyance, depending on your point of view) of an annual performance review. Nobody is taking notes and holding me accountable on the things I’ve done well or the things I’m improving upon in my career. It’s all up to me.
Today I want each of us to list one thing we’ve gotten better at on a personal level and one thing on a professional level. Don’t worry if the things you list aren’t areas where you’re an “expert” by any means – just areas where you’ve seen growth and development in your abilities.
Next, I want you to list one skill, either professional or personal, where you would like to improve in 2010.
I’ll get this started…
Personal: Playing acoustic guitar. I’m still super far from being a virtuoso, but I’ve always been more of an electric guitarist. This past year I’ve transitioned into playing a lot more acoustic, and trading my main electric guitar for a gorgeous Taylor K-10 really helped.
Professional: Video. I was looking back, and last January was really the first time I put a fully-produced video together for a client. Since then I’ve immersed myself in video through AnywhereMan and a lot of little projects. I have really enjoyed it and have learned a lot.
Skill to Improve: Verbal communication. This year my goal is to rid “um”, “ah”, “so”, and “you know” (Totally a MN thing) from my vocabulary. These words show up constantly in my videos here on AnywhereMan, and I want to see improvement in that. I’d also like to learn to keep my speaking more focused and concise.
Okay, now I’d like you to list the same three things. What have you gotten better at both personally and professionally, and what skill or area would you like to improve in 2010?
Have a Happy New Year everyone!
I got better at connecting with friends.
Improvements have been made in blogging and social networking. I've become more verse in photography and video/movie making, but hope to get better at both in 2010. Professionally, I got better at technical report writing and giving presentations at group meetings. Hope to get more involved with business as a whole and organization of projects.
Dave,
Great post. Improvements are so important to our overall success. Your third one is exactly something that I was on my list from last year. That is why I joined Toastmasters. I would highly recommend (again) TM to help you work on verbal communication. It has helped me immensely this year.
Happy New Year.
Very cool! I've heard nothing but good things about Toastmasters and I remember us discussing that. Still thinking about joining.
Would love to see you put those verbal skills to use with some video posts on http://www.refocusingtechnology.com this year.
Thanks, Jeremy, and hoping your year is off to a fantastic start!
Definitely seeing you doing a great job at all of these things!
Always a good thing. Social media sure makes it a lot easier, too, doesn't it?!