This weekend has been very busy! Not the usual type of busy weekend of socialising, hobbies and family catch-up, but three full-on days of investment in me. Now if you’re imagining that I disappeared off to a spa, then, (sadly) that’s not correct. No, I’ve actually spent the last three days investing in my future. I’ve sat through three days of intensive training in an area of personal development that I believe will support my future aspirations.
Investing in our own self development is probably unusual for a lot of people. There are doubtless hundreds of reasons why we might not invest in our own self development on a regular basis, but I don’t intend to delve into that here. Instead I want to look at why it IS important that we undertake regular self development.
For those of us who are employed, our employers probably provide at least a minimal level of continuous professional development (CPD) so that we can maintain or enhance our skills base. This makes good business sense for our employers, as a highly or suitably skilled workforce will enable the company to stay ahead of the competition. It also makes good business sense for us on a personal level, as enhanced skills will clearly make us more valuable to our current and future employers. [Read more…] about Do You Invest In Yourself?
believes that we need to put in around 10,000 hours of practice in our chosen field to reach the highest levels of success. That’s a lot of time. To put this into context, we would need to practice for at least 4 hours a day, seven days a week for eight years to achieve the mastery that Gladwell is referring to! For most of us that seems completely out of the question, and in reality, without the support of our families, it’s unlikely that we could commit to that level of input at an early age.