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What are some good skills for learning ?

#history #engineering #mathematics #biology
#business #computer-science

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Doc’s Answer

Kryston at the end of the day, the most powerful skill we all have is the ability to honestly self-evaluate ourselves. We can step back, look at what we did right and what we did wrong, and use that information to look for ways to improve in whatever areas are most important to us. That kind of self-reflection is surprisingly rare. Many people move through life without doing it, or under the assumption that they're already excellent. Almost none of us are - true excellence is rarely achieved in life, though it is a noble goal. The people that truly excel are the ones to whom success flows like a river, and those people got there either by having an absurd natural talent or by doing a lot of self-evaluation and self-improvement.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Let me be clear on exactly what I mean by "public speaking." It is my belief that you're doing public speaking every time you're speaking to a group of people on a topic. A manager gathering together several members of their staff for an announcement or a meeting is doing public speaking, for example. A person trying to explain the ins and outs of a project to three coworkers is doing public speaking. It's not just a person standing on a stage delivering a speech to an audience, though that is definitely one part of it. That's a great place to be in. The person who stands up and speaks, even when its scary, is the person who builds a natural reputation as a leader, as a go-to person. That person is the one who is going to receive a lot of opportunities and a lot of rewards along the way. You're going to have strong relationships with your coworkers, with the people who work under you, and with your supervisor and their supervisors, too. That's a position from which you can build a great career.

BUSINESS WRITING
The key to successful business writing is clarity and confidence. You need to be able to express your ideas clearly and succinctly so that the other person understands what you are trying to say. You also need to be able to put forth those ideas with a sense of confidence so that others actually read and value what you're writing. These aren't natural skills. They take practice. Almost everyone can write out an idea, but it takes a lot of work to be able to write out an idea clearly and briefly. It takes skill to be able to share a proposal with confidence in your words (without sounding arrogant). It is clarity and brevity and confidence that makes a person into an effective communicator in the workplace, and a person that can effectively communicate is a person that is able to keep ideas flowing around the modern workplace, often gets credit for things, and often gets their ideas and thoughts noticed and used. It's an incredibly valuable skill to have.

TECHNOLOGY BASCIS
By this, I don't simply mean knowing how to use your iPhone or how to Google things. I'm referring to understanding how changes in technology are shaping your field and how to communicate technology challenges to people who are experts in that niche. For example, when something goes wrong with a point of sale machine at work, how do you communicate the problem to others? "It's broken" is an incredibly simple answer, and just repeating an error message isn't helpful, either. What's the real problem? What's the model of the machine? Did you verify that all connections are in place? What simple solutions might exist? How can you find all of this information? Can you apply all of that information? In other words, technology basics means understanding the technology you're using on a deep enough level to be able to effectively communicate with a technical consultant while also having ideas about the technology solutions to come that will help solve workplace problems (and figuring out how to stay out of the way of that progress and actually harness it for your own career).

ACCOUNTING BASICS
The simple knowledge of understanding how money flows in and out of a business can be a huge boon to any professional because, in the end, businesses are designed to make money and accounting is how all of that is tracked. Again, you don't need to be a master of accounting to be useful here. You just need to understand accounting concepts and how they might apply to your business. What are accounts receivable? Accounts payable? How might different things be written off? This type of thinking almost always leads directly to business decisions, because many business decisions are based on accounting data. Understanding how to interpret accounting summaries and how those translate into decisions is not only going to prepare you to start moving into management, but it will immediately help you in terms of discussing matters with your supervisor and understanding some of the decisions being made in your workplace (and, again, how you can avoid the downsides and be prepared for the upsides).

Hope this was Helpful Kryston
Thank you comment icon Thank You Dexter for your Contributions to the Future. Our beliefs about what we are and what we can be precisely determine what we can be. Doc Frick
Thank you comment icon Thank You Gordon. “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — William Shakespeare Doc Frick
Thank you comment icon Thank You Candace. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank Doc Frick
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Gabby’s Answer

Hi Kristen! Here are some areas of learning that are helpful for most careers:

1. Empathy: Learn skills on how to understand people and keep an open mind to hear their perspectives. Everybody comes with a different life story and taking the time to learn from them, communicate, and care for others will help you succeed on any team.
2. Perspective: Take time to travel, read, talk to people, volunteer, and get uncomfortable to open your mind to other perspectives.
3. Technology: Try to learn about areas of technology that impact yourself and others. Whether you are interested in the engineering of it or the experience of it, technology continues to be a leading factor in all industries. During COVID-19 you can see the impact of technology in supporting our work, schools, businesses, and connections. Try to find something you are interested in from this experience and find resources to learn more.
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Brendon’s Answer

Are you asking "what are some good skills to learn?" Or are you asking "what are some ways to improve your ability to learn?"

If you are asking the second question, then I have an answer for you:

The most important thing you can do is GIVE YOUR BRAIN TIME. There is something called a "Forgetting Curve" which you should Google. The main takeaway from it is that your brain CANNOT cram information AND retain it. It has to be continually exposed to information over a longer period of time (days, weeks, months, etc.) in order for you to actually LEARN IT.

The next time you have a homework assignment, try looking at all the problems and doing the easy ones first. But for the ones that aren't so easy, think about each one for a little bit and then go and do ANYTHING ELSE. Come back to those problems in a couple hours, five hours, or even the next day. You will be surprised at how much more readily your brain can tackle those 'difficult' problems now that it has had a chance to absorb the information.

If you can do this, you will literally be able to spend LESS TIME doing homework/studying and get BETTER RESULTS. It took me until almost my senior year in COLLEGE in order to figure this out. The change was amazing. I WISH that somebody had taught me this a long time ago. Unfortunately, it took many years of poor study habits for me to finally figure this out.

Hopefully, you won't have to repeat the same mistake that I did.

Best of luck!
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Gloria’s Answer

Hi Kryston,

I think that you are asking about skills that will help you learn new things or stay on track in college. I would have to agree with Barbara that listening is an important element, especially in a world that revolves around remote learning. For me, listening is about being totally focused on the task at hand. There is no such thing as successful multi-tasking. If you are trying to listen to a teacher and read a text, one of those items is being ignored. Reading and listening occupy the same part of the brain. The brain can only do one thing at a time in a specific part of the brain. The brain can multitask. You do that all day long while you are breathing and doing something else. You can eat and listen. You can walk and sing. You cannot write and speak. Listening without distraction is really big.

I would also offer that you should take learning in chunks. Do not try to complete an assignment in one sitting. Whether it is reading a few chapters or writing a paper, you should break up the tasks. First of all, it can make something overwhelming manageable. For example, when I have to write something, the best way to start is with an outline. Just an outline. Finish that and then come back to it later. This does a few things for you. It lets you think some more about what you want to do next. And who knows, you may be in a better mood when you come back to take the next step.

Lastly, be patient with yourself. Learning something new is hard. It is meant to be hard. If you have to review it a few times, do that. Also, avoid waiting too long to ask for help. If you are struggling, ask for help. Someone else in your class may be able to help or is having the same struggle.

Gloria
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Sunil’s Answer

Hi Kryston - in addition to the great comments and advice others have posted, there's something I learned later in life - "learning how to learn".
A related thought is something that Alvin Toffler - an author and futurist stated - "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Maintain an open mind. Every time you believe you know everything about a topic - challenge yourself to learn more about it... rinse and repeat. Good luck!

https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

Sunil recommends the following next steps:

Check this course out to get exposed to "Learning How to Learn" https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn
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Jina’s Answer

Hi Kryston - to keep it simple, being present while learning and eliminating distractions will make a significant positive impact to learning.
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Sendil’s Answer

Digital Literacy.
Written Communication.
Public Speaking.
Self-Management.
Web Development.
How to Make a Website.
How to Cook.
How to Exercise and Be Fit.
Statistics
Basic Digital Media Production
How to Network
How to Speak a New Language
How to Make and Use Spreadsheets
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Vic’s Answer

I would say learn to take care of yourself - in terms of health and financial wellness.

1. The Science of Well-Being by Yale University | Coursera - ". It debunked popular notions of what makes people happy (like the luxury Mercedes-Benz status symbol) and helped students understand the habits they should build to lead truly happier, more fulfilled lives" - business insider

2. I Will Teach You to Be Rich - Book by Ramit Sethi - provides insight into personal finance

3. Other areas to look into is how insurance works (medical, dental, vision), retirement, etc
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Harshit’s Answer

Some of the most important skills for learning in your life will come to down to three: building empathy for others; becoming a strong resilient leader or individual in your speciality field; and having continued curiosity to ask questions, revise, and retrospect throughout. Hope this helps forming a thought in where to go ahead Kryston!
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Shelby’s Answer

One of the most important skills for learning is to reflect on your work. No matter what it is you do, if you can reflect on what went right and wrong at the end of the day, you'll continue to learn what is effective. Furthermore, if you build on that reflection and make adjustments to your work, then you can become highly-effective in what you are doing. I understand that this is a broad answer; however, it is probably one of the most important ones I have learned in my career. Hope this helps!
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Dami’s Answer

Hi Kryston!

You've already gotten some pretty great feedback so I'll keep mine short & sweet. I'll give you five things.

1. Adaptability: Adaptability at a super high level is the ability to respond to change or changing conditions. It's important because everything is changing & it won't stop changing & we need to match the change too. We need to be able to adapt to changes in your life, interactions, career, responsibilities, etc. I can speak in-depth about this but I want to keep it short. What I will say though is that being adaptable will make you less anxious in life because you know that whatever happens, you'll be able to figure out how to make it work & being adaptable will make you more valuable to people around you because it allows for creativity.

2. Communication: Communication is a process. It involves two or more parties to listen, process & appropriately respond to information, and that can be very hard. Communication is not just talking, it is speaking in a manner that is comprehensible for the other party. For you to be a good communicator, you need to be a good speaker & listener. The listening part of communication is usually neglected & it is so for many reasons, the major one being that everyone wants to be heard. Everyone wants their voice to be heard & it can be really hard to do that when everybody is just talking. So you need to train yourself to be a good listener & speaker. Good listening skills would take you everywhere because it is so rare.

3. Proactiveness: Proactiveness involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than just reacting. It means taking control and making things happen rather than just adjusting to a situation or waiting for something to happen. Proactive people generally do not need to be asked to act, nor do they require detailed instructions. They do so naturally. And while adaptability talks about responding to change, proactiveness talks about initiating the change. You need to be able to do both.

4. Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. Everyone thinks but some people think in a more structured & refined way. And we know that the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. That's a fact. It is very important because it allows you become a better problem solver. The issue is that a lot of people lack it because it is not a talent, you have to train yourself to do it & people don't want to do that but it also makes it very valuable because not everyone can do it.

5. Problem Solving: Which is strongly tied to critical thinking. You can't be a problem solver if you are not a critical thinker. The world is plagued with problems, some people create more problems while others try to solve them. the ones that try to solve them & do so successfully become good at it. The easiest way to be relevant & deliver value is to be a problem solver. Problem solvers rule the world.

6. Care: Care for people, for the work you do, care for life, just care. People generally don't care & it's wild. Care is so so important. You don't have to be passionate, you can care because of money, it is valid. Just find a reason to care about what you do & your life & the actions you take. When you care, people know.

I hope you find this useful.
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barbara’s Answer

Skills that are useful for nearly all careers:
- The ability to really listen to others. Often students and interview candidates are so eager to show off their knowledge that they do not carefully enough listen and sometimes fail to do what was requested or provide the needed information.
- Diplomacy. It is important to speak up and good to demonstrate and share your knowledge but make sure you share your views in a way that is not offensive for anyone.
- Kindness. People will remember how you acted even more than what you did.
- Curiosity. Ask questions and learn more about your subjects.
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Crystal’s Answer

Simple ways to stay focused and continue working towards your learning goals:


Crystal recommends the following next steps:

1. Build a 30/60/90 day plan where you establish goals that you will achieve in 30 days (week to week), goals you want to achieve in 60 days, and goals you want to achieve in 90 days
2. Talk about your goals and how you plan to achieve them with your friends and family. Ask them to hold you accountable and schedule check-in times with a good friend/family
3. Schedule time in a calendar to study and with your to dos so you set aside time to achieve your goals
4. Journal and reflect on your experience. If you make a mistake or roadblock, don't be discouraged, just start again and try to hit your goal next time!
5. Always be curious and ask questions! Don't be afraid to make mistakes or show that you don't know something!
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Krasti’s Answer

Hi Kryston,
This is a great question and one that often gets overlooked. After graduating from school, it is up to the individual (you) to continue to enforce learning. The good thing is that there are many simple ways to learn these days. For example, internet is a great resource to search up anything. However, in order to learn, you need to maintain a healthy mindset of being curious, open minded, willing to listen to other opinions and being patient. When you follow these elements, then I believe you can learn anything because information is easily accessible. You can learn from books, listening to podcasts, searching on the web, asking a friend/family member, etc. Learning is also going to take time so don't rush yourself and be patient. Everyone learns at a different pace so don't compare yourself to others if you can't get it on the first try. Happy learning!
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Mya’s Answer

Hi Kryston,

All the answers above are great, but I just wanted to pile onto what you've already received. I think some greta skills for learning are:

Truly listening to others and and hearing what they are saying. Also vauling their opinions and points of view is very important to get outside perspcective.

Staying curious. Be open to learning more and asking questions around things to keep learning

Be open to learning set the time aside to learn new things. You can learn new things in all different forms of media (web, books, podcasts, interviews, etc.). Practice some of them and see what you prefer.

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