Four Steps On How To Get Good at Doing Anything

"Wow, you are a great speaker!” Someone came up to me recently and told me this after I finished a presentation. Their feedback reminded me that it is possible to turn a weaknesses into a strength. A couple of years ago I joined Toastmasters International to improve my communication skills as I did not consider public speaking a personal strength. The mission of Toastmasters is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.By regularly giving speeches and gaining feedback from fellow club members, I noticed that the more I gave speeches, the more confident of a speaker I became. I have recently been recognized as a Competent Communicator.

It is not natural to feel confident about doing something unless you are reasonably good at doing it.

Through my journey of refining my communication skills, I was reminded that if you want to get good at something you must practice. This truth is not only applicable for public speaking, but for any area in life.

Here are the four steps of the Confidence Cycle:

Step 1: Practice the necessary skills

If you want to become a confident speaker, you have to practice giving speeches. If you want to become a confident dancer you must practice dancing. If you want to become better at socializing, you may need to practice telling stories and asking open-ended questions to help you connect with people. There are no shortcuts to building lasting confidence. If we want to become confident at anything, we must practice.

Step 2: Apply skills effectively

Practicing skills is important, but that is not enough to make us good at something. We must also apply the skills effectively. In order to apply our skills, we must step out of our comfort zone and put ourselves in real life challenging situations where we apply the skills we are working on. When you step out of you comfort zone, be prepared to embrace the feelings of discomfort that will occur.

Step 3: Access the results

After you apply the skills, it is good to reflect on the results. What did you do that worked? What did you do that did not work? Why do you think it did or did not work? What will you do differently next time?

Step 4: Modify as needed

The final step is to modify what you are doing as needed based on the results you are getting. Do more of what is working well and modify what is not working so well. As the saying goes, “If you do what you always have done then you will get what you have always gotten.”

They real key in getting good at something is repeating this cycle. Practice the skills, apply them again, access the results and continue to modify. Overtime you will be good at the field you are aiming to get good at.

Turning Awareness into Action:

What is something you would like to get good at? What skills will you begin practicing?

#cultivatingconfidencewithcoleman