The Four Keys to Proficiency and You

There are four keys needed to become proficient at any skill: time, action, opportunity and intentionality.

Time: I talked about time a little last week in "I Need A Raise!". It takes a lot of time to master any skill. Most of the "academically gifted" students, professional athletes, and other elite professionals we admire started learning their respective skills at very early ages and they all individually spent thousands of hours learning their skill. A kid that reads books around the house after school is going to be more "academically gifted" than a kid who doesn't get time to study because he has to work.

 

Action: Having all the time in the world will not make us better at any skill unless we channel that time to a particular skill. Action is signing up for swimming lessons if you want to learn how to swim, making friends with people you can learn from, picking up a book on the skill you are trying to learn. Action here refers to the first step that marks the beginning of any journey.

Opportunity: Opportunity refers to the equipment, traits, facilities and personnel that help in skill development. Opportunity is Jumpstart Academy and her volunteers providing mentors to young secondary students. Opportunity is CcHub providing a community where aspiring learners and entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and hone their skills. Opportunity is cyber cafes providing us access to the internet at a time when many of us could not afford it.

Intentionality: Intentionality is the sum total of decisions we (or others) consciously make to improve on the skill we are learning. There comes a time when learning a skill that we have to decide whether to remain "good enough" or "go to the next level." Intentionality is figuring out how much time and what opportunities are needed to "get to the next level" and taking the necessary actions to get there. Intentionality is your parent signing you up for after-school lessons. Intentionality is moving to a location that offers more opportunities and time to get better at your skills. Intentionality is hiring a private tutor, interviewing someone great in your field, saving to get better equipment.

 

Opportunity is Our Collective Responsibility

While we can individually muster the will-power to find more time, take action and make conscious decisions to improve on a skill, opportunity can be more elusive and harder to come by. Opportunity is transient and is linked to a community's past and current vision.With a growing world population, the rate at which we create opportunities has to outpace our population growth rate or else we are heading for harder times. We all have to take opportunity creation as a challenge. As we spend our time more wisely and intentionally take action and seek opportunities to improve ourselves, let's not forget that opportunity is a two-way street. As we look for opportunities, let's remember that we are someone else's opportunity. It's easy for us to complain about not finding opportunities, but are we creating opportunities for others? Are you helping your daughter with her homework? Do you allow your little brother to play soccer with you and your friends so he can get better? Do you lend/recommend books that changed your life to others? There are some youth close to you that can learn a lot from you. Are you creating a system or supporting an existing system that will help you help them? How many people are lucky you are alive today?

Shout out to all you out there creating opportunities with your time, actions and businesses. And for those of us not yet creating opportunities, let's start today in whatever way we can.

If you are looking for a way to create opportunities in and around Nigeria, Wakose will like to help you help Nigeria. Shoot us an email and we will look to work with you.