Tag Archive for: Continuing Education

How to Get Good

How Do You Get Good?


If you want to get good, the first thing to do is to acknowledge that you want to cultivate that specific skill. If you don’t acknowledge that you need to get good at something, you’ll be hindered by unrealistic beliefs. Either you’ll overvalue your skill or ignore deficiencies. This is not good for you if you’re just starting to work on personal development. As an example, I decided that I wanted to be able to write a short essay in cursive. First, I had to recognize that I could only remember about half of the cursive alphabet. I had a deficit in my memory of the alphabet. It’s not enough to say that you want to work on a skill- you have to assess yourself. This is key when it comes to the next step of “Getting Good”.

Once you’ve acknowledged that you need to cultivate a skill, you need to cast your eyes forward to where you want that skill to be. Set a realistic goal for where you want to be- the key point is “realistic”. I wanted to write an essay in cursive with very good penmanship. First I had to improve my memory of the alphabet- I wasn’t going to be able to write an essay on 15th Century Germany in a month! Instead, I gave myself a short-term goal. I decided that I wanted to take all of my notes in cursive within four weeks. This helped me get ready for my primary goal, and helped me feel like I actually improved my skill when I was able to write all my notes in three weeks!

Finally, you have to deliberately work on your skill! As I previously stated, I had a short-term goal to write all my notes in cursive. Before I could do that, I had to work on my memory of the cursive alphabet. I started small- by writing out the alphabet once a day from memory. Then I moved onto short sentences. Then I started to take notes in cursive. After three weeks, I could write every letter from memory and take quick notes on discussions in cursive. I accomplished my short-term goal!

While I haven’t written that essay yet (primary sources aren’t the easiest to translate), I take pride in being able to write in cursive. It’s a skill that not many people my age and younger worry about.

What about you? What skill are you going to Get Good at? Think about the skill you want to develop. Is it rare and valuable? Will it help you add value to others? If you answered yes, set up a plan to develop one of those skills- and contact us for more information on personal development!


Why Continuing Education Matters

by Connor Dillon

So you’ve just gotten a degree, maybe you have a job or two lined up (or more likely don’t). Time to start your life!

Except, you probably haven’t thought about this: all those skills you’ve developed and have ingrained in the back of your mind over the last seventeen years of formal education, well, they aren’t going to stay as bright and shiny as they are now.

In fact, you’re probably going to lose a couple of the skills you have and you’ll most likely forget most of the things the professors and teachers taught you.

Essentially, you’re fighting against a continuing degradation of knowledge and skills.

That’s partially why medical professionals like nurses, doctors, and such are required by law to get a certain number of professional development or continuing education hours from certified lectures, courses, or events. Of course, in that example you have to take into consideration that our knowledge of medicine advances quickly these days and no one wants a dentist who still does surgeries.

But several studies show that the knowledge you gain during an education or training event will likely be gone between three to eight months after it occurs. Obviously, directly after the course or lecture most individuals have a greater understanding of the subject matter. Their scores improved from their pre-training scores. After several months, however, their scores drop back down to where they were before!

From that alone we can say that the education you’ve received, well, it’ll really only “stick” with you from several months. The technical skills you can obviously practice and maintain, but that knowledge? In one ear and out the other.

In the interest of not just being technically skilled but knowledgable about your profession, you should continue to pursue educational opportunities. The best part is they don’t even have to be a formal thing! Go to your library and learn to paint, follow YouTube videos and carve wood, or if you have to chance to go to a conference, show up!

But if you don’t care to maintain and improve your knowledge and understanding of a subject, think about the increased chance of a pay raise or promotion..

That’s right- independent research commissioned by  EvoLLLution surveyed 200 employers across North America in companies of varying size. The core questions they asked were:

  1. What do employees need to get ahead?
  2. How are employees rewarded or otherwise compensated for their education efforts?
  3. How does employee learning affect the company and the larger society?

And how did the employers respond?

A huge amount of them believe that employees need continuing education just to keep up with the job. Additionally, employers saw a positive impact in job performance while employees went through ongoing education- and how did they return the favor? “78% of employers said ongoing education has a positive impact on career advancement.” Want to hear an even better number? “…87% [of employers] said educational attainment positively affects compensation and salary.”

Wow. When a large majority of employers say such things, you should really sit up and take notice.

At the end of the day, continuing education doesn’t just help you become a better member of your profession; it can significantly increase your position in the company and your compensation for the work you do.