L. Eric Culverson - www.EricCulverson.con
This discussion series is an excerpt of my book: The Competence Myth - Why your technical skills are no longer enough and what you can do about it (based on Chapter 8: Becoming a Master of Change)
There are four steps to you becoming a master of change, the first was to Accept that something will simply never be the same, and the second was to proactively Connect with family, friends and loved ones.
The third step is to “Get Educated”. We need to avail ourselves of every information source and outlet that might be helpful. Tap into every resource that may provide some insight for the specific challenges that you face.
Knowledge is power! Always has been, and always will be. We all understand that. What makes it so important today, however, is that in this climate of change and challenge, keeping yourself informed is your greatest defense against uncertainty. And the uncertainty that keeps us up at night. We may know that the current situation is bad, but not knowing what will happen next feels worse.
Our individual education process requires that we be more open to ideas, perspective, and analysis than ever before. Don’t depend on any particular pundit or “TV talking head” to analyze complicated world events, and then tell you how you should feel about it. No, the process of taking control of your world includes you being your own analyst. It means you be able to honestly say, “I have read or seen a couple of different articles or interviews on this subject and all things considered, this is how I feel. This is what I think is the most likely outcome, and therefore this is the direction I am taking.”
If you don’t already do so, challenge yourself to devote at least one hour a week to pure personal research, using the Internet, magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc. Make an effort to gather different perspectives so you’ll have a deeper appreciation of all the underlying factors. Then use this information and broader insight to not just figure out what your next move will be, but also when you should make it. Timing is everything.
But again, you won’t have the insight you need unless you commit to the task of continually educating yourself.
Put another way, if you could see the future, what would you do differently today?
The next step is becoming a master of change is “Taking The Long Term View”, and I discuss that next time, see ya!