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As I’ve gone about learning and growing, I’ve fallen prey on occasion to the thought that if I find the right new technique that it will benefit me more than polishing up on my old techniques. The basic reasoning is that if the new technique is more powerful at the outset than my old technique is at present, that it would be logical to use the new technique instead of the old one.
The Problem.
The obvious problem is that without directly experiencing it, you have no way of knowing how powerful/useful it really is. You can get an idea of how useful it is by extrapolating based on your knowledge of yourself, if you’ve taken the time to get to know yourself really well.
This, in turn, opens up a whole slew of other problems: If you don’t know which ones will be of most use to you, how do you know which ones to try? Should you try them all? If you scatter your energy and attention that much, you probably already know that you’ll get lackluster results, if any. You may even endanger your health, trying to take on too much at once.
The way through the problem.
When you look at this problem, you will see that there is a quick way to eliminate a large chunk of it: Get to know yourself better. The practice of getting to know oneself is beneficial for many reasons, and this is just one. If you aren’t very far along, then try this when you are pondering a new technique to use:
- First, do some quick research on the technique. It’s abilities, system requirements and limitations.
- Imagine that you are already using it. Really put yourself there. The more detail and clarity you can get, the better it works. Use all of your senses.
- What do you notice? Does it feel natural to you? Does it mesh well with the other techniques that you use already? Does it run contrary to something in your life? If so, then what?
By modeling the technique, you can get a rough idea as to whether or not it would work well for you. If not, then move on. This, of course, only removes one part of the problem. Even if you can cut down the number of new techniques that you want to try, you can still wind up stretched too thin. For this reason, I suggest using the “70% rule”. I’m afraid I don’t remember, or never knew where this little tidbit originated, but it’s a very useful technique in-and-of-itself.
The original purpose of the rule was to overcome procrastination: If you’re 70% ready to take action, then act now, don’t wait for 100%. Of course, 70% isn’t a hard number; it can be adjusted to whatever level you desire. What’s really important is that you draw a line, and then move when the line is reached.
Quite obviously, this can be reversed, as well. You can act until you reach a certain threshold, and then stop, or you can mix the two, as is my suggestion for dealing with this problem:
- Make a list of all the new techniques that you want to pick up
- Prioritize them so that you know which one is next.
- Look at the techniques you are currently trying to master. Include any 30-day challenges, or anything else of the sort.
- Now, assign a percentage (or percentile, if you like. For many skills there is no complete mastery)
- Mark Set “Go” lines for each of them. You can tailor them however you like, but make sure that each one has a line at which you feel competent in them or at the very least the point at which you feel you can not give them as much attention.
- Note that for 30-day challenges and other time-based items, you will want to finish those out entirely. The reason I suggest putting them on the list is to increase your awareness of what all you are actually doing.
- Come back to your list every week, and check your progress. Re-arrange your “waiting” list if you like.
- When you reach the “go” line on one of the items in the list, check it off, and move the next item from the waiting list to the active list. Set a “go” line for this one as well. Repeat indefinitely.
One additional benefit of this technique is that as you go, you will find that you have a list of your techniques and skills. This can be a huge morale boost when you feel like you aren’t making progress, and it can serve as a reminder that you do have resources at your command.
What’s your method for deciding what’s next? Please share it in the comments!
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