How to build skills that matter?

Do you ever feel like you got nothing out of school or college?

You might have taken various levels of examination and invested hours of learning but still do you think that much of what you learned was not useful in actual situations?

Research confirms the fact that much of what we study does not actually transfer to the situations we need it. In one study, Psychologist Howard Gardner says that “students who receive honor grades in college-level physics courses are frequently unable to solve basic problems and questions encountered in a form slightly different from that on which they have been formally instructed and tested.” All these facts confirm that we get very little out of school or college academics.

Why is that we are not able to build a skill out of what we study in schools and colleges for numerous years? Should we blame the structure of our schools and colleges? Maybe yes or maybe not.

 But also our own learning efforts play a greater role in developing our skillset. Choose poorly and many of your projects may not matter at all.

What should you do to avoid this trap?

Any subject you study or any project you take up should have something that you can make or do. It should not be something where you just learn. Don’t just learn Hindi, aim to have conversations with people. Don’t just read a book on Marketing, aim to implement the strategies you learn in your business. Don’t just watch lectures, do practice problems for the exam. Implementation is the key!

Inputs over outputs

Unfortunately, our educational structure is primarily focused on Output over the inputs. We study hard to score good marks but not to understand the subject. So, whenever you are working on a new project concentrate more on inputs than on the outputs. Be well versed with the process so that gaining a good output will just be a byproduct but not the whole aim.

Have a predefined endpoint

Having a timebound goal for a particular project is very essential. If you commit to an indefinite timetable then you tend to give up soon. So always have a predefined endpoint to the goal so that you will work better and focused. This will also aid in building time management skill that matters a lot.

Put in the practice

As said earlier, just learning about things will not make any difference. You have to put in the work to give a form and test your learning abilities. Just learning something and writing an exam that will not help you in the real world. The practice is the most important ingredient in building real skills that matter. You cannot become a good basketball player by just reading how to play basketball like a pro! Therefore, if you want to build real skills then put in the practice!