It just struck me that one needed to improve. But what is to be improved and how is the question that screams for an answer. Just to answer that question I decided to make a list of sorts and identify what is important. Here is what comes to my mind but in no specific order.
To improve Your Writing, Read and Write More
It is easy to say that. But when it comes to attempts to implement it, it can become mind-boggling. There is writer’s block, there are challenges that are thrown up by other tasks and commitments. Sometimes it’s the pressures of time that do not allow the bandwidth to sit down and write. Distractions while writing is another huge discouraging factor that does not allow one to pursue the desire to write. This is simply overcome by routines and rituals which help to maintain the momentum.
Reading in comparison is far easier to fit into the day. With the devices of today if someone says that he or she does not have time to read then it is more of an issue of a priority than time. One has a mobile almost all the time. What one does with that is what one gets. Use it for reading and one can have enough to read. So reading more is actually much easier to achieve.
To Improve Your Relationships, Give More
Life is becoming fast-paced and this simple piece of advice which is a source of great happiness is often neglected and sometimes missed altogether. Relationships are like plants they require time and positive energy to flourish. I consider relationships as a box of happiness. You get a lot of goodies of life from that box. However, if you keep taking out of that box and do not put it back, it is only a matter of time before the box becomes empty. To make sure that it never becomes empty one has to keep filling it up. That is what is the meaning of giving in a relationship. The more you give to the relationship the deeper and richer it grows.
To Improve Your Public Speaking, Speak More
This comes from personal experience. As a kid and even much later I was known for the few words that I spoke. My job required that I speak in public sometimes. I needed to be articulate and reach out to my audience. I did not have much choice in that. Every military leader had to indulge in public speaking to be effective in reaching out to subordinates. Initially, it used to be an effort of some sort. I never had much inclination in public speaking. In school days I was part of debating teams not because I was good at debating but because I could give good points for my team! In my professional life as time passed, I continued to speak and slowly the effort required to speak in public became lesser and lesser. Today, I think I can speak effectively in public. It is purely about doing more and more till you improve to your own satisfaction and confidence.
To Improve Your Knowledge, Teach More
Teaching is the best form of reflecting upon the knowledge one has acquired. If one is a good teacher then the chances are that one has got good knowledge also. To quote Einstein, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Only a good teacher can explain simply and a good teacher is someone who has good knowledge. If one feels that one lacks the required degree of knowledge and yearns to acquire more knowledge then one has to start teaching. Teaching will help in confronting one’s limitations and an increase in knowledge will be driven by the inquisitiveness of pupils. New questions will be lead to new learnings.
To Improve Conversations, Listen More
Good conversations have more than one part – apart from speaking and conveying one’s own point of view, good conversations is a lot about trying to understand the others’ point of view. The more one listens to others the better the understanding of the other’s point of view and thus better is the quality of conversation. Good listening skills aid in improving not only the quality of conversation but also the satisfaction of having a good conversation.
To Build Resiliency, Do More
To more is the age-old piece of advice given repeatedly to athletes, painters, writers and politicians. The more you do the more resilient you become. The falls and reverses do not affect negatively because of the resilience developed as a result of confidence that is the result of doing more. “Small strokes, fell oaks”, it is not that only the big matters, repeated actions and doing more matters. Do more to get any or every desired result. There is value in doing more. The more you do, the more resilient you become to work for your goals and achieve whatever you decide to.
To Be Happier, Appreciate More
Who doesn’t like to be appreciated? We are all. social beings and appreciation is a positive stroke that we all yearn for. But few realise that it is not only the process of receiving positive strokes that makes us happy, it is also a result of giving positive strokes. Want to be happier, appreciate more. It is like giving and getting, There is joy in both. Appreciating is the easiest thing which can be given. Don’t be a miser in appreciating. Appreciate the good work of others, or the good efforts of a cyclist who lost the race or the dreams of young graduates. Even if you appreciate the shirt of a colleague, it will make them happy. More importantly, it will make you happier, for there is always greater power in giving.