I’m interested in social or solitary activities which help people develop effective habits.
I’ve looked a bit into some of the common ideas with a lot of programs and books. Stephen Covey’s “7 habits of highly effective people” come to mind. But despite the man’s education I don’t think his findings are based on any real research. I’ve seen a lot of courses for “Life Skills Training” which to me seems little more than rehab. Some corporations send staff to training exercises, to make them behave more effective in general. I can see merit if the corporations pay good money to have their staff participate.
I’m just curious if anyone here can find programs that can help a person become more effective - career-wise, skillwise, whatnot. Something that doesn’t seem cluttered with jargon. Something that doesn’t cost your arm. Maybe it’s a nonsensical request.
Internships or training courses? I generally think that it is better to try and improve one’s self in a specific areas. We can’t be masters of everything, so specialization is important.
Well I guess it’s a specific skill I’m talking about. Maybe more like developing “career building skill” talking effectively, researching effectively, whatnot. I don’t know if the skill I’m trying to name has ever been named.
Go to bars and master the art of seduction through trial-and-error.
I’m serious. Most jobs require working in a social environment and if you can convince people to perform tasks for you and/or help you get what you want while making them realize that it is also what they want you’ll succeed in any field.
I suppose Xunxian has a point here. There is a specific training that jailkeepers undergo, centered around using leverage and encouragment in order to make other people do what you want them to. After all- inmates are not citizens in the jailkeeper’s regard. They are problems to be made use of whatever way we can see fit.
Psychologically manipulating others is probably a part of the effectiveness I’m looking for. Philosophers are familiar with some of that skill- sometimes able to select and implicitly use fallacies to distort the truth, or simply to distort problems into accusations and generalities, keeping focus on where the conversation has to go. There’s even ethical reasons to manipulate others if this can effectively lead to something more beneficial.
The bar activity could be part of a course to tone one’s skills for effectiveness. I think there hardly exists a course for the public to acquire such skills. We should try and make one.
I gave up bars a long time ago, but can tell you that they were not where I learned the sort of skills you seem to be inquiring about. Mostly people there are playing games and getting loaded. While that’s not always different from the work world, lol, there’s a lot more to it than that.
I agree with you that a lot of the training employers do isn’t that helpful. IMO, the primary skills to master, regardless of your occupation, are organization and managing one’s time effectively. I’ve had training in both and have found that the best ones also give you tools to use along with the particular time management system, like how the Franklin company does with its planning system. I have a Blackberry that I rely on a lot, although it took some getting used to initially after I let go of doing everything manually. Some of the stuff out there is a little pricey, but I think you can probably find the equivalent in books, they just need to be specific to one or both of those two topics. There are methods that teach you how (and when) to review your daily activities, figure out your own individual needs – like some people are more alert in the mornings so they can do detail work better then – assess the types of things that you need to do and what’s required to do them, set realistic deadlines, develop a to-do list with priorities, deal with paperwork (ugh) and handle the unexpected stuff. Even how to manage upward if you have a bad boss, to make him or her do their job so that yours is easier. I think it’s like getting into a flow, and that carries over into personal life, as well. Not that all my days ‘flow’ as easily as I’d like, lol. But I’ve found it’s always better having some semblance of order and process than not.
Ingenium has a good thoughts on this, One thing I would add is; pound the pavement. Go talk to employers find out what they want, what they look for in management people, Develop skills and disciplines in those areas. If you don’t ask you won’t learn. Schools sell you a curriculum but, they don’t sell you refinement.
I brown nosed the professors in the phl dept at my school until they gave me a job working on thier grant projects. I get to go to little meetings and give presentations about things, make power points, do a good bit of research, call and harass other professors at different universities for information, make freedom of information act requests from govt agencies and all sorts of other fun things. You should find people who are doing the stuff you wanna do and just harass them until they employ you.
I’m not too sure about ‘programs’ but here’s a few of my thoughts on things that can be helpful when you want to get things happening!
Useful People (information, support, advise)
It helps to find someone You find to be an effective educator /communicator (whether IRL or via another medium) - someone who can communicate ideas in a way that You can clearly understand their instructions/ meanings /reasonings and that you have measure of respect for their wisdom/ intellect / integrity / expertise… or what ever it is that you value most in advisor’s. (Just because someone/thing is Great for someone else doesn’t mean is the ‘fit’ for you - it’s just like finding friends)
Self- Knowledge / Management
It helps to understand your own learning styles (including pre-conditions and ways you best Like to learn) and motivations.
Ask yourself lots of questions (or get someone else to!) about what you want, why you want it, where things fit on your priority list (only one thing can be at the top), and how far / what you are prepared to go to get what you want.
Make a ‘what I’m good at’ list if necessary - can work when trying to cultivate Confidence - or get a friend to do it for you - you maybe surprised at what they have to say.
Action - Plan!
Armed with self-knowledge, Management /Organisational skills can be useful in coming up with action plans.
(Don’t forget to include Flexibility in these!) Take time to make a Plan that works for you.
Break the plan down into Steps - relating goals you wish to achieve. Personally, I like little boxes to Tick
Take time to re-evaluate and re-work The Plan if/ when necessary. Take time to Be Pleased with Things.
Drama / Theatre - Excellent for developing a variety of ‘life skills’. Self control of your own behaviour modification plan, careful observation or your self and others, recognising the importance of the ‘visual clues’ - most people believe what they See (translate set, costumes, props, hair and make-up to environment, dress, accessories and grooming), ability to improvise when things don’t go quite how you expect them to “the show must go on” and awareness of meanings surrounding “All the world’s a stage” - you are always being watched and evaluated by others (find somewhere to take time out from this too!)
