How to put into practice the useful skills learned in the trainings

Usually at the training we get a lot of information in a short time, learn about a large number of techniques. To use them to change and develop even one new habit requires a lot of energy and attention, and we are trying to implement everything at once. As a result, at best, we use a couple of chips, forgetting about 90% of the remaining information. This is how training often ends for many.

There are no complaints about the methods themselves. The whole problem is that we do not bring the acquired skills to automatism, and therefore it is not possible to use them in practice. The good news is that skill setting can be controlled.

1. Implement Change Painlessly

When we get a new tool or algorithm at our disposal, the most important thing is the «trigger point». We need to stop dreaming about change and just start doing things differently. Try to remember new mechanics every time and incorporate them into your daily activities: for example, react differently to criticism or change speech patterns. It is not enough to buy a new car — you need to drive it every day!

If we are talking about a mini-tool that improves the basic skill — in particular, such are given in speech training for the skill of public speaking — you need to focus on this particular detail. How not to forget about the «turn on point»?

• Set reminders on your phone.
• Write on paper cards the techniques, principles, or algorithms you want to implement. You can divide them by day: today you work on three, and leave a couple of others for tomorrow. You definitely need to interact with the cards: lay them out on the desktop, swap them, mix them up. May they always be before your eyes.
• Do not implement many new techniques at once. To avoid confusion, choose only a few.

2. Use the «three pillars» of skill setting

What if the brain does not want to change anything, ignores innovations and works in the usual way? He is like a child who does not want to waste energy on something that turns out worse and slower. You need to understand that the new algorithm will make your life easier, but not immediately. Before you can implement a new skill in life and work, you need to work it out. In the training format, this is far from always possible — there is too little time. The “three pillars” of setting skills will help to achieve the desired result:

• Isolation: Concentrate strictly on one task.
• Intensity: work on the selected task for a limited time at high speed.
• Feedback: You will immediately see the results of your actions, and this will support you.

3. Small tasks

We do not work out many skills to the required level, since we do not divide tasks into elements. However, if you break any professional task into separate parts, decompose it, then you will learn how to complete it many times faster. The neural connection responsible for this part will be strained many times in a row, which will lead to its stability and the development of the most optimal solution.

The downside is that this method does not allow you to complete the task in its entirety. Therefore, I advise you to train the skill on what has already been done. For example, if you need to implement a new email response algorithm, work like this:

• Give yourself 20 minutes a day.
• Take 50 letters worked out last month.
• Break the task — the answer to the letter — into elements.
• Work through each one in turn. And if one of the elements is writing a short answer plan, then you need to make 50 plans without writing an introductory part and an answer by itself.
• Try to reflect on whether it has become more convenient to work or not. In such an intensive format, you can always find better solutions.

4. Develop a training system

• Build yourself a training program: refer to the training summary and highlight with a colored marker what and in what situations you are going to apply. This approach will consolidate knowledge and give an understanding of the scope of work. And remember that exercising for 2 weeks for 10 minutes a day is better than working hard once for a couple of hours in a row and quit forever.
• Plan what time in the first week and what specific skills you are going to work on. Do not try to change everything at once: the process should bring pleasure, not fatigue. Got bored? This is a sign that it’s time to switch to another task.
• Make time for yourself. Most of the material received can be worked out in transport — metro, bus, taxi. Usually there we are busy thinking or gadgets, so why not devote this time to practicing the skill?
• Reward yourself. Come up with a system that motivates you. Do you regularly think about the new mechanics of writing a post on a social network? Treat yourself to your favorite dish. Are you working on a skill for a week without a pass? Accumulate points, one per day, for what you have long wanted. Let 50 points be equal to new sneakers. The introduction of new things is a positive change in your life, which means that they should be accompanied by positive encouragement.

Following the described algorithm, you will be able to successfully apply in life the knowledge that you received in the trainings. The principles of setting skills are always the same and work with any mechanics, regardless of what the topic of the training you went through was. Set aside time to practice your skills, break them down into mini-tasks, and practice each in isolated, intense workouts. This will allow you to boldly and confidently go through life.