If you don’t have a year plan yet, come let’s look at ’20 Practical Ways to Improve Oneself in 2024′.
According to @TundeTASH, a licensed immigration consultant by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), he stated that this is my cheat code every year. Last year, I received two award categories at the Canadian SME National Business Awards, closed over 65 university/college partnerships, and many more.
Here are 20 Practical Ways To Improve Oneself in 2024 by Tunde Omotoye:
- Self Reflection
The first thing you want to do is reflect. This is very important as it lays the foundation for any step you are willing to take regarding your career, hustle, or self-development. It helps you understand:
- Where are you coming from?
- Where you want to be.
Self-reflection speaks the truth to you without sugarcoating it. While working as a graphic designer many years ago, I asked myself a lot of questions.
- What is the end goal of the path for me?
- Am I maximizing my full potential and capacity as a person?
- Outline Your Goals
Once you’ve reflected on what you want and where you want to be, it is time to turn your intentions into clearly defined goals. Always remember that having goals without a plan written in “black and white” is still a dream.
Outline your goals clearly. When doing this, remember:
- Don’t set goals to impress anyone.
- You are the driver of your own goals.
- Set a goal in line with your values and career path.
- Have a timeline and an action plan for your goals.
- Be sincere with yourself.
- Be Friends with Reading
One thing reading does is improve self-discipline and consistency. When I landed my first professional job as an HR officer, I read a lot of entry-level management books. Why? To improve a lot about myself and to understand business concepts. Little did I know I was improving my
- Communication skills.
- The knowledge base of my field.
- Imagination and inspiring myself.
Having an outline of books for the year can also help.
- Take up a New Course
See, the world is evolving. So many processes in various fields are either getting automated or eliminated because of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML).
You either know it or you don’t. There is no fence when it comes to knowledge. The good thing is that you can take up a new course from the comfort of your home.
Here are some great sites for free online courses:
- Coursera
- edX
- Khan Academy
- Udemy
- iTunesU Free Courses
- MIT OpenCourseWare
- Stanford Online
- Sailor Academy
- Alison
- Codecademy
- Open Culture
- TED-Ed
- Eliminate Distractions
Distractions have a way of taking your mind off your goals. They will always be there. Knowing yourself and what distracts you is a good place to start. The truth is that distractions take a huge chunk of time that you would have used for actual work.
- Learn from People Before You
Learning from people can simply be:
- Learning from a mentor.
- Learning from someone’s experience.
- Learning from an autobiography.
- Learn from your boss, manager, or supervisor.
Learning from the past always helps avoid future mistakes.
- Certification
Note that certification is voluntary in some fields, but in others, a certification from a government-accredited agency is required for some jobs. Do you know where you fall? Well, note that 83% of certified candidates get jobs quicker than those who aren’t.
- Take a Break
While trying to achieve all you want to achieve this year, you need to relax your nerves too. If you die, another person, employee, or coworker will replace you. Tend to have a work-life balance. Travel, mingle, live, and laugh.
- Network
You can’t be a lone striker. You can’t be the only person in your field, career, or hustle. There are others. They are in your city. In your workplace. In your social networking places. Networking can also be expanded to other fields. You just never know.
- Read One Personal Development Article a Week (If you can)
Let’s be thankful for the internet -The quickest knowledge base vault. If you can, at least, a week/biweekly read a personal development article from:
- Careerealism
- JobBait
- Careercloud
- GM4JH etc.
- Starve Your Weakness
First, be aware of your weaknesses because they are there. They’d always want to flex their muscles. But one thing I learned from a very good friend, @folanski, is to continuously starve one’s weaknesses. Instead, feed your strengths.
- Join a Professional Club
The idea of a professional club is that people with similar goals come together to lend a hand to each other. Many professional clubs hold this goal highly. Seek professional bodies/clubs/groups that align with your values and then join.
- Be Thankful Always
It is difficult to focus on self-improvement if one fails to recognize what one already has. Reflect on what you have, where you are, and how you got here. Truth is, being thankful for the now is a great step to bettering oneself.
- Be Open/Flexible
Rigidity and being headstrong can be costly in some ways. You may grow exponentially well in another field, but because you’ve closed your mind to trying new things or leaving your comfort zone, you limit the opportunities out there. Be flexible.
- Be a Problem Solver and not a Solution Seeker
Organizations always value people who add value by intentionally seeking to solve basic to complex problems. If you are always waiting to be told the solution, then what’s the point of having you on the team?
- Be Emotionally Intelligent
One very great thing emotional intelligence has taught me as a person is the ability to understand and manage my emotions. Emotions, when constantly expressed, are the driving force behind our attitudes. Attitude keeps you where you want to be.
- Quarterly Audit your Skills
Skills are as relevant as breathing in one’s career, and the more skilled you are, the more you become efficient in processes, which in turn results in more financial gain. You can check quarterly. Add this to your goal board too.
- Health is Wealth
While planning or scheming to get better at what you do, it is important to note that the human body is like an engine that needs constant maintenance. Exercise doesn’t only help you physically, but also mentally. Please make your health a priority.
- BE
Never forget who you are. Always remember why you started in the first place. Be the better version of yourself.
- Be Diligent.
- Be Purposeful.
- Be Deliberate.
- Be Persistent.
- Be Value oriented.
- Be Positive.
- Be Teachable.
- Be Optimistic.
- Be Selfless.
- Be Yourself.
- Always Ask for Feedback
One thing you should be looking forward to when improving your career/side hustle is feedback. ‘Feedback’ doesn’t only improve your performance or serve as a means of motivation, it also serves as a tool for continuous learning and improvement.
Personal development is a deliberate act and has to be continuous to achieve growth. It’s important to note consistency is required. So, be deliberate with your Personal & Self Development. You are the driver of your journey!
Have a Happy New Year, be safe, conquer & do exploits!!
Source: The article ’20 Practical Ways To Improve Oneself in 2024′ was written by Tunde Omotoye.
