Important skills for self-development Part 1

Finish the series of articles on self-education, after which you are required to decide on the achievement of their educational goals.

So, this is the final part of the series “Guide to self”. We already stepped through our main fears, found people important to surround yourself with, and who want to learn, began to use the place of practice and open resources.

He who works with his hands is a worker. He who works with his hands and head — craftsman. One who works with hands, head and heart is an artist.

We have to get acquainted with the last three, the most obvious ways in which many people neglect. Not because they are not guess, and because it takes a whole life.

The development of thinking

If there is a situation when you really should take specially designed courses, it is likely to be courses, working directly with the thinking/consciousness. Master the techniques of thinking (including collective) and work with it: TRIZ, design thinking, prototyping, mapping, SMD (system) approach, the development of creativity, rhetoric, critical thinking, logic, reflexive analysis — all of these things will give a powerful breakthrough in how you work with information.

Many of these techniques can be learn independently, although a quality course here can indeed be useful. But a good teacher will always warn you that this skill is training in practice, so the main work is still up to you. Here are some examples of good thinking, which I know from experience or close friends:

• Trisu is now taught in many places. Suggest finding sites that are directly related to Anatoly Genom — present chief expert of the methodology, a follower of G. Altshuller;
• Design thinking is taught famously in ROE and Arrow;
• Managed to take part in a good activity games, will be able to integrate into the culture of collective thinking in the SMD-approach;
• These same games (called DAR) pump over skill of schematization, which is also much practiced in the circles of game technicians and designers;
• Managerial competition and debate pumped skill of debate and persuasion, logic, and oratory.

Institutions

Yes, I still leave this list of formal educational institutions: schools, colleges, universities, training courses and simply organized. In cases when a person consciously puts himself educational goals and sees that one of these places is the best way anything specific to learn is quite a fit under the criterion of self-education.

But to be honest, such cases are rare: we’re going to the University for the diploma or because “everybody does it” (Oh, and army); the training courses we send the employer (you can still go to a professional conference to show off /to travel/to go on coffee breaks are free then); sometimes we do interesting, let’s say journalism, and we go to journalism, but even for a moment think, what other — more effective — ways to learn it we have; about school, I generally keep quiet.

There are really good things that can give a good University environment interested in the subject people and the professional community, Professor, standing at the forefront of its field, the opportunity to engage in research activities, not finding financing, and other “tasty buns” like free access to the gym, the place in the Dorm and deferment from the army.

But, to be honest, the vast majority of our (and world) universities are no longer exclusive suppliers of these great bonuses. Probably the only “unique advantage” that today’s universities could write in a fair is the last paragraph about the army.

Try to act according to this algorithm: “my goal → what one must learn → how and where to learn it”. And if in the process of searching for a specific University or courses would be the best option — go for it. You will be one of the few students who are going to live a few years of his life not in vain.

Educational travel

Among the families that refused to attend school even following school program, became a separate direction — “world schooling”. These guys most of the time, travel to different parts of the world and learn from these sites: learn the language, find interesting places, communicate with local people.