Accelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tips

Accelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tipsAccelerate your learning curve with these 5 practical tipsHave you seen those articles with headlines that promise the impossible?1000X your personal growthChange your life in 10 secondsLearn EVERYTHING in 1 hourYou and I both know that these types of claims are BS - its leidhing mora than cheap clickbait. But why are we still baited by these headlines?Were optimists And theres nothing wrong with that.Look, we all know that theres no such thing as 1,000% growth in a short period of time. We also know that we cant finish a 300-page book in 30 minutes. Mastery doesnt work that way. There are no shortcuts.However, getting good at something is also not totally unattainable. Because like these above extreme claims, there is a counterculture that says it takes 10,000 hours (or more) to master a skill. As you might expect, Im more on the side of that it takes longer to get good at something.But I firmly believe theres a difference i n the way we learn. You can spend 10,000 hours doing something and learn nothing.Thats why Im sharing 5 things that have worked for me in the past to accelerate my learning curve and learn skills faster.1. Use best practicesDont reinvent the wheel. Its a platitude you often hear. And yet, we all think were majestic wheel-inventors.When you start learning a skill, it must come from a place of humility and admiration for the practice.Whether its writing, value investing, or playing the pan flute start with the basics. I get that people want to be different and try to do new things. But no one ever started as an original.We start by doing what everybody else did. Once you master the basics, you can go out and do your own thing. When I started writing, I copied my favorite authors. And I followed advice from books like On Writing by Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway.Its the same with investing. I didnt try to create my own strategy from the beginning. I learned about investing from my m entors and from books. I didnt make decisions on my own. That only came later.By listening to best practices, you can avoid making mistakes in the beginning. And thats exactly why most people never get good at something. They quit too early.Dont be like most people. Instead, learn from the greats. And have respect for the skill youre learning.2. Measure and evaluate your progredienz weeklyYour goal is to get better at a skill, right? How do you know that youre getting better without measuring it?Measuring your progress is the only way you can evaluate it. You dont need hardcore data to evaluate. I use my journal as an evaluation tool.Every day, I write about what Ive learned. What mistakes I made. What I need to avoid. What I want to focus on.And every week, I review my journal and look at how it went. Did I spend enough time practicing? Did I make enough notes? What should I do differently?Looking for tips to get started with journaling? Read this.3. Get feedbackIts important to ge t input from mentors, coaches, or experts whove done what were trying to do.I cant stress this enough. Show your progress to an experienced person.Play the guitar in front of a teacherSend your articles to an established writerDiscuss your business model with a successful entrepreneurIf you dont have access to an expert, consider paying someone. Getting feedback from a more experienced person is scary. Ive been there many times.We dont like to be told that were doing things wrong. We also dont like to look stupid. Thats normal. But whats more important. Your feelings or your career?Also, good mentors and coaches never make you feel bad. Remember If make you feel bad, youve asked the wrong person for advice.Seek out people who are already established and have nothing to prove. They will help you better.4. Dont quitThis is so obvious that it often gets left out. You cant master a skill if you quit early. Theres no point in talking about that.However, understanding WHY we quit can help us to prevent quitting early. So when youre learning a skill, your progress does not grow linearly over time. But we all expect that learning is linear.The more time I invest in something, the better I should get, right? Unfortunately, learning skills dont work that way. Our progress looks more like thisWe hit learning plateaus - and all of a sudden, we dont get better. But the problem is that time does not stop, only our progress does - and thats very frustrating. And what does frustration cause?Thats right An urge to quit. So when you stop growing, know why you want to quit. The trick is to acknowledge the urge but not giving into it.Remember When you accelerate your learning curve, you will still hit plateaus (see drawing). The difference is that you expect them. That alone will help you to push through plateaus.5. Work harderYeah, but I work smart, dude There are always Einsteins who try to tell us that they work smart. Good for them. But thats not what Im talking about (list en to my podcast episode about working hard if you want to hear more on this).Even if you work 2 hours a day. Im saying Work hard during those two hours. Every day, work hard. Dont hold anything back.I always thought I worked hard. But I wasnt working nearly as hard as I am today. And I can still improve a lot.As you and I both know, hard work is not about appearing busy or doing useless tasks. It has everything to do with focus.I know this sounds cheesy. When youre working work.Dont go for coffee 10 times a day, stop looking at your social media apps, and dont lounge in your chair. Dont wander around, thinking, what should I do now?If you want to learn faster, achieve more, and make a contribution, you must take your personal development seriously. You cant slack off. This is not high school.Im not always a fan of black/white thinking. But when it comes to getting good at what you do, it is indeed a binary choice Are you learning or NOT?Theres no middle ground. You either move forw ard, or you go backward.Its up to you.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDarius Foroux.

The Stuff Before Your Work History (It Matters)

The Stuff Before Your Work History (It Matters)The Stuff Before Your Work History (It Matters)Your address, name, phone number and other vitals are easy to figure out. And your workhistory section may take some finessing and fancy verbal maneuvering to become aseffective as you want it to be, but its still pretty much in front of you you had xposition with y organization. But the in-between stuff, that nebulous portion of theresume that includes qualifications and the ominous sounding career objective whatto do with that? Heres a guide to that vague area of self-description. Career ObjectiveCareer objectives tell readers exactly what kind of position youre looking for,make your intentions clear and tischset the tone for how the rest of the resume is evaluated.While some resumes are focused on set positions, many arent clearly focused on anyone job. A career objective will clarify any ambiguities. If you seek a part-time orfreelance position, this objective is a good way of making t hat clear so that no confusionarises later.The career objective on the resume rephrases or restates intentions stated in the coverletter. However, the objective is useful because many people read over the resume beforelooking at the cover letter. Additionally, cover letters are sometimes separated fromtheir resumes, or at larger corporations, not put into the resume scanner.Career objectives come in two types descriptive and titled. Descriptive job objectivesbriefly describe the type of job youre interested in. Titled job descriptions namethe job title. Descriptive career objectives work best when youre more interested inbeing seen as an overall candidate or if when applying to a company that has no specificpositions open. The career Objective sentence should be brief and no more than two lineslong. Do not permit your objective to ramble.Resume writers make their biggest mistakes writing descriptive job objectives bylisting a bunch of cliches such as a chance to apply my skills, and achallenging opportunity or an opportunity for growth. These phrases havebeen used so many times that they dont even register with readers. The key is to behonest about what you really want in an unassuming and business-like fashion. Titled job objectives simply list the exact job title for which you are applying. Thiscomes in handy when you are applying to a large company that may have several positionsopen at once. Summary of QualificationsThis can also be called the Highlights section, but, besides sounding a bitgiddy, that title also implies that there are some lowlights not beingmentioned. Call it a summary of qualifications. This section allows you toshow off your achievements that set you apart from the sea of other applicants. Everythingyou hope your resume implies (those years of experience, the technical skills youveacquired, your proven leadership ability) can now be explicitly stated.Again, avoid the weak, cliche ridden resume language. Even if you are aself-motivated, goal-oriented, people person, state thesequalities so they sound like the truth and not like the pamphlet you read in your guidancecounselors waiting room. And only put concrete qualification for the job.Takes direction well is not a qualification but an opinion.The list for the Summary of Qualifications should contain a maximum of four statements.Each statement should be under two lines long, and bulleted in from the text. To furtheremphasize a list of points, simply indent the information another tab level right so thatit stands out despite the bulletsEducationThe education section is one of the few times you get to brag about your education tosomebody who doesnt share your bloodline

11 GI Bill

11 GI BillTransferring Education Benefits Under the Post-9/11 GI BillOne of the provisions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is the ability of a military member to transfer some or all of their GI Bill education benefits to a spouse or child(ren). The law has left it up to the Department of Defense to establish eligibility criteria for transferring benefits, and DOD has now announced the policy. Basically, any military member serving on active duty or in the Selected Reserve on or after August 1, 2009 will be eligible to transfer his or her benefits as long as he or she qualifies for the Post-9/11 GI Bill in the first place and meets specific tafelgeschirr requirements. The basic service requirements are that the member must have at least six years of military service, and agree to serve an additional four years at the time of enrolling in the transfer program. What this means is that military members who have retired or separate prior to August 1, 2009 are elend eligible to transfer benefits , even if they are eligible for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (any service member with more than 90 days of active duty, after September 11, 2001, who is still in the service or has an honorable discharge, is eligible for the new GI Bill). Members transferred to the Fleet Reserve, or Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) before August 1, 2009 are also ineligible to transfer benefits (unless they subsequently return to active duty or active reserves). There are a few exceptions to the four years of additional service rule, if the service member is elend able to re-enlist due to a DOD or service policy. They must, however, serve the maximum time allowed before separating from the military. For example, if an enlisted member cannot re-enlist or extend his/her enlistment for four years because of High Year of Tenure, or an officer cannot extend their commitment for four years because of being passed over for promotion, they could still participate in the GI Bill sharing provision, as long as they stayed in the military for the maximum period allowed. There are also different rules for those eligible to retire between Aug. 1, 2009, and Aug. 1, 2013 * Those eligible for retirement on Aug. 1, 2009, would be eligible to transfer their benefits with no additional service requirement.* Those with an approved retirement date after Aug. 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, would qualify with no additional service.* Those eligible for retirement after Aug. 1, 2009, but before Aug. 1, 2010, would qualify with one additional year of service after approval to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.* Those eligible for retirement between Aug. 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011, would qualify with two additional years of service after approval to transfer.* Those eligible to retire between Aug. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012, would qualify with three additional years of service after approval to transfer. Under the new GI Bill, members receive 36 months of education benefits. Thats the equivalent of four nine-month academic years. Under the benefit transfer program, all or a portion of the benefits can be transferred to a spouse, one or more children or any combination. The family member must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS), at the time of transfer, to receive the benefits. A childs subsequent marriage will not affect his or her eligibility to receive the educational benefit however, after an individual has designated a child as a transferee under this section, the individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time. Even after transferring the benefits, they remain the property of the servicemember who earned them, who can revoke them or redesignate who receives them at any time. The rules make it perfectly clear that the benefits cannot be treated as joint property in cases of divorce. Use of Transferred Benefits Family member use of transferred educational benefits is subject to the following Spouse* May s tart to use the benefit immediately.* May use the benefit while the member remains in the Armed Forces or after separation from active duty.* Is not eligible for the monthly stipend or books and supplies stipend while the member is serving on active duty.* Can use the benefit for up to 15 years after the service members last separation form active duty.Child* May start to use the benefit only after the individual making the transfer has completed at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces.* May use the benefit while the eligible individual remains in the Armed Forces or after separation from active duty.* May not use the benefit until he/she has attained a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate), or reached 18 years of age.* Is entitled to the monthly stipend and books and supplies stipend even though the eligible individual is on active duty.* Is not subject to the 15-year delimiting date, but may not use the benefit after reaching 26 years of age.