Self-Improvement: How To Get Better At What You Do

Many say that being stagnant is a dangerous thing.

If you were to ask me, being truly stagnant, by definition, is impossible.

Stagnancy means to stay in the same place. To not move. To remain unchanged, undisturbed, to be indifferent to your environment.

There is no living thing that is truly stagnant. As you read this, you are either busy living or busy dying. Your talents and skills are either growing or shrinking. The goal I set for myself before I write every article is to grow and to help others grow as well.

The reality is that a lot of people talk about growth as if it is this entity that will manifest itself if we can think about it enough. We can talk about training and about self-improvement and somehow, that’s enough. We as humans seek not the correct way to do things, but the easiest way to do them.

And let’s face it, training is anything but easy.

I write about training a lot because I make a point to train a lot. I am always looking for a new book, a new magazine, a new article, a new writer, or a new blog that will challenge me to get better at my craft. To learn to write in a manner that will reach more people. To challenge the pre-existing beliefs and opinions of others.

I write to make people think.

Although I love fiction, I am not a fiction author. The only worlds that you will find etched onto the papers that I produce are the ones that I have lived in. The only characters that you will fall in love with are the ones that I’ve met. Life is weird enough, there isn’t any need for me to fake it.

But, there is a need for me to get better. Whether “getting better” means reading tips from other writers, refreshing myself on basic grammar do’s and do not’s, or studying the industry that I specialize in, it is up to me to do it. No one is going to train for me. I have to do it on my own.

The only way to get better at what you do is through constant practice and constant training. The best advice I would give someone for becoming a better writer is to write often. This is the advice that most people don’t want to hear, but the advice that they need to hear.

This is the same advice that I would give someone if they were an aspiring chef, a manager, a salesperson, an athlete, or anything else, really.

Read about it.

Study it.

Practice it.

Whatever “it” is.

In the automotive industry, training is often viewed as less of an investment and more of an expense. When it comes to self-improvement, don’t wait for your manager to start training. Train yourself. Fail often, and don’t give up.

There is no shortcut to success. Luck isn’t real, and talent will only take you so far.

If you want to improve then you need to take the necessary measures towards improvement.

The best time to train was yesterday. The second best time is right now.