Master your good intentions

When it comes to applying learning, intention is the key to success. Good intentions translate into business success when accompanied by clear goals, timescales, and accountability.

But making sure good intentions survive their exposure with reality needs some structure, and this is where we advocate keeping things simple for maximum impact.

For simplicity choose 3 goals over 3 months with 3 people who will help you go the distance.

But having set the headlines, how can we maximise our chances of success?

Practice, practice, practice is the key to mastery of any new skill. Focussed activity to refine how we apply new skills is what secures the desired outcomes.

Our coaching teams support thousands of students each year to achieve their goals, here are a selection of their top tips for learning success:

1.       Set small clear, goals that matter to you. This will provide the motivation and energy to achieve larger objectives.

2.       Make goals concrete so that there’s an explicit objective for any project. This is more likely to see success than broader objectives such as “I’d like to improve my IT skills.”

3.       Adopt a ‘once in a lifetime’ mindset and commit to making now the right time to master new skills. This will reduce the chances of letting yourself defer objectives or letting other priorities find their way past your existing commitments.

4.       Remove distractions. Finding the time and space to focus on your learning activities ensures new activities become routine.

5.       Seek feedback from others. This will help you gain perspective on your performance, and the very act of involving others in your pursuit will increase your likelihood of success.

6.       Practice regular reflection. Taking the time to assess what is working, what’s not and what can be changed to move forward will quickly reap dividends if the lessons are applied.

Applying these techniques with the support of an accountability partner such as a colleague, mentor or Pitman Training Learning Coach can exponentially increase the impact of learning on your performance.

For an exploratory conversation about how these techniques could help your career plans or business goals, please get in touch with our team.