Skills - relevancy



"I have not touched a bicycle for many years, I don't know whether I still know how to ride or not" said a friend when she was "given" a bicycle to ride some days ago. After much coaxing, she decided to give a try - with much worrisome look on her face.

She put her hands on the handles, sat on the seat and her feet firmly on the paddles. Then, with a heave and exerting her feet on the paddles, she "cycled" herself forward. The wheels began to roll, initially with awkward wobbly motions - swaying from side to side. However, she persevered and a short distance later, the wheels were aligned, a smile flashed across her face. She was cycling!

What she lacked initially was confidence. Once she focused herself into "cycling" her subconscious took over and her fear vanished as the "learnt cycling skill which she had acquired in the past" took over. She began cycling!

How do we define "skill"? Simply, "proficiency or special ability to do something well arising from talent, training or practise".

Skills that we learnt or acquired over the years will always be with us eg swimming, cooking, playing badminton etc. What we need is to surface these from our subconscious mind, if we have not been using these skills, and with a little practise, we will be like "pro". However, the proviso is whether our physical bodies can "still support the activity or not" is a challenge.

The other "soft professional skills" like "administrative, management, leadership" skills, that we have acquired earlier in life may also be lying low in our subconscious mind if we have not been using these for a while. If  in later years, when we are required to use these skills, we could also "summon" these from within. However, the only caveat that we need to understand and to discern is whether these skills are still relevant for use today or not.

Always remember that "the same skills that made us successful yesterday may not be relevant today as the challenges and working environment are different from yesterday" or simply "what made us successful yesterday may not make us successful today". Therefore acquiring new skill sets are never ending and we have to keep on learning. Do NOT STOP learning! Do not rest on your laurels ... thinking that you have learnt it all ...




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