Goal
Today I want to discuss how to re-engage a skill, even if it’s been months since you’ve put it down.
Introduction
Recently, I had a daughter and with a child comes new responsibilities. These responsibilities have taken up a lot of my time, and I’ve had to put many activities on the backburner.
These activities include drawing, one of my master skills, and learning Latin, a valued hobby of mine.
However, in recent days I’ve been able to better schedule my time, and I’m more used to being a father. With this new found maturity, I’ve gained more time, and I can now re-engage trades that I’ve had to leave behind.
Justified reasons for putting a skill down
We shouldn’t feel sorry for putting down a talent and readjusting our lives.
To start, we must remember that significant life upsets are justifiable reasons to readjust our lives and our life goals. As I stated earlier, I recently had a child, and it is more critical for me to be a better father than it is to ensure I draw every day or study Latin every other day.
Life is a constant roller coaster of change, and we must adapt. Significant changes, positive or negative, will force us to live differently and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
However, we should never let skills deteriorate because of laziness or distractions. When we allow our goal and skill development to decline because of personal failings, then we need to be concerned.
We must remember why we put the skill down
When we seek to reengage an ability, we must not forget why we ran out of time in the first place. By understanding why we made adjustments to our lives, we can properly plan for returning to whatever task we wish to pursue.
I had my first child and children require time, energy, and resources. Because of this, I slowly reintroduce drawing and Latin into my schedule. I’ll start practicing drawing once other day and studying Latin every two days.
From there, I’ll change my mindset – I’ll recognize that my family comes first so if any emergencies arise, I can immediately put down drawing and Latin.
By understanding why we stopped pursuing specific goals or engaging in individual skills, we can better plan for re-engagement as well as the possibility of detachment. Additionally, we can realistically prepare for any more future changes.
Create a plan to put your skill development back into your life
With a little time and elbow grease, you can reintroduce learning a skill into your life.
First and foremost, I recognize that spending time with my family and producing a steady income is most important. I can never substitute anything for these core responsibilities.
From there, I plan to draw and study Latin every few days for an hour. If anything comes up, I can immediately drop these tasks.
However, I plan to increase the time I spend with these skills by this time next year. Additionally, I’ve already scheduled my time to compensate for my first child aging as well as having more children. If my timetables are off, then that’s ok. I remember that drawing and Latin are under spending time with family and earning money.
To increase my time for Latin and drawing, I streamline how I work, better control my emotions, and take care of myself. I recognize that my current job isn’t my end goal in life, so I accept that skills such as web design won’t improve much further.
To sum up how I manage my time by reintroducing a skill:
- I start by recognizing what’s more important so I can have a mature outlook on what I’m doing. Spending time with my family and earning money is more important in my life right now then drawing or learning Latin. Additionally, family time is connected to my life goals, so I’m not going off course.
- From there, I found minimal time to reintroduce the skills. I study Latin and draw every few days for an hour. I keep track of this time and make sure that I can easily substitute this time if need be.
- Lastly, I plot out ways to make other areas of my life more efficient, so I can increase the time I have. For example, I streamline how I work, control my emotions, and take care of myself.
Through techniques like these and by reaching a mature understanding of your goals, you can easily reintroduce a skill.
Conclusion
Life is ever-changing. As individuals, we must have the foresight and fortitude to change with experience. Sometimes, that requires letting go of ideas and desires that we have. However, we don’t have to give up on them entirely – we just need to readjust our lives until we’re able to pick those goals back up again.
Actionables
- Do you have a contingency plan for your goals if your life changes? What do those projects look like?
- Are you prepared for a child? Or to get married? What if you lose a leg? As individuals, we must think of the best and worst case scenario for our life goals. Reflect on how your goals change or stay the same in the face of significant negative or positive events.
- Why did you choose the life goals that you wanted? Remember those “whys” because they’ll help you stay the course in even the most tumultuous of times.
Please remember that it’s important to do the actionables. You’re not on this earth to simply read but to do. To become an individual, you must act more than you consume.
*Image credit to Unsplash.
