Identifying areas to improve
Created: January 16, 2020 / Updated: November 2, 2024 / Status: finished / 2 min read (~326 words)
How can one identify the areas he needs to improve?
Through introspection.
As we do things through our daily lives, there are events which we wished had unfolded better. As we realize those areas of weaknesses, it is important to write them down so that we can build a list of those areas we may want to spend time improving in the future.
Another way one can identify the areas he needs to improve is to use the Feynman technique.
- Choose a concept
- Pretend you are teaching it to someone else
- Identify gaps in your explanation, go back and learn some more, then try explaining some more
- Review and simplify
This technique can also be applied to the skills you lack. Instead of trying to teach someone else, you basically want to be able to explain the skill to someone else as accurately as possible. As you identify gaps in the description of the skill to perform, you are basically documenting what you need to work on.
For example, you might want to determine which one of your programming skills are lacking. You might start by asking yourself how you would design and implement things you use in your daily life: how is a text editor implemented? what happens when I type a URL and press enter in a browser? how are files read from a disk? how is this special effect rendered in a video game?
Make sure that you ask yourself questions that are relevant to areas you want to improve. If you don't know how networking works, but it has no incidence on you, then you do not need to address this weakness. Spend time improving skills which will be useful to you in the future.
Look for things that create friction in your life, those are generally places where you'll find potential for improvement.