Monthly 10 Minute Challenge - March 2015
If you own an car, do you pay someone else to change the oil in it? Except for a few hardcore enthusiasts, most automobile owners I know pay others.
Why? Why would they spend $30 USD on something that, if skipped, will cause no immediate damage?
The answer is simple: because it will cost you so much more to fix it later. If you do not change your oil, your engine will eventually seize (i.e. it will stop "turning over"). The only way to fix a seized engine is to replace it. How much does that cost? Depending on your car specifics, it could cost anywhere from $1000 USD to $5000 USD for a replacement (if you have a high-end or specialty vehicle, the cost could be 10x higher!).
Does it make more sense to spend $30 USD every 6 months, or save money now so you can spend a lot of money later? If you do the math, this kind of preventative maintenance is a no brainer. That is why everyone I know gets their cars' oil changed.
Preventative Maintenance for Yourself
How often do you perform preventative maintenance on your professional skills?
If you are a leader or a manager, it's likely that you are no longer able to practice the professional skills you used before you were promoted. Personally, I haven't practiced the skills I used in 8 years. If someone forced me today, I wouldn't be able to perform those skills, even if I wanted to! Another sobering thought is that the things I might be able to remember are now embarrassingly out of date and no longer valuable in the marketplace.
I know what you're thinking, skills like Communication and Problem Solving are timeless. True. But unless you are The Wolf (from the movie Pulp Fiction) you will need more than good communication and problem solving to extend or change your career later on. So do yourself a favor, find a skill that you do repeatedly or are passionate about and learn it!
That is where this month's 10 Minute Challenge comes in.
Your Challenge
For March's 10 Minute Challenge, go to either coursera.org or lynda.com and browse their catalog. That's it!
Spend this month's 10 minutes looking through their offerings and seeing what's available. Make a note of which types of courses and skills get you excited. While you're looking at the course list, visualize yourself after having taken the courses and being able to perform your newly acquired skills. It sounds clichéd, but it's true; the Internet has truly revolutionized learning!
Coursera courses are free and lynda.com has a free 7 day trial period where you can access all of the site's training material, so the only thing at stake is your time (and frankly, your ego since you are admitting that you don't already know everything).
Take care, and I'll talk to you next time.