Over the past few days I've been faced with a problem to solve: I need to improve my Excel knowledge in record time. I've been putting off learning a skill that's key to my job for years, so I started with a simple Google search: 'basic Excel courses'.
Although I was not surprised, the results are endless, so I asked myself: How to choose the best alternative? And this question gave rise to a more general one: What is the best way to learn and how to know that this knowledge will really be applicable?
According to the ' Guide to surviving the present ', between the ages of 15 and 19 we dedicate almost 1,300 hours a year to educational activities, while between the ages of 35 and 54 this number falls: when we develop more professionally, we only dedicate 27 hours to acquiring new knowledge.
If you are an entrepreneur, it is likely that many of the things you apply in your business today you learned along the way: not even formal education is enough to cover all the knowledge we need to get a business going and make it grow.
Incorporating new knowledge prepares you to recognize errors and problems , but also to take advantage of opportunities that appear along the way. Traditional methods are no longer sufficient to plan a company and innovate successfully, so you have to be open to changes, especially those of your own ideas.
If you are reading this article, we invite you to learn a couple of tips on the art of philippines mobile number learning how to learn:
You must be motivated: think about how this new knowledge or tool will benefit you. Is it really a contribution? Am I going to use it? It has been proven that willingness is a determining factor in promoting learning.
You may feel a certain resistance to taking an accounting course because you struggled with math at school, but you may be motivated by the idea of how learning a little more about this area will improve your business processes.
Openness to wonder: Children are the best example. The way they discover the world and marvel at new things is an excellent starting point. Don't take anything for granted and try to see new knowledge from a different point of view.
Embrace mistakes: It may sound like a cliché, but neuroscience says that making mistakes is an excellent way to learn, because it helps us pay much more attention to remember them.
Practice over and over again: Learning requires a lot of conscious effort: subscribing to a course and listening to it as a podcast while you wash dishes may give you a glimpse of what you want to know, but it is not enough to acquire a new skill. To go deeper you must recognize and attack weaknesses.
When you put a lot of effort into something, persist and practice it over and over again, you tire out your brain.
Specific goals: By searching the Internet for the topic that interests you, you can find the most relevant topics. In my case, I know that the basics I need to know in Excel are how to organize data, apply some mathematical functions, and create dynamic tables. Do the exercise with the skill you want to learn , write it down on a list, and find a way to learn it.
When you take a course, checking off each thing you already know is very motivating. It also allows you to visualize how much time is left to achieve your goal.
Now that you have a foundation to begin your journey to knowledge, you just need to apply it to your business. Depending on the area of your venture, there are different skills that can be useful, however, we leave you with some transversal recommendations:
Simon of Cyrene Courses: There are several free options that will help you in important areas such as business plans or funding applications. Check out the options.
SERCOTEC training: short, one-month courses that you can take from anywhere, with a computer and an internet connection: the offer is wide and very relevant to get your business up and running, improve its management and achieve optimal results. There are modules on digital marketing, labor legislation and simplified and expanded accounting. Discover the entire offer.