Recently, I've been on a Gary Vaynerchuck kick. If you don't know who he is - he is an entrepreneur and founder of a digital agency focused on marketing and media.
On a more personal level, he is crude. He is to the point. He tells you how it is. I think this is one of the reasons he has really became so popular in today's population. I am pretty sure he is driving the train with all of the celebrities who now claim to be authentic and use social media to show fans how "real" they are. You can check him out more on his YouTube channel.
DISCLAIMER: Again, he is crude. He will cuss. He will seem abrasive. If that offends you - you may not want to check out his videos.
Once I got over the cussing and crudeness, Gary Vee brought up a good point about being self-aware. Even though most of his talks and videos focus around owning your own company, this concept really hit home with me. You can read more on his point of view on this topic in his article, "We need to talk about the importance of self-awareness" on his website.
"Self-awareness allows people to recognize what things they do best so they can then go hard on those aspects of their life. It also helps you accept your weaknesses. What works for one person doesn’t work for everyone. I want people to learn to be at peace with themselves, to understand what they can offer, because everyone’s got something. The key, however, is learning how to find it" says Vaynerchuk.
As an instructional designer, I realize that there are many (many) people out there who are going to be a better at something than I am (maybe a better designer, more knowledgeable about theories or ID models, better communicator, etc.). However, I can make myself more marketable and more of an asset to my university by working both on the things I do well and the things I struggle with - in change, making me a more rounded person. I realized over this past year, I wanted to focus on my blog and do a write-up each week on something I learned. While I did a great job at learning new skills and knowledge in 2017 - I wasn't productive in writing it down.
Some may say, "So, What?" Well...
Therefore, while I may have "learned" these topics - I should have tried to write down or teach someone what I learned in order to help me retain this information. Therefore, starting in 2018 I will be spending sometime each week in order to write everything down in my blog to not only help me in retaining what I learned but also help you and others along your own ID journey.
Here's to my last post of 2017 and starting a strong 2018.
-h