Achievement, a sense of pride in finishing a task well and properly, is for many an important dimension of their well-being. Especially in the early and mid-part of your career, learning and mastering new skills is what defines the degree of success you achieve and the promotions that follow. Striving to do better gets you up in the morning and allows you to enjoy your employment position. Later on, it is those eureka moments when a subtle mystery or revelation opens a new door to self-discovery. Your career becomes a calling, those achievements really matter, even though others would likely not understand why.
The equation: Achievement = Skill x Effort provides some interesting insights into the psychology of achieving, especially about what exactly is Skill.
Skill is what learning, practice and time mature. But what is going on as you become more skillful? Two parallel processes are occurring, one fast and one slow, simultaneously. As you gain experience, more and more of the everyday processes become easier, quicker and more automatic. You don’t have to think about many of the aspects of the tasks as you are unconsciously capable, and you have a natural intuition of what is going on. An important aspect of learning is making more of what you know automatic and instinctual.
But behind the scene, the brain width you are not using as you are on automatic pilot allows you to focus on slower, deeper thinking, as you engage the higher order executive brain functions. The faster the speed, the more the knowledge you have, and thus the more time left over for these executive functions to be used. Thinking slowly involves the voluntary, heavyweight processes of achievement, such as planning, checking for errors, using new information, inhibiting fastness and CREATIVITY. To be more skillful means you are both faster and more automatic but also slower and better at not making mistakes and identifying/resolving unexpected circumstances in a timely manner. Having natural talents is a blessing, but working passionately and persistently can overcome talent in the longer run.
So what?! Achievement is more about GRIT and determination than IQ or natural talents. The better athletes, experts, executives, scholars and managers are likely the ones that have more GRIT, rather than those with higher IQ or natural gifts. Eventually the slower, more executive skills become purposeful and distinguish you from others. That slow thinking is what professional judgement is all about and what distinguishes the exemplar from the average.
Whether achievement matters to you on a career or well-being level, learn how to recognize and promote it!
Reflection Source: www.Smallercup.org
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*: Flourish: A New Understanding of Happiness and Wellbeing: The practical guide to using positive psychology to make you happier and healthier by Martin Seligman and
Grit: Why Passion and Persistence are the Secrets to Success by Angela Duckworth