As you know, the world is changing fast, but at the same time, it is the experts in their field who dominate. To cultivate agility and excellence, you need to cultivate two verbs: explore and deepen.
Exploring Too Much
Society pushes us to become zappers, to stay on the surface of things. This characteristic is bad because it prevents us from becoming excellent, it prevents us from acquiring a rare skill for example. This tendency to go from one subject to another is proof of our inability to concentrate.
Going Too Deep
The opposite extreme is not as bad, but it still has its drawbacks. It is like walking around with blinders on. You don’t see the change going on around you and you can get trapped because you didn’t look up at the right time. If we don’t make the effort to explore the changes that are taking place around us, we can find ourselves in an impasse. In fact, you can’t say you’re going too deep into a subject, but you can say you’ve stubbornly gone in a dead-end direction.
Finding The Right Balance At All Ages
The cursor of exploration and deepening is not the same according to whether one is 20 or 50 years old. In principle, the older you get, the more expert you become in your field and the more risky it is to question everything in order to build another skill. This is why you have to be strategic and be aware of adapting your exploration according to your age. When you are young, it is your duty to explore as many fields as possible, to find out which ones correspond to you the best. That said, according to Cal Newport’s book “So good, they can’t ignore you”, the fun in what you do comes with mastery. In short, the better you get, the more you enjoy what you do. Still, we need to adjust our exploration over time.
What Skills Are Needed For The 21St Century?
In today’s rapidly changing world, the skills needed for success in the 21st century are evolving at a rapid pace. With technology, globalization, and an ever-increasing demand for skilled labor, individuals who want to succeed in their careers must be prepared to develop and hone their skillset to meet the changing demands of the 21st century.
Specifically, individuals should possess a mastery of the foundational knowledge to be successful, including literacy, numeracy, and technical skills. Additionally, individuals should have strong critical and analytical thinking skills in order to comprehend and interpret complicated information. Strong interpersonal skills, including communication, problem-solving, and negotiation, are also essential.
In addition to the traditional skills mentioned above, the 21st century demands creativity and the ability to think outside the box. This includes creative problem-solving, innovation, and adaptive learning. A mastery of collaboration, both in person and virtually, is becoming more and more important as jobs become increasingly dependent on working in teams. The ability to collaborate and cooperate with peers, regardless of background or location, is essential for success in the 21st century.
Finally, individuals must also possess ‘soft skills’. These include cultural competency, empathy, adaptability and resilience, which are skills that employers increasingly look for when recruiting for positions.
In conclusion, the 21st century demands a strong base of technical and academic knowledge and the ability to think critically and laterally. Individuals must also possess communication and collaboration skills that will help them succeed in a team environment, and the necessary soft skills to navigate diverse and often difficult situations. By developing these skills, individuals can succeed in their careers and in the digital future.
