Increase Confidence With A Stepped Approach To Learning

Got BlackBerry fever? I just caught a case of it myself. Just to be sure that we're on the same page, I'm not talking about the fruit, I'm talking about the internet based mobile device that will take your business out of the office. It's from T-Mobile, and it makes staying connected via e-mail to friends, family and life as easy as making a call. With my new BlackBerry Pearl, I've also got a camera, MP3 player, Bluetooth and web browsing capability. Great business tool, right? Sure but only if I use it.

In the past, I've been known to sit on the fence and let opportunities pass me by because I've been resistant to change. But that old dusty thinking got aired out last week when I felt the pangs of regret after I realized that I was letting a great slip through my fingers because I didn't want to take time to learn something new.

It is said that people are motivated by two forces, either pain or pleasure. In this case, it was the pain of realizing that I had missed out on a lot by refusing to step out of an old comfort zone. Well I got myself steppin' ready when I purchased my BlackBerry.

Even though I know that my 10 year old daughter, Cara can easily figure this out, I wanted to do it myself and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that would result from the coup. I followed a step by step approach and it ended up in my achieving a basic mastery of my new toy. Here's what I did:

1. I determined an amount of time that I was willing to delegate to learning the how tos
2. I put it on my calendar for the next day
3. I called Customer Service and verified my account, checked the range of features
4. I recorded the call for future reference
5. I scanned the manual
6. Set some goals
7. Called a buddy coach to make myself accountable to her
8. Set my goals and pinned myself down to calling her later to inform her of my progress
9. Patted myself on the back for a job well done

First I called Customer Service and verified my account, finding out each individual feature that was included. I made sure to ask all my questions and to record the call. I tend to be an auditory learner so that was easier for me than reading the manual straight off that bat.

Next, all juiced up from my chat with the TMobile rep, I was ready to get going with learning how to use my BB.  I scanned the manual, made some decisions, set some goals and then called a buddy to tell her about my plans.

As a coach, I place a high value on Accountability. That is a way of insuring that you get more things done and reach your goals. So I upped the ante when I called my buddy coach/colleague, Peggy Ahn and I told her what I was going to do with the BlackBerry that day. I told her that I wanted to learn how to take a picture, send it to her, browse the internet, create an email, read my mail and a few other goodies and goals.

Spurred by the knowledge that I had to check in with Peg, I pushed myself to read the manual, go to the website, call TMobile and tinker with all the buttons on the phone. After a while, it was no longer a chore. It became fun and a new challenge. That day I gave myself a pat on the back because my sticktuitiveness had yielded a higher rate of return, a boost in my self confidence. I couldn't have done it without looking at this in terms of chunking it down, making the bigger goal of learning this technology into smaller demi goals stemming from the larger. It worked for me. Why don't you give it a try?

What do you think? Is there something that you've been wanting to do that you've been putting off? Something that may have been overwhelming you? What can you think of that would make a big difference for you? I'd love to learn from your experience. Please click on comment beneath this post and share your feedback.