Initial Thoughts on Learning Key Skills for Work: 12 Months to Master Key Skills in the Workplace Like a Rockstar
By now you have completed six months of the Strategic Reading Challenge and have passed the halfway mark. How do you feel knowing that you are on the road to mastering new skills? If you want to get a promotion at work, challenging assignments, and more responsibilities, then learning key skills for work may be the answer. This will make you more valuable and marketable in the workplace. You now realize that it is not so difficult to read five books each month. Anything is easier when you break it into smaller tasks. If you have been combining ideas, you should have a few ideas by now.
One of the goals of the Strategic Reading Challenge is to help you develop a list of professional skills. I spent a concentrated amount of time reading the best books for career development that will teach you the skills. Not all the books I read were good, but I needed to weed some out. This is for your benefit so that you do not have to read them.
I completed the Read the World Extreme Reading Challenge and the Virtual Literary World Tour in the last four years. I read quite a few books by authors born in different countries. I can make book recommendations for Month Seven of the reading challenge. This challenge is demanding, but things worth having never come easy to you. But reading a great book is a mind builder. Is that not worth the time investment?
Let us get started on Month Seven of the Strategic Reading Challenge. This month the focus is on reading South America and reading diverse books. You get to read a book then watch the film adaptation, read a book that is less than 100 pages, a graphic novel, and a collection of essays.
Make sure that you have all your five books on hand so you can read your books one after another. It is also a good practice not to read difficult books one after another because that is mentally draining. Before you buy any of the books, check to see what you already own. What you discover may surprise you.
Set in Latin America, the Witch-Doctor’s Apprentice gives the reader great insights into what life is like there. I read this book while I was working on a project, and I found it helpful when I had to interview two people from South American countries.
Month Seven: Strategic Reading Challenge – Read Books for Career Development
This month we journey to South America. There are 12 independent countries and 3 dependent territories. Some famous writers like Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez were born in South America. You will not have a problem finding books to read from this continent.
Strategic Reading Lesson Plans (Challenge Requirements): Month Seven – South America & More
- Read a book written by an author born in South America.
- Read a collection of essays.
- Read a book adapted to film, watch the film, then compare them.
- Read a book that has less than 100 pages.
- Read a graphic novel that is a retelling of a classic book.
- Each week, read a technology article from a well-respected journal/magazine.
Library Thing South American Literature
Library Thing Latin American Literature
Month Seven: Books for Career Development
Learning new skills for work means that you must invest in reading the right books for career development. Below you will find books to help you develop personally and professionally. Many of them I have read, and a few came highly recommended.
Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)Witch-Doctor's Apprentice: Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the Amazon (Library of the Mystic Arts)Little Black Classics Box SetMistakes I Made at Workg It WrongBad Feminist: EssaysThe Best American Essays of the Century (The Best American Series)Broken Republic: Three EssaysTarzan TrilogyTarzan on the PrecipiceTarzan: Return to Pal-ul-don
Final Thoughts on Learning Key Skills for Work: 12 Months to Master Key Skills in the Workplace Like a Rockstar
When reading each of the five books for this month, please take detailed notes to ensure that you remember more of what you learn. Review your notes, extracting the five big ideas. At the end of the month, start combining the 25 ideas in unique ways to generate hybrid ideas that are more encompassing. Is there a way you can connect the combined ideas to a human need?
Take a look at the list of professional skills that you have to master, how do your current skills stack up? Do you have to take additional action to get back on track? Learning key skills for work is never easy, you always have to apply your newfound knowledge. I’ve created some handy guides to help you to get the most from the books you read. If you feel like they can help you, please go ahead and buy them. They are very affordable.
