Assessing My Skills

My mother suggested that I sit down and write down the skills I've acquired over the years. I thought I've already done this after editing and remodeling my resume over 1 million times. But I guess it's better to do a raw assessment of my skills with no format to follow and thesaurus to help. I'll probably add more to this list or edit the wording as my mental thesaurus forces me to do so. Here it goes:

• social media interacting
• entrepreneurial understanding
• creative thinking
• critical thinking
• analysis
• data organizing & formatting
• creative writing
• technical writing
• branding
• composing business plans & proposals
• blogging
• event planning
• customer service
• layout & designing of advertisement & media
• music & video editing
• administrative support
• media planning / public relations
• handling of finances
  
• budgeting
• choreography
• scheduling
• communicating
• coordinating
• team leading & organizing
• foreseeing
• innovating
• time management
• financial planning
  

Goal Setting 2.010

I would like to start this post off by saying...Happy 2010! There's something exciting about starting a new year. And I'M READY, I'M READY! (via Sponge Bob)

In 2009, I've learned a lot. But there's one lesson that trumps the others I've learned last year. It's the basic understanding of not only setting goals but also setting metrics to measure those goals. Randomly aiming for a goal is like shooting in the dark. Your chances of hitting your target will be solely based on luck, and that's bad business. I once asked someone, what was their goal for selling a product. Their reply: "As many as possible." This is where the frustration began. How can a reach a goal that has no definite perimeters to measure it's success or failure? It's impossible. There are some general guidelines to follow when setting goals (specifically in marketing a product):

• Be realistic--don't set goals that are out of your reach. Start of small. Break your lofty goal into realistic steps. Then ask yourself how will you reach that goal? This will break your goals done into their rawest form.

• Make sure it can be measured--you can't measure "as many as possible." That's impossible. Instead use numbers and specific adjectives to specifically describe your goals.

• Define your metrics--how will you know you're on the right track? Make sure you have ways to measure your success. Usually two metrics are needed for references. It can be something as simple as a time line or as complicated as statistics measured on a graph.

• Have a budget--you need resources to support your goals.

The above guidelines should help you not only in marketing or business, but also in your personal. So, set your goals wisely.

(pic: salviaforme)