Effectivity

Hit a Goal From All Angles

Would a world class football player get to the top just by practicing sprints?  Would a successful politician succeed just because she mastered her presentation skills?  Can a surgeon build an international reputation just by practicing her stitching?

Nearly every achievement needs at least a few things to come together.  Hardly ever can we hope to excel just by focusing on one thing.  How then can we expect to reach our goals by limiting our preparation to one type of action?

The new goal that I am developing this week is to improve my Japanese conversation ability.  At this stage it is a very vague and underdeveloped goal.  By the middle of next week I aim to have the details fleshed out and be ready to start progressing from my kick off date (that I have yet to specify).  As I consider how I am going to work towards my objectives, I have decided to take a multi pronged attack on my learning.

1. I am going to stick to a series of textbooks to work on my grammar
2. I am going to engage an individual tutor to help me with my vocabulary
3. I am going to follow a podcast series to practice my listenning 
4. I am going to use my Japanese contacts to practice real world conversation.
5. I may take a CD course to practice my spoken language.

Of course, if I add all these together it will take some time, but I think it will be much more effective than the single prong efforts that I have tried in the past (joining a group class, or following a text book by itself)

Do you have any examples of when a multi angle approach has helped you reach a goal more effectively?

Thanks

Tom