Strategies are about how we reach our goals. I find all of these growth strategies are very useful for moving from novice towards proficient or expert.  

We have five strategies to guide how we develop proficiency. First is reading. We have lots of choices: popular books, journal articles, texts, web posts, and so on.  Is it any wonder that most of us have several copies of the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications? Since 1926, ARRL Handbook has covered state of our art.

Part of the reason for its huge popularity is that it’s written for all of us from novice to expert. You can get a taste of everything ham radio. But that’s also its weakness. Often, you need to quickly move to reading online articles to get more depth and insights.

But reading will only get you so far. These days, we have tons of videos providing slightly more active learning. I can find stuff on You Tube about pretty much every subject I explore, often presented by experts. (Sadly, not always!)

More useful is interacting with mentors and folks who share similar interests. We can discuss our ideas and learn from each other. Our discussions can be in person, or by joining in a trail of online contributions on special interest web sites. Again, many of these discussions involve folks with different levels of proficiency and are a great way to learn.

You may have noticed that with our strategies, we are moving form passive to active modes as we move across the spectrum.

Growth Strategies to Take Off

As you become more competent, you need to do things. Practice makes perfect. Not always, but practice helps you grow. Take your ideas from books, videos and discussions, and do something! You learn and grow from every success or failure.

When you become proficient or expert, a great way to continue you growth is by teaching. Make your own videos. Make a presentation to your club. Teaching and presenting helps you pull everything together and solidify what you have learned through all strategies.

Remember, it’s not either-or. All of these growth strategies are good.