I was Wrong. Communication is the Only Skill you Really Need
Hey, hey dear readers. I hope you are feeling well. I'm feeling great.
The second post of this blog was titled: Work-life balance is the only skill you really need and was written almost two years ago. In that article, I explained why I thought that work-life balance was the best skill to success as professional and individual.
Don't misunderstood me, I do think work-life balance is important. However, wise men change their minds, fools never, and the last couple of months I have noticed that there is an skill that breaks the game, looks like cheating, and allows you to growth like no other, I'm talking about communication.
Communication Represents a lot More than I Thought it Would
Since I have always been working remotely, I knew the importance of communication, but after seeing real communicators using the whole power of their speech, I was just speechless. Literally, as you can see in the post to mastering the art of remote work, I saw communication as a tool of organization, keep informed the team about the progress of the tasks, ask for help, etc. It's all of these things, but it's also something greater.
If you don't have good communication skills, people won't be able to see the value you have to offer.
Communication looks like a super power, let people feel comfortable with your presence, allow you to convince and make a change on the listeners, and make you empathize with others, changing your mind too.
Communication Skills can be Learned
One of the main reasons I didn't give enough importance to communication before, is because I thought I wasn't born with that skill, I thought it was something for extroverts, and couldn't be learned.
Then, YouTube and its weird algorithm recommended me a video from Vinh Giang, a YouTuber, communication coach, and magician. He hooked me to his videos immediately, something weird that have never happened to me before. Almost no edition, no flashy effects, stock media, nothing, just a man talking during 30 minutes, and I couldn't stop listening.
After watching almost all the videos of the last months, I definitely started to discover that this skill can be learned. I started to follow the things he recommended on his videos, read and watched the progress of others that did the same, and I don't know if it is true, but Vinh call himself as someone timid that has learned this skill. In all the cases, I got enough proof to say that this skill can be learned, improved, and mastered, we just have to practice.
Voice is an Instrument
Guitarists play the guitar, pianists play the piano, speakers play the voice. If musicians practice playing their instrument, why we don't practice how we use our voice and ideas?
Again, I think that this is because people think this cannot be learned. However, it can be learned, I have improved a lot with just 5 minutes of practice during a single month, I cannot imagine where I will be in one year, or ten years.
Another YouTuber I love to watch is Frank Tedesco, a pianist that have been playing for more than a decade, and he is awesome, people say he is talented, and he is, but I cannot undervalue all the effort and hours of practice he has over these years to reach the skill he possess.
I don't have a piano to practice every day, but I have my voice, my ideas, so I will practice to use them to become somebody that can change the world as these two people.
The Bottom Line
There's no shame in admitting you're wrong, so I admit communicating effectively is the most important skill you can develop. I already started, and invite you to start with me too, this way we can measure our progress, and in one or two years create a new post about this journey!
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