What do you do if your negotiation and persuasion skills are holding you back in the renewable energy sector?

Awareness is the key to improvement. If you don’t know where you are now then you cannot progress to a higher level. Someone said, “If you don’t know you are in a prison, how can you escape?” You must be growing or you are falling behind. Every day you need to be getting 1% better. From the research I have done over the years says that the successful people read 30 minutes to 1 hour a day books and articles on their industry. The world is changing now faster than ever, and it is important to change and not hold on to old ideas and “the way things have always been.” Since Covid and 2020, we have seen major companies that have been around for 50 years or more go out of business because they did not change with the times.

Setting clear, well-defined goals with a time to complete them is a first step. In setting a goal, ask yourself “what action will make the boat move faster?” Every morning ask yourself “What is the one thing I must do today to get me one step closer to my goal and the one thing I must do if that is the only action I can take today?” Is my goal a burning desire or merely a wish? As Steve Jobs said,” You may not see all the steps you have to take from here to reach your goal, but once you achieve it, you can look back and see the steps you took.” Too many people don’t start toward their goal or quit and give up, if they don’t know all of the steps they must take. Keep taking one step at a time even when it seems you are standing still.

Practice the right way is the key. That is why athletes and other top professionals have a coach to point out what they are doing incorrectly. If you are practicing the skill the wrong way, you will not improve. Also, spaced repetition is important. Just like our muscles, if we don’t use them and exercise, we lose our strength. Any skill not practiced and honed to perfection will soon be ineffective. The world is changing and the skills we need to develop to compete must be constantly updated and improved upon. Too many people are coasting just trying to get to retirement and they wonder why they are losing ground in their profession. To be in the top 1-3%, you must constantly be improving 1% daily. It is difficult to play catch up.