Developing practical skills in life: How to be a practical person?

Practical people are regarded as valuable assets in any circle

We, humans, are inherently emotional beings. Without that spectrum of emotional variety, we are no better than mere robots. However, sometimes, our emotions can get the best of us. For example, we dream of reaching the stars but don't feel like taking any action; someone made bad comments about us and we keep lamenting it for the whole day; in moments of crisis, our minds activate the panic mode and we are unable to think straight. 

We have all felt these moments. There is nothing wrong with behaving that way because we are inherently full of emotions. However, if our emotions frequently get in our way of achieving life goals, it is wise to adopt a more practical approach to life. Cultivating practical skills helps us guide our emotions, put a leash on our impulses, and make better decisions in life. Moreover, people with practical skills give a sense of trust, reliability and respect from people around them in their personal and professional settings. So this article explores the 5 tips on how to develop/improve practical skills and become a practical person.

• Set realistic expectations - Self-awareness

Mainstream media portrays that dropping out of college opens the door to being CEO of a multi-billionaire company in the future. So it is no surprise that we like to dream big and fill ourselves with euphoria at the moment. But when the time comes to take action towards achieving it, we become so terrified of failure that we never take a single step. This is an emotional approach towards pursuing a goal. 

A practical approach would be to first realize our strengths and weaknesses, which is the crucial step towards self-awareness. We need to embrace the fact that a small goal that is achieved far outweighs the lofty dream which never even left the ground. Understanding one’s weaknesses lets us set goals which are challenging enough to drive us forward and achievable enough to not cause mental as well as physical burnout.

• Action speaks louder than daydreaming - Cure for procrastination

It is usually believed that emotions drive action. But vice versa is also true. A practical individual is more inclined to the latter approach. We think we do a certain task only when we feel like doing it. But more often than not, when we start doing something despite our emotional hesitance, the task starts to feel interesting and we suddenly pique interest in it. 

A practical person is very familiar with this phenomenon. They also know that quick action is the best medicine against procrastination. They understand that the more we spend time pondering about the tasks, the more challenges emerge and before we realize it the fear of failure takes over. So when dealing with various tasks, a practical person first prioritizes the list of tasks and ranks them. Then without thinking about nitty-gritty details, they jump towards action. Mindfulness is also extremely important as it helps them to evaluate their ongoing activities and aids them in making decisions on whether they stop the action, change the activity or continue the task.

• Be consistent in your actions - Reinforce positive habit

Consistency was the key with which the tortoise beat the hare in the race. More often, when we start to pursue our goal, we give up midway because it wasn’t as fun as we had expected or it was much harder to pursue. Soon we became bored or disinterested or raised our interest in another goal. This is a side effect of having lofty expectations from one’s life. 

A practical person would, however, plan their actions ahead and act on their decision each day. At the day’s end or week’s end or month’s end, they review what they have accomplished so far. By doing so, they not only keep their life on track but also pave the pathway for admiring their past accomplishments and improving their weaknesses. Reviewing one’s actions makes the task much more interesting and worth pursuing which reinforces the positive habit.

 

• Have a strong ethical foundation - Develop resilience

A person driven by emotion is easily persuaded by the outside world. They rarely stand their ground because what feels right for them might change depending on the context. Having a strong ethical foundation is key to making quick and better decisions in a moment of crisis. Moreover, strong personal ethics is also a source of self-motivation.

Practical individuals are regarded as reliable and trustworthy simply because their personal ethics would take them the extra mile to get the job done, no matter the situation. Mental resilience is an added benefit of having robust personal ethics.

• Be flexible and adaptable - Embrace risks

Being flexible does not mean jumping back and forth to different goals just because we feel like it. It rather means that our final goal remains intact but we review our strategy and change it if it does not bring the expected results. Now, just changing your strategy without a concrete basis, is also a sign of an emotional mindset. Being flexible and adaptable is a result of above mentioned four points. 

A practical person knows that the world is a dynamic playground and unexpected events are bound to occur. To cope with that, they would have kept track of their activities and reviewed them every single day. On the basis of their daily, weekly and monthly reviews, they decide, if it is viable to consider different approaches to achieving their goal.

All over the internet, being practical in life is labelled as a sign of strength and reliability whereas having an emotional trait is considered a weakness. This blog also seems to reinforce this notion. However, even for a highly practical person, the end goal of their endeavour is to have good life experiences. Although practical people are good at hiding their emotions, they strive for a feeling of pride in their past accomplishments. Pride is an invaluable emotion for a positive mindset, but when gone overboard can lead to narcissism. Emotional individuals cherish the spur-of-the-moment actions which bring surprises in their lives. And being a highly practical person may strip away the sweetness and spontaneity of life. 

 But a 100% practical person is a mere robot and a 100% emotional person is an innocent child. We as adults must juggle between these two extremes. Both approach have their strengths and weaknesses. The only way to ensure the best of two worlds is to practice mindfulness. We all get one chance at this life. Ignoring emotions for the sake of productivity and success or vice-versa, can narrow down our perspectives on life. Thus, we must cultivate practical skills in life but always make sure that emotions are what makes us human and what gives us purpose in the first place.