My scores for the individual sections of the questionnaire by Neck et al. ranged from 11 for distinguishing natural rewards and focussing on the pleasant aspects of my work through to 14 for choosing pleasant surroundings to work. I got 12 for focussing on natural rewards and 13 for building natural rewards into my work. These indicated I have a high strategy use in all areas and a very high strategy use in seeking a pleasant work environment. My overall score also indicated a high level of strategy use. I did the scoring on how I use strategies whilst studying rather than at work as I have just started a new job and am still settling in, so didn’t feel confident scoring myself there. My previous job I didn’t on the whole enjoy and in the end I just went there to earn money, my score for this were all unsurprisingly low. I found it very enlightening and have realised that I need to approach work like I do study and build natural rewards into it and focus on the positive, whilst not ignoring the negative. I feel it will be easier in my new position as the work appears to be more self-directed and I can build the role to reflect my strengths and interests.
The perfect practice makes perfect video was interesting. I agree that by ensuring that one tries to achieve perfection during practice they are more likely to succeed as experts. I don’t like the term perfect as it implies there is no room for improvement and i would like to think this is not the case. I have studied for approximately 1500 hours for my Masters and am approximately 3/4 of the way through it. Some people suggest that 10000 hours of practice is required to become an expert, so I’ve still got a long way to go and at the moment I don’t feel like an expert, but I believe that expertise will develop as I utilise and develop my skills in the professional field and I hope this will be a continuous process throughout my career.
Deborah Fuller 