Symphony of Evolving Skill Sets
Like apps on your phone if you don’t use them, skills need to be downloaded again, so let’s take stock of our skill, put them to use, and downloaded some new ones in 2024.
Last week, I wrote an article about using ChatGPT to generate a “List of 100 Things I Want to Try”. Have you also asked ChatGPT to create your own list of things you want to do? Inspired by ChatGPT’s suggestions, I began to think about what I wanted to learn.
It’s been 25 years since I started my career. After graduating from university, I joined McDonald’s as a store operations employee. A major motivation was the company brochure stating that I could learn business management. I thought this would equip me with the skills of an entrepreneur and broaden the possibilities for future independence.
Later, my management skills were recognized, and I switched to the apparel industry. However, I realized that management skills alone were not enough to increase sales, and I saw the need for coaching skills. Despite having no experience in apparel, I was successful in enhancing the capabilities of my subordinates and boosting sales.
Additionally, in 2004, when blogging was still rare, I started a manager’s blog. This significantly contributed to my marketing and personal branding, paving the way for my independence.
Then, I expanded the coaching skills I learned during my time as a store manager into my own business. Eventually, as a coach, I realized the importance of ‘active listening’ and enrolled in a mental care course. There, I learned about the background of mental care and the knowledge necessary to empathize with the subjects.
This established two skill sets in me, coaching and mental care, which broadened the range of my sessions. Afterwards, when considering what I needed, I felt that enhancing skills for living was important. Thus, I continued to explore my latent abilities with yoga, solo travel, voice training, English, meditation, and Kadou, Japanese flower arrangement.
In 2023, the emergence of ChatGPT showed me new possibilities. I self-published the English version of “ChatGPT: Enhancing Humanity One Conversation at a Time” on Kindle. This was one way to utilize my skill set of coaching, mental care, and English.
Then, I thought that mental care might be especially necessary in today’s era. Despite having a ‘Mental Care Specialist’ qualification, I felt it wasteful that I hadn’t yet delved deeper into this field. When I asked ChatGPT, it suggested clinical psychology and certified psychology qualifications. However, the path through graduate school and national exams seemed long. ChatGPT also recommended other learning platforms, and I found ‘Coursera’. Amazingly, I can take an introductory psychology course from Yale University for free. This will mark the beginning of a new journey for me.
Looking back on this long journey, I feel that my career has always been a continuum of learning and evolution. From my first step at McDonald’s, through the challenges in the apparel industry, to the expansion of my own business, I have constantly learned new skills and applied them to real life. Sharing my experiences through the blog and publishing “ChatGPT: Enhancing Humanity One Conversation at a Time” have also been important parts of my journey.
Now, I stand at the beginning of a new phase. Further deepening in the field of mental care and contributing to society through it. The emergence of ChatGPT has shown me a new form of learning, enabling access to Yale University’s introductory psychology course. This is an opportunity to further enhance my skill set and create new value.
After all, what we learn not only helps us grow but also has the power to impact the world around us. My journey so far has always sought a balance between personal growth and social contribution. Going forward, I want to continue this balance by learning new skills and using them to contribute to society. My next step is to not only improve myself but also to positively impact those around me.