4 Habits That Can Significantly Boost Your Growth as a Professional
and help you live a better life.
#1 Expanding your ‘Web of Consciousness’
As a UX Designer, I consciously keep my eyes open for inspiration in places that are really far away from the world of Tech & UX. There is great inspiration in reading books and browsing websites but once you start picking clues from the entire cosmos, your lens of searching for ideas scales by 100x.
No matter how your life has been, your consciousness has been shaped by your past experiences. Your mind is nothing but an accumulation of memory and information. Ideas come from recognising patterns and connecting information stored in your memory.
Every day, you experience hundreds of things. Let’s assume that each of your experiences is a like a dot in your consciousness. By default, most of these dots lack substance. They are usually ignored and uninterpreted.
Most of these experiences will come and pass unless you are consciously witnessing them. Consciousness has the power to give your experiences more structure. Without awareness, all your experiences will fade away without your permission.
Experiences that trigger strong emotions have even longer shelf lives. This is because we are highly conscious about their impact on us. They stick with us simply because we remember how they made us feel.
Earlier, I had the habit of constantly learning from sources prescribed by other people. The result was my brain becoming a directory of knowledge and information. Even personally, I had experienced a lot but everything was just scattered in my head without any intention or concrete meaning.
Mark Suster says, “invest in lines, not dots”. This is really powerful because learning from ordinary experiences and regularly connecting the dots in your mind will allow you to discover routes unknown to others.
These routes help me when I am designing new solutions, simply because I have been collecting ideas on the go. They come to me easily than before.
Once you start observing day to day phenomenas, you’ll realise that almost all things resemble each other. “History never repeats but it surely rhymes.”
#2 Prioritising Problems
You can achieve everything you desire, just not all at once. Social Media tempts us with new goals and aspirations every day. The lines between what we want to chase and what the society expects us to chase get blurry. You will never persevere for something until unless you truly desire it.
Documenting my thoughts, goals and priorities on Notion has allowed me to get better at saying “No” to things that do not align with my long term vision.
Prioritising avoids overwhelm. The same applies to solving problems as a UX Designer. You need to figure out which problem requires immediate attention and which solution will give the maximum ROI on effort and energy spent.
#3 Become a Storyteller
I always wanted to be a filmmaker and that is why I’m a huge fan of storytelling. Most expensive products charge 10x extra simply because of the narrative attached with their product.
Emotions have more power than logic. If you want to sell your ideas, your vision or your product, you have to make sure you narrate it in a way that would align others with your vision. A lot of things in our world are simply mental constructs created for controlling chaos. Instead of preaching or pitching, become a storyteller. People avoid lectures but they love hearing an entertaining story.
#4 Improve the Experience of Working with You
People don’t just buy the experiences you design, they also buy the experience of working with you. Regularly work on your enunciation, fluency and self-confidence. Invest in better skincare, clothing and exercise. Become better at both giving and digesting criticism.
If you are not a pleasant person to work it, people will eventually cut ties with you. Don’t think people don’t recognise schemes. In fact, people today have become highly aware and sensitive, more than ever before. Be ethical, learn how to handle your emotions and learn how to be a good person before you learn how to be a good designer. People really appreciate that.
Hi! My name is Ansh Mehra and I’m a UX Designer & Storyteller at Zuddl.com, which is a virtual events hosting platform backed by YCombinator. This article is a part of my Foundations for UX Design Series. You can watch one of the episodes here! 📺
Follow me on Instagram for stuff on Life, Design and the Beyond. Take care!
