Setting Your Personal Growth to Warp Speed by Teaching

When I first started my design career I was thrust into a sea of talented people. How would I be able to survive the ever rising tide of talent and keep my head above water? What did I have over people with years of experience who had been navigating the design field for years?

At the time I thought my best course of action was to educate myself. Learn unique skills and abilities that few others had and keep them close. Once I had mastered them it would be as if I was in possession of the Colonel’s secret recipe.

After all, these skills and abilities were my unique selling points. If other people learned them, then I would become a less valuable commodity.

But this is not a healthy path for a fulfilling career.

The moment I decided to share my knowledge with others, is the moment that my career started.

So let’s dive into the benefits of teaching and break down some thought processes that may be holding you back from setting your personal growth to warp speed.

An Educator’s Mindset

When you learn a valuable new skill, you may decide that it is going to be your secret sauce. This is the frame of mind that can be damaging to long term success. Here’s why:

Your incentive with this skill may be to ride the wave of success that it brings for as long as possible. Your focus shifts to optimizing what you already know. You could have spent that time pushing forward and learning valuable new skills.

The very existence of many startups is made possible because of attitudes like this. Large businesses made a choice to double down on what worked in the past. They could have been innovating for what the future would become.

Our personal growth places us in the same position. Do we focus on past success, or look towards the future to help others, and also ourselves, succeed?

Learning Beyond the Books

Think about what education means to you. Odds are you think of taking a class, reading a book, or studying online. The one thing these avenues have in common is that they focus on you.

Would you be able to teach someone else what you had learned beyond reciting what you had listened to or read?

Teaching forces you to dig deep. It will identify gaps that are hindering your own understanding of the subject.

My Education in Educating

My first adventure into teaching came after I created a texture pack for designers. I wanted to show people how I used textures to demonstrate what made the product special. I started a Youtube channel and created a simple tutorial.

During this I realized that my knowledge focused on outcome.

I had never slowed down to ask myself why I was working the way I had been, and what result each action I took caused. Lessons like this are the bread and butter of the benefits of teaching your skills to others.

Teaching is an opportunity to slow down, reflect, and optimize your thought processes. Your perspective on the subject will change. No longer are you going down a mental checklist to create an end result. You’re starting fresh and re-writing the rules.

A simple but powerful change in approach.

Over time I continued creating videos. I saw my skills progress. I made mistakes and learned how to correct them. For every choice that I made, or concept I explained, I asked myself if it was the best approach possible.

I once recorded a thirty minute video that I felt passionate about. Upon review, I decided it could have been better communicated with a single paragraph. It was a humbling but necessary lesson in effective communication.

Had I not decided to teach, I never would have learned how to edit videos. I wouldn’t have a basic understanding of audio production. My use of the word “umm…” would still be at record highs.

If you spend enough time listening to yourself speak, you’ll learn all about your bad habits. It’s a beautiful opportunity to improve.

Getting Started

Approaching the concept of teaching a subject may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are countless opportunities to teach every day. All we have to do is take them on.

You might be at work and see someone struggling with a task you know well. Take a few moments and walk them through it. Sometimes the smallest actions can have the greatest impact to those around you.

Imagine if every job you’ve worked for was full of people excited to both learn and teach. At Creative Market one of the core values is that we’re all students and teachers. Approaching each day with this mindset raises the potential of the team. We’re all able to take on new and challenging responsibilities with confidence.

Start where you feel comfortable and let it grow from there. There is no playbook when it comes to teaching. You’ll see the results of your efforts in real time when you help someone pick up a new skill. Your unique perspective on approaching a subject is something only you have. Keep that in mind if you’re hesitating on sharing your knowledge. You are the most qualified person to teach what you know.

The Next Chapter

Learning something new is an exciting feeling. Teaching is an opportunity to spread that joy and promote an atmosphere of growth.

As a rather exceptional teacher once said:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela

So stay curious, and share your journey.

We’re always looking for amazing people to join the Creative Market team. We value our culture as much as we value our mission, so if helping creators turn passion into opportunity sounds like something you’d love to do with a group of folks who feel the same way, then check out our job openings and apply today!