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Master study skills and exam prep for first-year success. Learn effective catch-up plans, study methods, and motivation strategies to boost grades. Get actionable tips on time management, active recall, essay writing, and stress reduction. Start your journey from behind to ahead today! How do you build critical thinking skills? Critical thinkers often question ideas rather than accepting them at face value. Building critical thinking skills involves rigorously seeking to determine whether ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture. Practical examples of exercises to do? Know what you want The first step of critical thinking is knowing exactly what you want. Every decision we make has a purpose or objective attached to it and identifying what that is and what we want out of it, is a starting point to work with. So, ask yourself: What do I expect to get out of this? What do I want? If you do not know the answer to these questions you are not going to know what the best decision is. Deal with your biases Look at different perspectives to deal with problems not just your own. By considering other views you might find yourself hitting upon solutions you would not have previously considered. Something you can do is think of how your partner, sibling, or best friend might approach the problem. Once you have done that, think about how your boss might approach it. Consider the consequences of your options Each decision we make has consequences for either ourselves, or others involved in the problem. So, it is important to weigh up the possible consequences of your options and go for the one that benefits you most and has the least number of negative effects on others involved. An effective way to do this is by writing a list of the possible pros and cons. By forcing yourself to think about all the outcomes you will be able to make a far more informed decision. Accept that you are not always going to be right This is harder than it sounds. However, most of us do not accept this fact and it holds us back from critical thinking. It is okay to mistakes. An exercise you can do is to find different solutions, consider other options and view your mistakes as an opportunity to grow. Do not overcomplicate things Something a lot of us have in common is overcomplicating things. It is a necessity to think about things but when you begin overthinking it only makes things more difficult. There are many occasions where simplicity gets the job done. You need to discover your own fine line between positive critical thinking and over thinking. Sometimes you may need to let go of what you believe and work with new ideas. This can be challenging but if you do it right, it will all be worth it. Build your solution focused skills The first skills for you to master is knowing which type of thinking your solution requires: does your problem need first order change or something more dramatic and big – second or change? If your problem: Keeps happening and the fixes you put in place don’t work or stick If the solution solves for the immediate problem but creates other challenges further down the road or after some time has passed If the problem is caused by a few factors If there is some benefit to keeping the problem around… what are the benefits of the problem and who is benefiting? … then you need some solution focused thinking not simple problem solving. Practical exercises you can do to improve your solution focused thinking? Have a beginner’s mind There a certain downside of being an expert. Your knowledge can blind you to novel ideas. If you want to create solution focused thinking you need to be willing to develop a beginner’s mindset. Focus on the outcome you want A great questions to ask is, "what does it look like when it is fixed?" When you focus on the outcome and vision for what you are trying to fix, then the solutions you come up with will be different. Start with a clean slate. Put your outcomes out there. State what is will look like. Saying what you want to see at the end of the process, making it clear and concise and creating a visual of it (whether that is an actual picture or a goal / outcome statement) helps you to naturally, almost effortlessly move towards them. Having an inspiring, strong, visuals-based vision for the future downsizes other unnecessary concerns. Think outside the box Throw out the conventional fixes and get into brainstorming mode. Come up with all sorts of ideas, even some crazy ones. Sometimes it is in the crazy, out there ideas that you find the perfect solution to get you to your outcome. Want to show your innovative thinking skills, here is how? Be the first to provide a solution. If you see a problem, don't be shy to offer a solution. Speak up! with respect, share your ideas for the problem you have noticed. Your solution may not be exactly what they want, but is shows you are thinking about what needs to be done. Keep an ideas journal. Ideas come at all times of the day and night. Keeping a list of ideas you get is a great way of to remember these ideas. You will be able to reflect back and build on these. Reading through these ideas is also a great way to prepare for reviews, assessments or even interviews. Act on your ideas. An innovative idea is only as good as its implementation. Demonstrating how your idea can solve a problem is a good way to show your skill in this thinking area. Start in your own life by using your ideas. Share your ideas with those who matter. Keeping your ideas to yourself will not showcase your innovative thinking. Share your ideas with leaders, managers, mentors and friends. Follow up your sharing meeting with an email to create proof of ownership of the idea as well as proof of sharing. Learn and incorporate new skills. Keep learning. This is how you encourage yourself to keep innovating. By learning and experimenting with new skills you will put your knowledge to good use and show that you innovate in your own processes. Ask for input on new ideas. Innovators rarely work alone. They understand they may not have all the skills necessary to make the new ideas work. Brainstorming and working in collaboration with others makes innovation exciting, goal orientated and shared. Exercises you can do to improve your innovative thinking. Embrace your creativity Find opportunities to get creative. When you are faced with challenges, use your imagination to brainstorm ideas that start with “what if” and make a list of solutions. Learn from your failure Failure is the best learning tool. Allowing yourself room to fail and evaluate mistakes will increase your ability to think creatively and innovatively. Think of it this way, your failed attempts are like a test that allows you to move on to the next solution without making the same mistakes. Take every idea into consideration Innovative thinkers let their ideas flow unlimitedly. Create a mindset that every one of your concepts has potential during the thinking process. Keep in mind that input from others can also be considered an important part of forming innovative ideas. Widen your knowledge base Innovative thinkers recognize that ideas can come from any source. Increase your knowledge through personal development and find opportunities to learn and advance new skills. Recognize innovation Celebrate innovative thinking in others. Learn how they use creative problem-solving and explore their ideas and methods to help inspire your own creativity. Let's "unpack" self-confidence Do you present yourself with self-assurance? Can you go out on a limb for what is right? Are you decisive and able to make sound decisions? If you answered "yes" to these questions, you are a self-confident person - kudos to you! If, however, you feel that you need to improve your rating (by a little or a lot), then you are most definitely in the right place. In the Emotional Intelligence equation, self-confidence comprises: Self-assurance and presence Doing the right thing Making sound decisions. Let's look at each of these attributes now.... Being more aware of your emotions, how you manage your emotions, and how you respond to different situations is one of the ways to more positive outcomes. This greater awareness naturally leads on to more accurate self-assessment. Accurate self-assessment involves pinpointing your inner resources, abilities, and strengths while recognising your limits. It comes from a willingness to receive feedback and new perspectives about yourself. It is driven by an aspiration for continuous learning and self-development. Let's Break Accurate Self-Assessment Down The keys to accurate self-assessment include: Are you aware of your strengths and weaknesses? Do you know your resources, your abilities, and your limits? Are you open to feedback, new perspectives, continuous learning, and self-improvement? Can you laugh at yourself? Let's get started! Why Is Emotional Awareness Important? 1. Being aware of your emotions, and how they impact your behaviour is vital to your mental health and well-being. Your emotions are pivotal to how you adapt to the challenges of your daily life. Have you noticed that when you are feeling in high spirits, you're able to tackle even the most tedious tasks? But when you're down in the dumps, everything, even enjoyable activities, is coloured with a sense of gloom and doom. 2. As importantly, being aware of your emotions, and how they impact your behaviour increases positive interactions with others. If a friend tells you a distressing story and you react by grinning rather than looking sad or concerned, you'll seem rude and insensitive. On the other hand, if you glower when you should laugh at your friend's jokes, you will make them feel bad. Ditto over-reacting. Let's Break It Down The keys to emotional awareness include: Knowing what emotions you are feeling, and why? Linking your feelings to what you think, say, and do. Recognising how your feelings affect your performance. Using your values to guide your decision making. Next Analyse what emotions you are feeling, and why? Communication skills are vital to good emotional intelligence. You need to be able to listen to others, and also convey your own thoughts and, perhaps more importantly, feelings. As a soon-to-be-graduate, you no doubt feel excited and are enjoying your status as a big fish. Not too long from now, though, when you start your first proper job, you will go back to being a small fish in a big pond. (Such is life!) While academic communication has some similarities to communicating in the business world, communicating in a work environment is a whole new ballgame for many graduates. To give you the Dux advantage, this course explores communication which is business-related: Communication Barriers in the Workplace Emotionally Intelligent Communication Business Communication Business Etiquette Communicating Digitally Let's dive right in! As social beings, we cannot exist without communication. We need to interact with people around us, to make sense of the world and to position ourselves in a wider social and cultural reality. At the end of this course you will: Find opportunities for the development of self-awareness. Create opportunities for participants to connect with each other and recognise different styles of communication. Content There are timeframes for the communication of a message: Synchronous communication Asynchronous communication Come on! Let's dive right in.