Use Feedback to Help You on Your Way

In the business environment market research is used to
determine what products might be useful for the target market
and which ones could be profitable and popular. In our lives we
seldom do any market research. We decide on a goal and just go
for it.

Use feedback like market research. There are several ways of
going about it. You can ask around for feedback on an idea you
have and build your goal around the answers you receive. For
instance you might want to start a new hobby and think that
playing a musical instrument could be fun.

However, you have no idea what kind of instrument would appeal
to you. So you ask around a bit. You talk to music teachers
and find out what kind of lessons are available in your town.
You don’t want to go to the expense of buying a tuba if there
is nobody far and wide who can teach you.

Then you have a look and see whether the instrument you have
chosen is easily available. Or if you want to learn to play a
piano, will the instrument fit into your home? Have you got
space for it and can it fit through the front door? Then you
might need to see how noisy the instrument is. If it’s too
loud your neighbors might not approve.

Many questions later you might find that you can’t actually
learn an instrument because you live in the wrong area and
have no teachers near you never mind that you can’t afford
the instrument or the lessons if you could get to those.
You might want to reconsider your hobby and take up painting
instead.

Conduct your market research, ask your questions, and get
feedback. This doesn’t only apply for when you start on a
new goal. This could be all along the route you are taking.
Get feedback to help you along your journey.

If you are entering a new degree program you might want to
ask your professor whether your project work and assignments
are good enough. If not what else could you do to improve on
them? Maybe you even need to change subjects.

Use the feedback you ask for to help plan your route and get
your directions. You will want to ensure that you are on the
right path. One of the easiest ways of doing this is to ask
for directions.

Amongst the people you might want to ask could be fellow
travelers. These could be co-students for your degree
program or team members in a sport club or fellow runners
if you are attempting your first marathon.

It might be people at work when you start a new job or are
promoted to a management position. Asking your co-workers
as to how you are managing the transition could give you
invaluable feedback and excellent directions on how to
approach your job.

As long as you view the feedback as positive guides and
see them as offers of help you will be able to make use
of this to help smooth your path and find your goals with
less effort and possibly even with greater happiness.