3 Parameters of Testing
You'll never know how proficient you are until you are put to test, under different circumstances, pressured. Until then, your image of how "good" you are is nothing but imagination, I like to call it the "false sense bubble". Where you feel like you're proficient or are actually good at something, but in reality, you're not.
I've spent a considerable amount of time putting this together and even more, time spent on testing it myself. If you really want to measure your proficiency, regardless of the field or specialty you're working on, then there are 3 parameters set that you have to try.
Equipment, Time, and Environment.
Different, Less, and added Stress.
You might think, "damn that's a lot", it is not. And even so, it is far better knowing your true capabilities than going on living in your false sense bubble.
1. Equipment.
Use different equipment. Can you improvise? Can you use makeshift devices or tools? Will they work? Is it the tools or the skills that you need to work more on? How can you accomplish the task with little or no tools, or using a completely different set of tools? Can you improvise?
2. Time.
Set a time limit. Use a timer. Use a countdown watch. Do it at different times of the day. Is it still achievable? Can you do it at late night or early morning? Can you do it while running out of time? Can it still be done or performed? What extra tools or skills are needed if you are going to do it under the time variable?
3. Environment.
Work in a different environment. Different place. Can you do it at another place, a smaller room, with less lighting, and tighter spaces? Can you do it under stress? Can you do it under the influence of your emotions? Can you adapt when nature or the environment decides to dial up the difficulty and giving you a hard time? Can you adapt?
An example I can give that I've had to face times are building shelter and making a
fire in the wilderness before the sun sets. To put things into context, building shelter and making fire is a skill that one has to master should one wants to be comfortable in the woods. Sometimes making both in a short time requires 2 or more manpower.
So how to make it harder and test it out?
Equipment, bring minimally, or less or just to make yourself suffer, no equipment at all, use only natural resources. Allow yourself to bring only a knife or a Parang. Time, the time restraint is to do it before sunset because once it gets dark, it'll only make everything twice harder cause apparently our eyes don't work as well in the dark. Environment, at a steep hill, places with limited resources, higher altitudes, or when nature isn't just helpful at all and the rain is pouring.
That's just an example, another good one is martial arts/self-defense/combative training. Add more people, use little to no force multiplier, make it hard for the defender, do a shark tank, set time limits, do it after you've just finished a run, or do it while you're backed up against a wall.
These are just examples. Apply this to things that you do in your life. Learning, working, creating a new project, working on a new idea or concept, acquiring a new skill, or simply just testing out how far you can go and how much there's left for you to work on.
Put yourself to test and improve afterward. Improvise, adapt.
This idea was firstly presented to [REDACTED] during an evening jog session. I guess my writings here are a way for me to let out the "leteran" I have unspoken of