Learn these skills if you want to make an impact.
The gap between your idea and execution is skill.
It’s as simple as that.
Your future is dependent on the skills you’re learning today.
Those who are consistently self-education and using “life projects” to acquire new experience will continue to make an impact and find purpose in their pursuits.
Importance of Continuous Learning
If you aren’t learning, you’re forgetting.
If you aren’t increasing, you’re decreasing.
Personally, professionally, and spiritually.
For the same reason a kid attending school learns new curriculum with each new year – as adults, we too, should be learning new things constantly.
Growth shouldn’t stop after your “education” ends.
REAL education is not a 12, 16, or 20-year plan – it’s a lifelong one.
It’s just that after high school, college, or grad school… it’s up to you to become the teacher and researcher.
A task that most people aren’t willing to take on.
But what they don’t realize is that this self-education is what allows them to grow as a person.
To put it bluntly – the education system does not prepare us for sustainability in the long-term.
We go through the motions (as everyone else around us does) and hope to make it on the other side.
If everyone is learning the same thing – we’re all going to be conditioned for the same thing.
But the “real world” is full of thousands and thousands of different paths to take.
It’s the work that we put in OUTSIDE of, or AFTER these 12 years of formal education that set us up for success in our particular domain.
Skills Require Projects
Skill is what allows us to bridge the gap between idea and execution.
If I want to build a coffee table for an apartment, the only way to make it a reality would be if I possessed the skill of design and woodworking to build the coffee table.
An idea stays an idea when you don’t have the skill to take action.
With this being said – your lack of skill might be the greatest thing holding you back.
But there’s good news.
Skills aren’t accrued, they’re acquired.
You aren’t born with skill.
Skills are learned through failure and action.
Skills require projects.
Projects require skill.
They go hand-in-hand.
Building a Personal Brand
So – what kinds of skills are needed to create a personal brand?
What things will allow you to move the needle?
How can you realistically make an impact with your interests?
Fortunately, skills build and compound.
Each skill plays into the next, allowing you to combine and create in news ways.
The more diverse your skillset, the more value you can provide.
Skill #1: Writing
The first skill to learn is writing.
Writing will be the foundation to build your house upon.
If you can write with impact, you can create with impact.
Words are the first step for creating on any platform.
A written article or blog post can become:
- A video script
- A solo podcast episode
- A social media caption (or text image)
- An email newsletter
- Multiple short-form posts
- Multiple short-form videos
See the value in learning to write well?
It will become the fuel to run your content machine.
When I fail to write regularly, my content, my ideas, and my energy suffer.
If you want to create a sustainable content business, you must acquire the skill of writing first.
I began writing “purposefully” just over a year ago.
I had journaled for years in the past and always enjoyed doing it…
But I didn’t begin looking at it as a way to serve others until November of 2022.
Now, it’s the single thing that has shaped my entire business and career.
Writing well isn’t about being grammatically correct.
It isn’t about nitpicking every detail of spelling, hyphenation, and flow.
It’s about connecting with someone you can relate to.
It’s about spreading awareness and adding value.
It’s about delivering a message.
Don’t overthink it. (like I often do)
Skill #2: Creating
The second skill necessary is creating, sharing, or distributing.
Sharing your message can be done through multiple mediums.
Here are the 3 main types of content:
- Words
- Audio
- Video
Once you have written words, these words can then be transformed into these three forms of content.
They can stay as words, and shared through:
- a blog post
- a newsletter
- a social media post
- a well-designed & branded text image
Or you can read the words and use them as an outline in audio form for:
- a podcast episode
- voiceover for a video or reel
And finally the words can be used as a script for:
- a long-form video
- multiple short-form videos
- a video podcast
- a course
- a webinar
Plus, whatever else you can creatively come up with.
With written words and a creative way to share that message with the world – you’re officially a beloved “content creator.”
Good work, team. 🕺
Skills = Building Blocks
Once you’ve developed a foundation in these two areas, you begin introducing yourself to new skills that will aid in your journey.
If you want to make your brand stand out, learn design.
As you begin sharing your work consistently, learn audience building.
If you want to reach new people and customers, learn marketing.
And eventually you can build products and services that serve people.
As you learn more of these skills you can:
- Get a new or better job
- Reach more of the people who you can serve
- Increase your income
- Make more of an impact
If you have ideas but can’t execute on them, learn new skills.
Treat each lesson as a project.
Apply what you’re learning to something tangible.
Learn from failure.
Create and reiterate.
I am not an expert in any of these domains – but I consider myself student of building these skills for my brand.
I’m here to share & document my journey.
And hopefully you can learn a thing or two along the way.
Keep on keeping on.
–Eric Pfohl