Gaining New Skills

Too often, entrepreneurs focus only on the money.  The trick to becoming a strong business man or woman though is in acquiring new skills; skills are what make or break success, and the money comes only if those skills are put to good use.

So which skills do you focus on? First, start with what you're naturally good at, or what you enjoy and think you could become good at.  Let's say you've got previous experience in floor sanding; it's something you already know.  So, you spend 60-80 hours a week working on that one skill.  You do it over and over again, and over the course of a number of years, you're going to master that skill.

Now let's say you want to increase your skills and are interested in selling houses.  So then you spend 80-100 hours a week selling houses, learning the market, going through homes, meeting with buyers and sellers, and learning the transaction process and the ins and outs of contracts.  After a few years of doing that for 100 hours a week, you have another skill.  Just like that, you can sand floors and sell houses; two skills are always better than one.

Over the course of my career, my primary focus has always been on gaining skills.  I've worked on them, and then I've put them to use because the bottom line is that if you want to bring value to the marketplace, you've got to show the marketplace that you're worth it.   So ask yourself this: what new skill are you working on next?  How you add value is entirely up to you.  Start with a skill, build on it, and you will be gearing yourself up for a lifetime of success.