Build Skills To Build Income

While I was in school some years back, I learnt a couple of skills that I earned from at each point when they were required. There was even a time I learnt photography, and I would go on weekends to events to take pictures, and I made profit from it. What I learnt from all these is that income hardly comes by accident. In a number of cases, income follows skill growth. You will agree with me that the marketplace rewards values, but value is actually created by skill. When your skill grows, your ability to solve problems also grows. It is by providing solutions to the needs of humankind by applying your skills that you will earn profit. The bigger problems you solve, the more profits you make.

The truth is that skills actually bring economic leverage. Two people can work for the same number of hours, but at the end of the day, they will have different results because of the difference in the skills they bring to the table. The same thing that took you days to complete, someone else can get it done in hours. Of course, they will make more profit in lesser time. The more you build your skills, the more you position yourself for more profits. A lot of people focus more on working harder. But what they do not understand is that it is not the hardness of the efforts that counts. You should rather focus on working smart in order to earn more. Just to let you know, it is your skill that makes you to work smarter. This will make you to earn more from the same time invested.

I once read a story sometimes ago that explained how skills translate into profit. In a particular company, their system of machines unexpectedly stopped working properly. It would come on, but it was not functioning or producing anything. This became a major concern to the management of the company. They called several engineers to check it out, yet they could not detect the problem. And everyday the machine was out of production, they lost a considerable large amount of money. So someone recommended a particular expert to them. They called him to come check out the machines. When the man arrived, he requested that they should put on the machine so that he would take a look at it.

When they had switched on the machines, he moved around them from one point to another to observe them. Then he got to a spot and noticed an unusual sound from that spot. He took out a marker and marked it. Then he asked them to open up the area. When they did, he noticed that a bolt was disjointed inside it. So he asked them to tighten the bolt and cover up the place. They did, and to their amazement, the machines started functioning well. They were all happy and amazed. So he sent them a bill of $20,000. They were surprised and asked "how come?" They told him that he didn't spend more than 10mins there and asking for $20,000, so they asked for justification. He calmly told them that the cost of the marker is $1, but knowing where to mark is $19,999. He obviously charged them for his skills.

It is worthy to note that you will be rewarded based on your skills. However, you also need to know that the world rewards relevant skills. As things evolve, and new demands and trends arise, the skills that were relevant yesterday may not be relevant enough today. This is why you have to be committed to continuous learning, so that you will stay relevant. It does not mean that you should blindly chase every trend, rather it means that you should be intentional to build skills that are high in demands and will be transferable to opportunities.

Building your skills also expands your options. There are options that you may never know you have, and opportunities you may never know exist until you have acquired certain skills. As you build on your skills and acquire new one, you will realise that your choices will increase too. This is why you have to make the conscious and deliberate effort to build your skills. Remember that you are responsible for how your life will become.

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