The One Skill that will Stop you Being Replaced By Robots

The single most important skill you will ever learn is in itself an oxymoron.

Chris Herd
Aug 22, 2017 · 5 min read

It is dependent on your ability to vanquish procrastination and achieve something today with view to tackling the unknown that comes tomorrow.

As I’ve written previously it requires the drive to tackle the modern world head on: doing nothing has never been so easy.

Got a spare few hours?

They can disappear as quickly as unlocking your smart phone.

For me then this affords opportunity for those who have taught themselves the skill I allude to; to learn how to learn and have the desire to maniacally do so for the rest of your life.

The ability to employ autodidacticism in your every day life is the single most valuable skill you can ever acquire and employ

Self-directed learning enables you to learn the skills that you are most passionate about and employ them in innovative way to achieve your goals and ambitions.

We no longer need schools, universities or teachers to spoon feed us the information you are paying to acquire

Find what interests you and expand your horizons through learning. Schools are irreparably broken, they teach you memory skills required to pass exams at the detriment of teaching you what it means to learn.

Look back through history it is easy to see what I’m talking about

Some of history’s greatest geniuses have forgone university and typical routes of learning to teach themselves and become masters of their fields.

The majority never finished school, not one of them finished a degree course.

Instead they chose to follow their curiosity and educate themselves to become specialists in their respective fields by allowing their learning to be both self-directed and within the areas which were of strongest personal intrigue.

The paradox of modern life is that at no time in human history have we been afforded the access to information that we have now

We can literally learn everything about anything and everyone with the pressing of a few key strokes. Wherever you turn on the internet there is the opportunity to learn.

The ease of access has bred an over reliance which I believe has contributed to a skill gap in the professional market and disinclined individuals to pursue what they are interested in

As my library of reading has expanded the prevailing message from those who have achieved unimaginable successes is this: In order to achieve anything one skill is more important than everything else combined

But I have changed my mind after experiencing personal success having identified my goals and incrementally began working towards them, I too now believe anyone can achieve inconceivable success.

The message is as simple as it is effective; make goals and acquire the means to achieve them

Success doesn’t just happen, it arrives because you have unmercifully pursued a dream which was at first written words on a page or an imagined belief

This self generation of opportunity comes to those who put themselves out there — who learn skills that are valuable and employ them to achieve the goals they have made for themselves

Good things come to those who go out and get them. Nobody achieved greatness waiting for it to find them.

How then can you become an autodidact?

Begin small and turn off the TV

Whether you start with 15 minutes a day on an app like Duolingo teaching yourself Spanish, change from Radio 1 to Radio 4 or consume a single video on Udemy each week, this small change can accumulate to meteoric advancement.

Once you have broken the Zombaic routine of drifting through each day and letting life happen you can begin making stratospheric strides in learning

Set Goals

Pursue the things that intrigue you. Learn the things that allow you to achieve.

You don’t have to look very far to find reports warning that degrees do not prepare graduates for work.

Why not take an alternative approach enabled by modern technology?

Tools such as Linkedin can provide a window to the careers we seek.

Make 2017 the year your revolutionary crusade for enlightenment begins

Startup Grind

The life, work, and tactics of entrepreneurs around the world. Welcoming submissions on technology trends, product design, growth strategies, and venture investing. Learn more about how you can get involved at startupgrind.com.

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Chris Herd

Written by

CEO / Founder / Coach @FirstbaseHQ Empowering people to work in their lives not live at work ✌️✌

Startup Grind

The life, work, and tactics of entrepreneurs around the world. Welcoming submissions on technology trends, product design, growth strategies, and venture investing. Learn more about how you can get involved at startupgrind.com.

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