How to use your skills to create opportunities for Yourself today.

"Money grows on skills, not trees."

- Nicky Verd

Things are changing and so should you! Without a new perspective, skill set and mindset in your life today, it is very challenging to create opportunities for yourself. As people move from permanent jobs to short term contracts and the – work from home structures, this means a shift in our cultural set ups.

This shift like any other change will create opportunities. Businesses will shift in their structure and how they do things to accommodate for such a movement in patterns. Job markets are becoming more flexible. The rise of technology and other unforeseen factors has led to the disruption of the job markets as we know them today. That change should be a wake-up call to develop new ways of creating income. Your skills are a gateway to opportunities today. As futurist and philosopher Alvin Toffler once wrote:

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

This means that people who are able to provide on-time customized solutions will be a better environment to create sustainable businesses to meet the demands of food, entertainment, clothing and travelling experiences. Look at the example of UBER – where people can send a text message to call a cab which can pick them to drop them wherever they want to go and they can pay for it on their cell phones. The other example is MY FOODNESS Botswana, where you can just place an order for your food and have it delivered to your doorstep.

So many of these innovative business ideas are still coming. So it means for us to be able to create better opportunities for ourselves, we have to be able to compete. It is not a game of qualifications anymore but more about the ability to take advantage of what you know, heard, seen, have to create something for yourself by upgrading your skills and your knowledge. Margie Warrell shared something insightful on her article on Forbes under the Leadership corner: https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/03/learn-unlearn-and-relearn/#1bed4d4d676f

• Unlearn the way you approach your brand.
• Unlearn the way you communicate your value.
• Unlearn the way you deliver your value.
• Unlearn the skills and knowledge needed to get to the next level.
• Unlearn who your target market is, what they want and why
• Unlearn how to get the most from your employees.

To be up to date and relevant with what happening around you in the space of leadership, business, job markets you need to reinvent yourself. Here are some of the things to consider that can help you in your path:

Identify your skill set & strengths

The emerging economy is going to close the doors of many businesses and leave many people jobless if they are not reinventing themselves, developing new skills and acquiring knowledge which can help them to thrive during this global shift. Those who are going to make personal growth shifts, commit to acquire knowledge will be in a better position to thrive and benefit from the shift that is already happening. What skills do you have today? How can you position yourself better for opportunities today? What new skills do you need to learn that can help you thrive and do well today?

Although the concept of using your skills and talents to build something for yourself is not new, I think some people don’t really know the greatness they possess in them. They lack self-awareness about the skills, knowledge and the talents that they have within themselves. I have seen many people who are very talented and gifted but not sure about it, hence they settle for anything handed to them. The new economy demands you to be creative and apply yourself better than before. You need to identify what you are good at and starting building your own job. Your next job is in your hands, your skills. Your income is in your talents and abilities.

Apply Yourself, Be Creative

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

Maya Angelou

Growing people constantly evolve. They are not stuck in the old systems, processes and protocols that are no longer creating any value in the organization. They constantly shift and adopt new technologies that enhance growth, productivity and success within the organization. Their quest to grow and be creative pushes them to deliver incredible results at all times which helps the organization to grow. To them, life is about learning, growing and changing. They are able to thrive because they are not stagnant and not locked up in their comfort zones. They do not wait for things to change, they change things. They initiate transformation and growth. Whether it is when serving clients, making calls, participating in a meeting, they constantly create new ways to make these experiences exciting and educative. 

Thank you for reading. Kindly share.

Mompoloki Makwana is an International Speaker, Author of two (2) personal leadership books (The Birth of Greatness and Embrace Your Greatness).Mr Makwana is a Personal Leadership & High Performance Coach. He also host a radio personal leadership program on Radio Botswana 2 (RB2). His books and presentations delivers message on personal leadership, organizational change, productivity, creating a high performance culture, creating empowering professional and personal relationships. He is currently wrote a new book called, What Amazing Employees Do.

He is an active global leader, a social entrepreneur, a Mandela Washington Fellow who was nominated among 700 other African youth leaders for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States in 2019 under the Leadership in Business category. He was exposed to business development training on behavior change, organizational growth, employee engagement and business development. This was through active hands on practices in the United States of America organizations and businesses.

His focus is on youth workplace productivity, empowering employees, empowering teachers, learners and he works with close to 5000 youths. Through his personal leadership academy, he helps the youth to start their own businesses, organizations and building their careers. His clients extend to Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia and The Kingdom of Eswatini.