Skill Stacking: Easiest way to make yourself Indispensable.
Skills are the Currency of the 21st Century
This was written a few hours before 10 am on Saturday 3/11, so it’ll be scatter brained. But here goes.
TLDR: 🔍
Skill Stacking in 1 sentence:
Learning enough to be dangerous.
Why Skill Stack:
Better job outlook
More fulfilling life
Boost in Self-Confidence
3 ways to get started Skill Stacking:
Career Focus
Enjoyment Focus
Personal Goals Focus
Examples of Potential Skill Stacks with their potential professions:
Biology + Psychology + Sociology + Therapy = Dr. Gabor Maté
Stoicism + Marketing + Entrepreneurship = Ryan Holiday
Writing + SEO + Marketing + Management = Ship30
Important:
You don’t have to become an expert in the skills, just enough to be proficient to achieve a goal or purpose.
Gaining expertise is an option but not a necessity with skill stacking.
What is Skill Stacking?
Skill stacking is learning skills that complement each other. This creates a deadly combination. To be clear, you don’t have to be an expert. Just proficient enough to do most of the work associated with the skill.
For example, I wanted to build a portfolio for my projects, and I needed to know how to code in HTML & CSS. I watched HTML/CSS YouTube tutorials until I knew how to read the language and modify template website code. I’m no expert in HTML/CSS and cannot build my own website from scratch, but I know enough to modify code to get it where I want it.
Here is another example of Skill Stacking.
Think of a Boxer who is proficient in Psychology + Marketing + Poetry. That's a deadly combo. That's the Heavyweight Champion, Muhammad Ali.🥊He’s known for grit, determination, and his poetic intellect of explaining his views on social matters and his views on his opponents.
Why should you Skill Stack?
More fun learning different skills proficiently 🎉
More job opportunities available🤝
Cultivate a Polymathic Mindset 🧠
Stand out from the Crowd 📣
Boost in Self-Confidence ✊
3 Easy Methods to Learn Skill Stacking:
Method 1: For Career: 💼
Look at where you are now. What are your daily skills? What are your occasional skills?
For example, if you're a software engineer:
A daily skill is programming.
An occasional skill is presenting.
Skill stack by building your presentation skills, then go one step further,
Graphic Design + public speaking + networking, etc.
See how these build on top each other? You can do this continuously over any span of time because the goal is to build proficiency not expertise.
Learn enough to get in the door and achieve a goal. Then if you need to learn in-depth, you’re already prepared.
Method 2: For Enjoyment 🎉
Not every skill needs to be for money. Learn something for fun!
I learned how to juggle because I wanted to. Didn't get me any money, but it did entertain a 2-year-old for 3 hours.
Next, I plan to learn the piano and handstands. Not for money, but because I want to.
Now that I think about it, juggle + piano + handstand = walking circus. That’d be interesting.
Method 3: For Personal Goals 🤝
Easiest way to Skill Stack is to have a goal.
A goal could be building a business or building a blog.
Once you have the goal, you also have skills you need to learn along the way to achieve the goal.
I wanted to build an online portfolio for my engineering projects.
I needed to become Proficient in:
HTML & CSS programming
Marketing for interviews
Graphic design
Web design
Writing
I didn’t need to be the best at any of these skills, just enough to accomplish my goal & move forward. Once I built my website, I moved onto the next skill, then the next, until I built proficiency in the skills I needed. Once that happened, I began integrating them. Integrating skills requires another edition.
5 Examples of Skill Stacks in Life:
Biology + Psychology + Sociology + Therapy = Addiction Expert, Speaker and Best-selling Author Dr. Gabor Maté
Stoicism + Marketing + Entrepreneurship = Ryan Holiday
Lawyer/Judge + World War II Veteran + National Guard = Felix Sparks
Psychology + Fitness + Entrepreneur + Writer = Tim Ferris
Writing + SEO + Marketing + Management = Ship30
What heights will you reach when you stack your skills?