“Education is important, but skills are more important.” I have strong feelings about this statement. I was a very good student; I always scored the highest. The one thing I have always heard everyone say is how important it is to be educated. Obviously, that is true; I completely believe that. There was a saying that went something like this: “If you study now, you will be driving cars later on, and if you don’t, you won’t be successful anywhere.”
After I completed my higher studies, I heard my elders and mentors tell me that the next step for you to get a job is to complete your higher secondary studies, and then, when I did that as well, I got to know you need to have a degree to get a high-paying job somewhere. Now, when you are in your 20s, you never realize the consequences of your actions until later, and by the time that happens, it’s usually too late. I had to take a gap year from studies because of some issues and went into a 9–5 job; the money was much appreciated during that time. After a year, I decided to get my degree through correspondence education (distance).
After working for more than 2 years and studying at the same time, I realized that I am not where I want to be in life; I was lacking purpose. The turning point was March 2024. I was very happy to start a new job outside of my hometown, and I realized after a day how unprepared I was for this huge change. It was not the proudest moment of my life. It was especially bad as it was my birthday during that time. Birthdays signify a year we are progressing in our lives. I realized how much time I had wasted doing nothing. It was truly at that time that I felt at the lowest point in my life. I’m not proud of the fact that I gave up easily.
This period of time taught me a lot of things. My decision to stay in my comfort zone was the biggest barrier to my self-development. I have always preferred comfort over uncertainty, which is the biggest mistake we can make when we want to progress in life. I cared too much about other people’s thoughts of me; I let other people’s behavior dictate my response to situations. I was faced with my own shortcomings. There are some moments in life that are monumental and change the trajectory of your life. I was faced with the same decision: I could choose to stay depressed or pick myself up and start over.
I started fresh; I eliminated all those distractions; I deleted my social media accounts; and I stopped scrolling through hours of content. Instead, I followed successful people whom I wanted to emulate. The moment you move out of your learned knowledge and into new territory, you will realize how many things are still there that you need to learn. I knew I wanted to be financially independent and successful. For that, I had to change all that I used to do previously with new and improved habits.
Education, while it has its advantages, does not guarantee success. There are so many entrepreneurs who were high school dropouts and went on to be CEOs and billionaires. To be paid for something in millions, you don’t need a degree. Sure, that helps decorate your resume, but you have to have specific skills that will set you apart from the masses. We live in a time where technology has innovated to a whole new level. You have got to have the skills to survive in a world where every day there is a new idea popping up.
I wish I had one piece of advice while I was in my teens: to learn a technical skill, be it copywriting, sales, or coding. Not going to lie, I am progressing late in terms of my friends with whom I passed out in case of getting a degree and in studies in general, but I am happy to see I’m getting 1 percent better than I was yesterday, and that is the goal now.
After 16 years of schooling, when I finally landed a job, a part of me was apprehensive and anxious. I was always an introvert, and the idea of mixing with other people did scare me. Once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed working with my new friends. What was uncertain to me at that time was the fact that I was unsure of what I wanted to do in life. If someone asked me what I hoped to achieve, I was uncertain of the answer. I had no purpose and no goals, which honestly depressed me a lot. I knew what I was lacking, My Ikigai. People go their entire lives in circles because they are not sure of what they want. That is one of the reasons why they stay depressed a lot of the time. Years of schooling did give me basic, generalized knowledge, but no concrete system to survive in the real world.
For people like us who had no choice but to stray from the conventional route because of some unforeseen circumstances, there is hope; there are millions of options out there. A very interesting thing I read once was to consider life like a video game. When we get stuck on a level, we just go on Google or Youtube and Google how to get past that level. Life is the same; if you are stuck somewhere, just read books on it. For centuries, people have written books on every single problem a human can face in their lifetime. It’s all in the books. Start reading books on sales, negotiation, and investments. The more you read, the more you realize how much you are unaware of.
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One thing is for sure: if you have taken up something to pursue and stayed on it for at least a year, you will never really know how it will pan out unless you spend a considerable amount of time working on it. There are two ways to get to the top: one way is by owning it, and the other way is by acquiring it. You can acquire it by investing the money you have in various equities, stocks, and assets, which might require you to invest a whole lot of money in them. Owning them would mean that if you started a business and, after a while, it’s worth became twice as much, you could sell your business for twice the value of its present worth.
Business means you are providing value to a person’s life; you are essentially solving a problem for a person, and in turn, the person is paying you for the service. Human beings face thousands of problems a day; no one can really say that their life is problem-free. You can just pick one problem, solve it, and, in turn, ask for its worth. All great businessmen have one thing in common: emotional intelligence. You have got to know how the human mind works and have empathy. I’m not saying that is easy, but it is not that difficult. The top 1 percent are not the highest-IQ people, but they know how to make a sale, read people, and be the solution to the troubles of the world.
We have hope; all we need to do is see the big picture and then work backward to the smallest piece of the puzzle. From there, you can work towards your goal. Tracing your steps from the end goal to the starting point helps you notice the little things you might have missed otherwise. Work hard, even when you don’t feel like it. Show up and do the work.
I have a routine of working on my own projects for at least two hours before bed. Sometimes, after a long day at work, I feel lethargic and sluggish, and all I want to do is read a book or watch Netflix. In those moments, I force myself to spend at least an hour on my project. It might not be my best day, but I show up and end up feeling much better. I know I’ve learned something new. This is what I’m talking about: make it a habit to do something productive each day. Over time, you will be 37 times better than you were last year.
So your educational qualifications should not limit you; invest in yourself and upgrade your identity by learning high-paying skills. You will be surprised by the immense change in your personality and mindset in just a year. As always, learn something new every day.
I tip my hat to you, one legend to another.