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Given how rapidly everything changes now, I often wonder what is the most important skill of the 21st century?

Is it to code? To become an AI expert? To be a storyteller?

I believe the most important skill of the 21st century is the ability to learn something new, whenever required.

If we have the ability to become a student whenever we have to and not think of our school or college as the only occasion to do so, we will have the superpower to face the world.

The future belongs to those who stay students forever.

When you are working towards something, there is always hope.

Hopelessness is felt on two occasions:

When you haven’t yet started and feel there is no way you can (untrue more often).

When you achieve what you wanted but it doesn’t change how you feel (true more often).

When do we grow old?

Is it simply upon hitting a certain number?
Or perhaps before that?

We grow old when we think the way we see the world is the right one.

When we believe it is our point of view that matters, and it need not be changed.

When we refuse to see another way to live life, because it will challenge our comfort zone.

We grow old when we refuse to embrace the new.

What did you do today?

Learned something?
Met someone interesting?
Took notes and executed upon your ideas?

Or watched Netflix, ate junk food and slept a little more.

And what will you do tomorrow?
Day after?

Quicker than you know, the days turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into years.

Quicker than you know, your present turns into your future.
By the choices you made today.

The best way to predict your future is to look at your day today.

It’s unfair to compare our progress with someone who is just starting out, and feel good about ourselves.

Just like it is unfair to compare ourselves with someone who has been at it longer than us, and feel bad about ourselves.

Different durations. Different people. Different destinations.

Then why the same place of comparison?

Why not compare ourselves with who we were yesterday?

It’s fair, we know the one being compared to really well, and the best part – we can make any change we want to!

It’s not about who we are today.
It’s about who we will be tomorrow, from who we were yesterday.

There are 3 things that can help us gain confidence.

Seeking feedback from people who genuinely want us to progress.

Measuring progress because that helps us see ourselves moving forward.

Knowing ourselves.
Knowing if we are the best.
And knowing that if we are not, we will do everything in our capacity to become the best.

To get confident, we need something to be confident about.

It doesn’t need to be our strengths only.
It can very well be our progress.

We could think of a thousand reasons why we could fail.
But trust that one reason why we would succeed.

Giving up is the worst thing we can do to ourselves.
It’s also the easiest.

What’s not easy is to keep going.

If we gave our best shot and it did not work out, it was not the best.

Our best shot is when we win.

IQ, aka how smart you are, once used to be the biggest determinant of success.

Then came the EQ.
Empathizing with people made us better leaders and effective communicators.

The world evolved and everything around us is now designed to attract our attention.

Thus, making it priceless for the ability to devote our 100% attention without being distracted.

It’s not the IQ; it’s not the EQ; it’s not their combination either.

The ability to focus is the most significant determinant of success.

Have you ever heard an artist say, “I would love to work less.”
“I wish I could get away with doing less.”
“Let me figure out a way to bypass the hard work”

An artist truly in love with their work would never think of their work like that.
Because for them, their work is their identity.

Their work is their liberation.
Their work is their existence.

What if we were also artists when it came to our work?
An artist never gives up when it comes to their work.

The only thing they refuse to give up is their right to create more magical work.

If it made you happy yesterday, don’t put the pressure on it to make you happy today as well.

Humans change.
External things don’t.

A wiser choice is to pick something different that matches your current state of happiness.

One of the happiest definitions of happiness is to know that happiness isn’t rigid. Nothing could be a happier realisation!