Welcome back fellow Achiever!

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On Monday morning Beehiiv sent me this lovely message sharing some fantastic news

A massive thank you and welcome to Mina, Guy & Aparna for subscribing last week.

You’ve joined a prestigious group with Chris & Matt. Maybe we can all have an achievement party in Sheffield sometime?

If you’re wondering who the 4th was. It was me (does it count?)

This week, we’re focussing on skill-stacking in relation to goal achievement.

What kind of skills do we need to achieve our goals?

Why skill-stacking?

Whilst this newsletter is one step towards my long term goal of becoming an achievement, communication & leadership expert, what I’m currently paid to do is Marketing for an Amazon x TikTok Shop Agency.

Until recently I ran the internal academy and loved it. One of the ways I made sure staff were trained correctly was by surveying them to ask what they needed/wanted to learn.

I’d then identify the most common themes / topics and ask them to vote on the order they wanted them. Here was the result of the most recent vote:

Do you spot any patterns?

Hint: all of these topics are skills. My colleagues want to pick up skills that improve their quality and output.

I thought this was remarkable. Very clever colleagues.

Diving a bit further, here’s my take:

This got me thinking: What kind of skills support the achievement of our goals?

The Code

There’s no one-size fits all approach to goal-setting.

The skills we need will depend on the size and type of goal that we’re trying to achieve.

I personally separate my own goals into 8 categories (very much inspired by Robin Sharma’s book ‘The Wealth Money Can’t Buy’).

The goals vary significantly. As an example, one area I’ve been focussing on a lot this year is Adventure.

The reason for this is because I am a creature of habit and get stuck in my own ways of doing things.

However, I appreciate what adventure and mixing things up does for us.

That’s why, this year, once a week I’m forcing myself to work in a coffee shop.

It’s not a big goal, but without setting it as a goal, I’d never do it, and it’d never become a habit. For some reason, I struggle to get out of the house and actually do it.

On the other hand, running a sub 1h30 Marathon was a big goal. It took about 8-10 hours a week to achieve this. Oddly enough, I found this goal easier than the coffee shop one despite taking up way more time and effort.

Overall though, my point is that there are patterns between goals, which we’ll call skills.

So which skills should we stack?

These are the big 3 in my humble opinion.

Are they what you expected?

Skill #1: Self-Awareness

In my first job, my manager was a straight-talking Dutch man named Tim. In our first 1-1 meeting he ‘accused’ me of not being very self-aware.

This really hurt and has always stuck with me. Probably, because he was right.

Knowing who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are and then playing to them, and working on the weaknesses is a skill.

It’s taken me years to get to know myself and accept who I am. But having been on a journey, I’ve come out of the other side better. Can you relate to that?

The reason for this is because you’ll know what’s right for you, and what’s wrong. In the same way we look after others, we need to develop that side of ourselves too.

There are several famous quotes about this, but ultimately, the only person you spend your entire life with is yourself, so getting to know yourself is important.

Whether it’s journaling, meditation or seeking feedback from others, the clearer your image of yourself, the more aligned you will be with your actions.

It does take work though, which brings me onto skills #2 and #3.

Skill #2: Asking

Once you’re aware of who you are or what you want, asking is the next step.

Generally, for our goals to be worthwhile, they will require some kind of upskilling or attainment of knowledge we don’t already have.

Asking comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s asking for help directly, but it can also be really straightforward.

i) Ask the internet

When I got into racing, I found that Runners World had free training plans. Their plans have worked for me every time.

My brother joined me for the half marathon this year and said he put together his training plan on ChatGPT. He was happy with his time, so I guess that works too!

ii) Ask the expert

I’m a very proud person. Asking for help is challenging for me.

I’m working on getting over that.

There is a lot of value in articulating what you would like to another person.

Every time I’ve asked for help, someone has helped me by sharing the tips and tricks for that exact goal or helped re-shape the goal to be even more aligned with what I really want.

Equally, if someone came to you asking for help, wouldn’t that put a smile on your face?

In the words of Buzz Luhrmann in ‘Everybody’s Free’

People are so supportive and willing to help. The only catch is that we have to ask.

Skill #3: Consistency

This one’s not very sexy. I can make it a bit sexier if you’ll indulge me though.

Check out the shirt.

This is me 5 years ago on European Languages Day at the Portuguese Embassy in London, Belgrave Square (if you’re ever near Hyde Park, I highly recommend checking out that area).

I was one of two people at the Embassy that day taking the B2 Portuguese exam. If you’re wondering what B2 is…in lay terms it’s this:

If you’re a bit more language-nerdy, it’s 4/6 on the CEFR. It had taken me about 3 years to get to this point.

To prepare for that exam, every morning for 20 minutes, I’d practice my reading and writing skills. I needed to do this because these were my weak points.

Every morning, first thing, before the distractions of work.

I was living with my parents at the time too, and I remember desperately trying to get it done, setting my 20 minute timer every morning before my dad got up, to avoid getting distracted.

Those 20 minutes stacked up! Here’s my certificate…all the way from Lisboa

I only just made the pass mark for the reading and writing, but I did it (50’s the pass mark)!

Oh, and the interview actually had nothing to do with the exam. Someone just happened to be filming that day, complimented my shirt, and the rest is history.

Consistency, even when it’s small leads to big results.

In Summary, Stack These Skills if You Want to Achieve Your Goals

• Self-awareness

• Asking

• Consistency

My personal opinion?

Goal-setting is technical, but skills will get you over the line.

The technical parts come later, once you’ve developed your technique through practicing these skills.

My challenge to you: Set a new goal using this formula.

If you’d like to share this goal with someone, I’m your man!

If you found this useful, please subscribe or share it with someone who might benefit.

Keep those goals coming!