Skills are required to achieve success. As important as belief is, it is no substitute for skill! Belief is about what is in the mind; skills are all about what you can accomplish regardless of what beliefs are in your mind. Let’s get straight to the point; you can’t believe yourself into skill without actually going about the process of acquiring it.

We have discussed the four stages of learning—unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence—and the fact that you have to go through these stages to become a true warrior with a massive arsenal of skills … physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual in nature.

We have discussed overcoming adversity. Does doing this create a skill? Maybe or maybe not. It all depends on how you overcame the challenge. Facing adversity usually provides an option of acquiring a new skill set, if you look at it that way and discipline yourself to achieve that outcome … and then continue the process all the way through the four stages. If you overcome adversity without growing through stage one, I would remind you of the parameters of that stage. Unconscious incompetence is when you do something without knowing what you are doing, and without knowing that you don’t know (faking it until you make it).

We all live in the moment. It can’t be otherwise, regardless of how much energy we devote to thinking about outcomes, the future … regretting past behaviour or planning for world domination. What we do today does matter, especially when it comes to the topic of skills acquisition. Do not leave this to chance. Get a list. Have a guidebook. Use an instruction manual. Have a training manual. Use a text book. Keep a record. Have a progress journal. We are capable of measurement, record keeping, and reporting. Master this skill for mastering skills acquisition. Stop flying by the seat of your pants! You are lying to yourself if you think this is the best way to get things done. It is not. That is just you taking the easier, softer way—which is neither easier nor softer.

What skills do you possess? At what level? Take an inventory. What skills need to be improved? What skills are missing? What skills need to be practised? Review, record, track, and chart your progress. Add belief to the equation and you will put the strongest force you possess behind your program of skills acquisition and enhancement.

You are warriors, and with your burgeoning skills, you will create an overwhelming success. So it is written.