In an ever-evolving world, you need to constantly be honing and improving your skills to compete. Changing and learning skills can help you change everything about your work, mentality, and ultimately money. So without waiting too long, here are 10 skills you need to learn to make more money in 2021.
To begin, you will notice that most of the skills relate to a 9 to 5 job. And there is a good reason for this. by far the easiest and quickest way to make more money is to simply improve what you’re currently doing to make money. That isn’t to say that these skills are only for the 9 to 5 environment, but asking for a raise takes 15 minutes and could increase your income overnight. Starting a side hustle from the ground up takes years, and may actually cause you to lose money before you start seeing any increase.
As an accompanying article I recently wrote about 11 Ways You Can Make More Money Starting Tomorrow. If you’re interested be sure to check out that article after this.
To begin, the first skill that will help you make more money in 2021 is:
1. Negotiating
I recently listened to a great book called Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. In the book, Chris, as a former police negotiator, talks about how the best way to learn to negotiate, is by negotiating. And everything in your life is a negotiation, whether you realize it or not. By growing your skill in negotiation and increasing your confidence in it, many things in life will become easier.
It will become easier to ask for and figure out a raise at your job, get time off, even save money by getting good deals. Negotiating is everywhere around you in the world and by learning more about it and mastering the skill you’ll make more money in 2021 faster than ever.
2. Public Speaking
In today’s modern age public speaking and the skills associated with it are everywhere. Not just simple, traditional public speaking such as conferences, webinars, etc. But even in our day-to-day lives. As social media grows and becomes more ingrained in each of our lives, it is becoming closer and closer to a public speaking forum.
Modern-day employers will search through your social media, and look at your internet trail. You’ll be having interviews, and meetings, and everything in between over Zoom. Every day as time goes on we are forced into a more social, public setting when it comes to who we are and who and what we talk about. Because of this public speaking is more important than ever.
Being able to show confidence, knowledge, and a level of expertise in your chosen field is becoming more and more important. All of these come with public speaking, and the knowledge gained by mastering the skill.
With that said, public speaking is a hard skill to master. It requires an enormous amount of confidence and public comfort that a lot of people don’t have. I was that person once too. But beyond practice, there are a couple of crucial things you can do to help you work on your public speaking skill to make more money in 2021. For a complete list check out this article by Lifehacker about Public Speaking for Normal People.
The example focuses on live events and conferences, but the skills and techniques Jason talks about can be carried forward into every aspect of your life.
3. Sales
Everyone who has ever been, is currently, or will ever be self-employed knows that sales are 99% of the job. You can be the absolute best of what you do, have the best product the world has ever seen, but without sales it means nothing. Sales are how you get yourself and whatever you’re passionate about in front of as many eyes as possible. And without you being the voice driving it forward it won’t get in front of people and it won’t matter how amazing you or your product is.
Even for those not self-employed sales is a crucial skill to learn to make more money. Even something as simple as a job interview is essentially you making a sales pitch. In a job interview, the product is you, the buyer is the company hiring you, and you are trying your absolute best to convince them why they need to buy. So mastering sales in every aspect of your life is a great way to start to make more money in 2021.
4. Driving
Driving is a skill that often goes unnoticed, especially in our modern world where we are trying to make everything walkable, encourage public transit, etc. But in the workforce driving remains a great skill to have. Being able to drive opens employment opportunities. It also offers many benefits at current positions. Many modern companies are offering a work vehicle for their employees and allow them to create their own schedule, see clients on their own time, etc. and these opportunities wouldn’t be available if you couldn’t drive.
Heavier Driving
On the surface, this may seem like a weird thing to say, that you should drive heavier. But what I mean by that is to increase the class of your license to be able to drive a wider variety of vehicles. All states and provinces have a license tier system, and moving up this tier system makes it so you have more opportunities for employment and the ability to cross-train.
Cross-training is where you work in a certain position and then train and have the ability to work in another. Think of if you work in the inventory management portion fo a company but you’re also able to work as a shipper/reciever. Two completely different positions (though somewhat related), requiring completely different skills.
Having this flexibility when it comes to driving skills can make you a better worker, and candidate.
5. Self-motivation
The world is quickly changing the way it handles motivation and work ethic, and now more than ever self-motivation is one of the most important skills everyone should learn. Gone are the days when you would have your boss come in every morning, tell you what to do, and you would move on. Nowadays everyone is expected to be a self-motivator.
Whether in work or personal life, those who hire are looking to take on more teacher-style training than a micro-managing style. This means rather than coming to you and telling you they want a report on their desk, they will simply expect you to know they need the report because they have told you a ton of times before and then encourage you to go to them for help if you need it.
Because of situations like this learning self-motivation is one of the most important things to learn. Being self-motivated and easing the work burden on your superiors at work will help you get more recognition and make more money.
6. Time Management
For similar reasons to self-motivation, time management is becoming more and more important to learn time management. More workplaces are focusing on project-based results rather than hours-based results. No longer is it simply sufficient to show up to your job, put in your hours, and go home. Rather projects are being assigned to individuals and then you set your own timeline for when it will be completed.
Being able to manage all of these projects, get them done correctly, all while maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be a struggle. Time management is the key to navigating these struggles. Making sure your work tasks don’t take too long, fitting in the kid’s soccer with your busy afternoon. All of it is a balancing act of time mastering the skill of time management is key to making more money in 2021.
7. Teaching
Teaching is fast becoming the way of leading, and learning the skill can help you advance in both your personal and professional life. Gone are the days when managers micro-managed their entire team and made sure everyone was doing exactly what they needed to all the time. Instead, they have begun transitioning to more of a teaching role. This means that they will show you the task, show you the way they want it done and leave you to it, making themselves available for teaching and guiding if needed.
Learning this skill for yourself can also make you more valuable in your current position. Taking on a teaching role in an organization will help you appear more useful and knowledgeable about your profession. To the point where more senior members will see you as an asset worth more. It will also help you improve your own other skills as teaching has been shown to be one of the best ways to learn.
8. Writing
Within writing, there are two somewhat related but very different types of writing. Content writing, and professional writing. Both of these are good forms of writing to learn but for different reasons.
Content Writing
Content writing is what many people would think of as social media writing. It could also include blog posts like this one, captions under a photo, or anything meant for public consumption. This form is writing is usually quicker, more eye-catching, and simpler than professional writing and is an important skill to master. As times go on social media is becoming more and more relevant and is quickly becoming a necessity for making more money in 2021.
By being able to write well for content purposes you can market yourself, your brand, and whatever else you need in life. Even if you don’t want to be the face of something content writing has countless benefits for side gig opportunities, from being a ghostwriter to social media management for clients. All of which can make you more money in 2021.
Professional Writing
Professional writing can be paired with content writing but is largely the opposite end of the spectrum. In content writing, you are aiming to be informal, relatable, and simpler. In professional writing, you are aiming to build a professional relationship, show your expertise, or create otherwise professional documents. Think of something like a work email. While not strictly professional in nature you’re going to have to have a completely different set of skills to write a good business email than to write a good Twitter post.
Mastering this form of writing can make you appear more put together, professional, and overall better to your superiors and those around you. This higher level of expertise could then be followed up by asking for a raise or promotion, or simply showing that you’re an invaluable asset to your company. All ways to make more money in 2021.
9. Computer Skills
It’s 2021. You need to know how to use a computer. and not only do you need to know how to use you need to master how to use it. Everything in our world relies on technology, and while you may not need to be the computer whiz in the office learning how to work with a computer is a must. Gone are the days when you could count on being able to use Microsoft Word as a skill on your resume. Gone are the days when you could not know how to use video conferencing software.
Even just spending half an hour to an hour a night for a couple of weeks can make all the difference when it comes to computers. And by having this knowledge not only will it make you more effective in life, but it will also make you more productive at work. No more waiting for IT to show you how to open the Zoom call, or figuring out how saving stuff in the Cloud works. Instead, you can spend that time actually getting the work you want to get done, done. So hop on a computer and get learning.
Make More Money in 2021
While this list isn’t exhaustive, and there are definitely things that can be added this is a great jumping-off point. Always be sure to keep learning. Keep Growing. And keep increasing your skills. By mastering all of the ones mentioned here you are sure to start to see an increase in your income.
Even if it is not from your 9 to 5 job, these skills will translate to a side gig, new business, or anything in between. What you choose to use these skills with to make more money in 2021 is up to you. But I have given you the tools, now go use them!
