10 skills for making money in the modern world

“There is no money, but you hold on” – this phrase has become not just a meme, but, unfortunately, a reflection of the thinking of many people who humbly accept the situation of their own lack of money. But everything is in our hands! In the current reality, it is quite possible to achieve financial freedom and security. But in order to earn decent money, you need to have certain skills. And the good news is that anyone can develop them. Below we will talk about these skills and how to master them.

Actual income channels

To begin with, let’s talk about several of the most popular, promising and demanded income channels in modern conditions:

1. Blogging . This is an opportunity to take money for sponsored posts, use affiliate links, create your own online store or sell your photos or some kind of service.
2. Affiliate Marketing . Its essence is to promote (advertise) the product of a third-party company and receive a share of the profit from each sale that is tracked through an affiliate link.
3. YouTube channel. Here you can earn on affiliate advertising of YouTube itself or direct advertising of other companies, donations from fans or promoting your own products/services.
4. Freelancing. A freelancer is a self-employed person who independently seeks clients and offers his services to them. You can start a freelance career from special freelance exchanges, realizing yourself as a content author, graphic designer, developer, marketer, translator, etc.
5. Dropshipping. A method of trading in which the seller does not store the goods, but transfers the sales order to a third-party supplier, who sends the goods to the client. Your earnings as a seller are the difference between the selling price to the end consumer and the price set by the supplier.
6. Virtual assistant for online business. Order processing, social media and bookkeeping, customer support are just some of the tasks you can earn by doing.
7. Online course. A great way to monetize your knowledge if you are an expert in some area. Create your own online course and teach others.
8. Book . When you are an expert in a particular field and willing to share your knowledge, or just have a talent for writing, you can make money by publishing and selling your own books.

Each of these ideas is workable and can bring real money. And below are 10 useful skills that you will need no matter what method of earning you prefer.

Learning or Growth Thinking

In today’s world, the ability to make money depends not so much on the knowledge and skills that you already have, but on adapting your existing skills to new conditions and the desire to expand the knowledge base. To remain in demand and successful, you need to constantly learn new things. A growth mindset keeps the focus on the latest trends and innovations to help them grow and achieve better financial results.

To learn a new skill, first, realize that your abilities are not fixed, they are flexible and can be upgraded. Then allocate time for learning, say an hour daily. And finally, regularly put into practice what you have learned to turn it into a sustainable skill. And learn faster and more productively with our online Self-Teach Techniques program.

Time management

If you want to make good money, you must learn how to manage your time effectively. Time management is critical when it comes to freelancing. Proper distribution of time makes it possible to conduct several projects at the same time, thereby increasing income. Time management also helps keep promises on the job, which directly affects your reputation and demonstrates reliability.

How to properly manage time to earn more? Here’s what we recommend:

1. Make adequate to-do lists for the day. Don’t put 10 items on a plan if you know you can only do 4. One way to prioritize tasks is to use the Eisenhower matrix.
2. Track the time. There are enough tools for this. So you will understand where you spent precious minutes, and you can prevent unnecessary temporary losses in the future.
3. Minimize distractions. Social networks and e-mail are the main “eaters” of time. Get in the habit of checking email and social media at certain times, like three times a day.
4. Use the Pomodoro technique as you work.
5. Say no to additional projects. This advice may seem strange, because giving up a job means losing income. But if you don’t have free time and are just trying to squeeze an extra project into your work schedule to get more money, you will soon regret your decision.

The Best Time Management Techniques online program will be a great help if you want to learn how to manage time smartly and do more in 24 hours than any average person.

Cognitive flexibility

This is the ability to easily and smoothly switch thinking between different tasks. Simply put, cognitive flexibility is mental agility. A person whose thinking flexibility is well developed, learns faster and adapts to changes, is able to cope with difficulties creatively and painlessly, without feeling overwhelmed.

To increase your cognitive flexibility, try the following tips:

• practice mindfulness through meditation ;
• expand the range of impressions;
• make a change in your daily routine: take an uncharted route for a walk or cook a completely new dish;
• chat with people who are different from each other;
• try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, adjust sleep patterns;
• eat foods high in tryptophan (this amino acid is essential for the production of serotonin, which improves cognitive flexibility): bananas, broccoli, cashews, tuna, rice, corn;
• Take up a new hobby or learn a foreign language, because this contributes to the formation of additional neural connections in the brain.

Flexibility of thinking is a skill that directly affects your ability to earn money in an era of change. Develop it to make it easier to adapt, reduce anxiety when leaving the comfort zone and expand perspectives.

Critical Thinking

Surely you have noticed that there is more and more fake news and distorted data around, including in the field of earnings. In order not to fall for the tricks of scammers who offer tempting income, you need to think critically. This skill will help you objectively evaluate information from various sources and give you an understanding of what data is trustworthy and can be used to make decisions.

Here are some ways to improve your ability to think critically:

1. Study yourself. Knowing your preferences, biases, strengths and weaknesses will give you the opportunity to understand why you make decisions the way you do.
2. Develop foresight. Before you make a decision, think about the consequences it might have.
3. Think about the problem while in different states. When you are hungry, scared, angry, sleepy, or joyful, thinking about the same problem will lead to different conclusions. Accumulate this data to make the best decision.

Another way to become a critical thinker and learn how to make informed decisions is to take an online Cognitive Science program. It will teach you how to apply more than 20 thinking techniques in real life, improve logic and the ability to reason sequentially.

Creative thinking

Creative thinking is the ability to look at problems or impasses from a new perspective and find unconventional solutions. By combining creativity with critical thinking, you can turn your ideas into practical, innovative products or services and capitalize on them.

This skill will help you broaden your horizons and see earning opportunities in an area that you have not even considered before. Develop creative thinking with the free course “Creative Thinking: Developing Creativity”, which, in addition to theory, contains practical tasks for developing creative thinking: offline and online games, drudles, puzzles.

If you want to become more inventive and learn how to apply a creative approach to solving everyday problems, we invite you to the TRIZ in Practice online program.

Communication

To successfully sell your ideas, products or services to other people, thereby earning decent money, you need to have strong interpersonal skills. You must learn to communicate in such a way as to arouse a keen interest in the interlocutors, i.e. communicate in an engaging, informative and persuasive manner.

Developed communication skills will help you demonstrate your value and attract the attention of employers, and therefore increase the chances of increasing income. Here are some tips to improve your communication skills:

• Learn to Communicate: Best Communication Techniques Online Program to Help You
• speak plain language;
• involve the interlocutor in communication: ask questions, ask for opinions;
• make sure you are understood, don’t get annoyed with the unthinking listener, look for ways to rephrase the idea so that it becomes clear;
• monitor body language: 65% of all communication is non-verbal, pay attention to the visual signals that the opponent sends and control yours;
• respect the other person.

Having strong communication skills, you will easily find a common language with clients and employers, convince your ideas and be able to negotiate higher wages.

Emotional Intelligence

It is the ability to recognize, express and control one’s emotions, as well as empathize with other people, understand their reactions and see things from their point of view. In today’s world, where everything is tied to sales, including yourself as a specialist, mastering this skill is critical.

The better you recognize emotions, the more productive you will be able to build a conversation with the employer and clients. Agree, it’s nice to communicate with a person who is emotionally balanced and receptive to the needs and emotions of other people. He inspires confidence and a desire to give him money, rewarding him for understanding.

People with a low level of emotional intelligence are not inclined to accept criticism and improve themselves, which is a serious deterrent to making good money. Use the following strategies to develop emotional intelligence:

1. Be adequate to yourself. Have the courage to admit your weaknesses and keep working on yourself.
2. Watch how you react to people. Are you quick to judge? Focused on stereotypes? Assess your perception honestly. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and accept their views.
3. Keep track of your feelings. Set a timer at specific intervals throughout the day. When it works, take a few deep breaths and notice how you feel emotionally.
4. Challenge your own opinion. This will help you understand other people and be more receptive to new ideas.
5. Take responsibility for your emotions and actions. If you offended someone, apologize instead of ignoring that person.

Do you want to better understand yourself, learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your personality? Then pay attention to the online program “Self-Knowledge”. If you want to learn how to “read” other people, determine their emotions and even recognize hidden lies, the Profiling program will help you.

Technical skills

When you are tech-savvy, there are many opportunities for you to earn money. Now every business is moving online, actively using technologies that are developing at an unprecedented pace. A tech-savvy person is one who is well aware of modern technologies and skillfully handles PCs and gadgets, software, online platforms, social networks.

For example, with technical knowledge, creative thinking and good taste, you could make money in the field of visual design. Or become a social network administrator, or organize your own online courses. Without technical skills, you miss out on many opportunities and ways to earn money, and you cease to be competitive.

Keep up with the times and improve your skills. Here are some tips on how to do it:

• evaluate your current level of technical skills;
• find available information about the technology you want to learn: books, articles, blogs;
• get trained by professionals;
• Join a dedicated online community where you can ask the experts specific questions and get advice;
• Practice: once you know a new technology, start testing it until you get productive results.

Social media, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other technological advances are rapidly changing the world and the way people interact. Be open to change and do not stop learning new things, this will increase your level of professionalism and help you make good money.

Ability to analyze data

As technology is actively implemented in all industries, the demand for analysts will only grow. Business owners need people who can transform massive amounts of data into meaningful information and come up with insights that will help businesses thrive.

If you plan to become a content author and make money from it, you should learn how to analyze its effectiveness in order to adjust your promotion strategy, increase audience reach and loyalty.

Do you want to become a valuable and highly paid specialist? Take the time to develop your analytical skills.

Leadership Skills

Leadership is nothing but self-belief, effective self-management. With leadership qualities such as determination, drive, and confidence, you can develop all of the skills listed above and increase your income. Leaders follow their own choices and are ready to take responsibility for their consequences, they are disciplined, which helps them make smart decisions and manage time effectively.

In addition, leadership skills help to build connections, thanks to which you can find new channels of income or cope with a large project by inviting specialists from related fields to cooperate.

Everyone has leadership skills, but not everyone has them well developed. Especially for you, we have prepared a selection of materials on leadership: read, develop, act.

Whether you are a beginner who dreams of achieving financial success or a professional in your field who wants to increase your income, the skills presented will help you get where you want to go. Possessing them, you will not join the ranks of people who are lagging behind the fast pace of time, but will boldly look ahead and be able to earn decent money at any time.

Friends, use the resources you already have, improve and be lucky!