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I recently had lunch with a former colleague whom I hadn’t seen in about four years. He looked great and much younger than the last time I saw him. The last time we spoke, he was due for another heart surgery, so I was happy to see him back to his healthy self.

What’s his secret? He retired about six months ago and is now happily doing things he loves. One of his passions is baking, and he’s currently taking a baking class. I’ve known him for over 20 years and he’s always been a hardworking and patience person. He would listen to my constant bickering lol and never lose his cool. I told him that his patience was probably what helped him absorb all the pressure he had while working. Just joking…

How many of us experience this today? I know for a fact that one of my biggest regrets is not having learned more hard skills. My reference on a hard-skill mean a tangible skill, a measurable knowledge that is not just related to IT. Usually, hard skills are specific to a particular job and can be learned through formal education, training programs, or on-the-job experience. Some examples of hard skills include:

• Technical Skills that need proficiency to use specific tools, software, or equipment relevant to a particular job or industry. This can include programming languages, machine operation, data analysis, software and many more.
• Industry Knowledge is our subject-matter-expert which we understand the industry-specific terminology, regulations, standards, and best practices. This knowledge helps individual navigate their fields effectively and make informed decisions.
• Language Proficiency: Being fluent in one or more language, both spoken and written. Language is particularly important nowadays as the opening of borders today require more communication with diverse people around the world.
• Certification and Licences: Obtaining certifications and licenses can greatly enhance your professional credibility and self-assurance, particularly if you are promoting your specialized skills. These credentials can be acquired through various means such as training programs, examinations, or regulatory bodies. Examples of professions that require certification or licensing include trainers, project managers, accountants, nurses, real estate agents, electricians, and many others.
• Cooking and Nutrition is something for someone keen to be more proficient in preparing healthy meals, understanding nutritional needs, and managing meal plans for the family or business that require specific dietary requirements.
• Home Maintenance and Repair. Having the skills to fix common household issues and understanding the use of tools and techniques can be a profitable business venture, especially since many households require the services of experts in this field. For instance, my husband regularly employs a retired handyman for small repairs such as power surges and minor fixes.
• Child care, is not just something we know from home. Having knowledge and understanding child development, educational activities, discipline strategies, and care routines, include first aid and safety measures specific to children’s needs is key. There are more demands from working parents for knowledgable and experience child care specialist nowadays.
• Elderly care is not an easy task but there are needs from families with elderly members. Patience is key but the other skills might include understanding and managing medications, mobility assistance, and creating a safe living environment.
• Sewing and clothing repair: learning the basic and technical sewing for repairing, altering clothes or even creating new items from scratch can be valuable.

There are many more hard-skills we can learn to help us to be relevant, and make full use of our time to stay proactive while doing something we are passionate about, including prioritizing work-life balance.

While I was writing, my husband made a statement that I was too busy. However, I beg to defer lol, I am busy doing things that I am passionate about and it makes me happy for what I am doing today. Thus, being busy is not unhealthy, it is self-fulfilling. To achieve all of the above, you need to have passion as the fundamental driving force.

Before I leave, I wanted to recommend a book titled “Do The Work You Love: How to Create an Income Without Working a Boring Job” by Joe Barnes. You can find it at https://escapethesystemnow.com/.