Skills Will Kill You. Vulnerability Will Milk You. Forever.

Vulnerability is the most important, the most sought-after, the most valuable skill in 2021.

It pains me to see people believe lies and act on them.

The sad part is, they know it’s a lie.

Skills aren’t valuable anymore. Skills are freely available. What’s rare is vulnerability. (Think why free online courses by best of the best in their field don’t make you special or great as them even though you put your level best effort).

You don’t need skills anymore. All you need, cause it’s rare and the most valuable, is vulnerability in more doses.

Marketing? No, vulnerability. Speaking? No, vulnerability. Writing? No, vulnerability. Cricket? No, vulnerability.

Vulnerability is how you’re relatable. When you’re relatable, people care. When people care, they stay longer.

People don’t fall in love with your work, they fall in love with you. Vulnerability is the glue.

Vulnerability is sharing part of you that could make a difference in someone’s life — either gives them hope, becomes a wake-up call, or ignites a feeling.

The Best Leverage Is Vulnerability

Be 16 with zero skills. Have zero money and a dire urge to do something. Be part of the startup you are for around two years without any salary and still keep putting in 10-15 hours daily. Believe you can do something bigger for the startup so you too grow. Write a post on Medium as a marketing experiment. Get published on a big publication in the first attempt. Feel special. Try again. Write a sucky post but say let’s give it a shot. Fail. Have your confidence and courage break into pieces.

Have no money to take a writing course, still believe you can do something big. Now have a fun motivation: Start writing on Medium for money so you can make your parents proud.

Try again after a few days. Finding topics become a problem but you have to write. Finally, find a topic worth writing on.

Use the three seconds of the time you get when your teacher coughs in an online class to write a few words. (God makes this happen almost daily, thank him in every prayer.) Also, write something in the five minutes of break after every class without checking social media. Miss 10 minutes of class when you get into the writing flow and get clueless of time.

Feel bad you don’t have a good vocabulary. One day after reading and watching articles and videos, understand your weakness could be your superpower.

After the online class dwell on the article for an hour and make no progress. Feel suck. Go for the shower. Have dinner. Finish prayer. Let the mobile charge. Go for sleep. Let mom know your device is on charge and please turn it off after an hour. Also, let her know to wake you up in two hours for the daily scrum. Have this repeat daily.

Tell mom you are studying. Open Medium on your mobile and worry about the story. Let hours go by. Have no progress. Feel suck again. Have this repeat daily for months.

Then, realize how about watching some motivational videos. Doesn’t work. Read other writer’s work. Doesn’t work.

The next day watch motivation again. Not helpful. Read other writer’s work. Not helpful. Feel helpless. Repeat this for months.

Try being friends with other writers with no hidden agenda and fail. Again and again.

Have no one to provide feedback on your writing. Worry how you will grow. Then after a few days have an idea: Take help from some of your amazing young friends at that startup.

One day realizes sometimes motivational videos and sometimes reading other people’s work works. Feel cool about it.

Then one day, after months, have it hit in mind why those work: it’s vulnerability.

Finally share your real story you kept hiding because of fear. Suddenly have your writing become stronger and powerful and more meaningful for your readers. Sitting down to write isn’t hard anymore.

Still hate to wait for publications. Have your stories self-published for months. Feel special. One day realize it’s not going to work anymore. Have your courage shattered. Try working on something bigger: Finally start working with publications and wait.

Ohh, have your writing journey still a secret to your parents so you can surprise them later out of nowhere.

When I started writing from heart, I didn’t have to care about grammar or vocabulary anymore. I never took a writing course or have a writing degree whatsoever.

Vulnerability = Connectivity. Connectivity = Great work.

People Fall for the Story, Anyway

Vulnerability is the way people differentiate.

Subjectivity is a mask. Vulnerable stories are how people relate them to their life. When people relate something to their life, it helps them make sense of their life. How you help people make sense of their life is the way it becomes subjective for different people.

Skill Is a Limitation

Skills get limited by platforms and boundaries. You can’t know how to edit in TikTok and then make a great YouTube video the next day or know how to catch a cricket ball and then kick a football.

Skills are still important. Skill is the medium. Medium is a limitation, however. Vulnerability reaches masses, touches hearts, inspires lives doesn’t matter which medium you use.

Skills are cheap (you can learn things while working and nobody will tell you anything). Vulnerability is the most important, the most sought-after, the most valuable skill in 2021 and for the coming years.

Here’s What Vulnerability Really Is:

Vulnerability is the comeback after every failure. Vulnerability is sharing your real, complete story even if it's uncomfortable so someone won’t have to figure something out the hard way. Vulnerability is how you gently touch people’s hearts. Vulnerability is all that people have less of.

People say:

• Your story is helpful. Not your writing is nice.
• Your story is helpful. Not your advertisement is nice.
• You are great. Not your batting is nice.

Use vulnerability to your advantage so you gently touch people’s interior and remind them how smarter they are.

Vulnerability is what people fall for and that’s what sells and impacts, not a skill that anyone can have.

Everyone can have a skill. Vulnerability is what makes a difference in someone’s life.

Nowadays who cares about skills anyway. People care how you help them. Vulnerability is how you help them.

Skills alone won’t pay your bills. Vulnerability will help you chill. Fill this in your mind to refill your life.