The skill and the will

To achieve your goals, you’ll need the will and the skill to do so.

To win the Champions League, you need to know how to kick a ball. To land that job, you need to know how to convince the boss.

Yet, time and again, some of the most skilled players are surprised of how some of the players with the strongest will actually take the win.

The thing with skill is that it can be built (mostly). If you don’t know how to cook a great steak, you can read a book, watch a tutorial, hire a coach, or just practice, practice, practice.

When you have the will, it helps you build the skill. More importantly, it gets you through the hard times and the boring parts.

If, however, you lack the will, you’re much more likely to give up or be satisfied with second best. I’ve seen teams of highly skilled members fail tremendously.

And I’ve seen highly eloquent people deliver boring speeches while people who are passionate about their cause will work tirelessly to craft and refine their speech so it resonates deeply with their audience.

If you have the will, the skill will follow.