Curious about Skill: What Is Your Skill or Are Your Skills? Is It True That We Love Using Our Skill and/or Skills?

Definition: The familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with readiness and dexterity in execution or performance, or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude; as, the skill of a mathematician, physician, surgeon, mechanic, etc.

“I really believe that everyone has a talent, ability, or skill that he can mine to support himself and to succeed in life.” - Dean Koontz, American author

I chose skill for this week’s theme, because I have been working on my new e-book, How to Reap the Rewards of a Portfolio Career, which in actuality makes use of the many skills we have developed. Because I have also discovered that entrepreneurs thrive on the variety afforded by having more than one career, they love making use of many different skills.

It is also known that when we are doing something we enjoy and have the skill and/or skills to do it easily, well, and successfully, we will experience the world of flow and automatically work with passion.

As I checked out the quotations using skill, I found a treasure trove to share with you. They are varied, thought evoking and special. Let’s start:

• “Learning how to learn is life's most important skill.” - Tony Buzan, English educator
• “Let each man pass his days in that wherein his skill is greatest.” - Sextus Propertius, Roman poet
• “No skill shapes a child's future success in school or in life more than the ability to read.” – Bob Riley, American politician
• “Only those who have patience to do simple things perfectly ever acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.” - James J. Corbett, American athlete
• “It is insight into human nature that is the key to the communicator's skill. For whereas the writer is concerned with what he puts into his writings, the communicator is concerned with what the reader gets out of it. He therefore becomes a student of how people read or listen.” - William Bernbach, American businessman
• “It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.” - Wilbur Wright, American Inventor
• “We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people.” – Sugar Ray Leonard, American athlete

And some more – they are so good:

• “If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.” –
  James A. Garfield, American President
• “If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson, English author
• “It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.” –
  Baltasar Gracian, Spanish philosopher
• “There is no question that knowing someone in the business will get you in the door. But it is your skill that will keep you in the room.” - Vic Mignogna, American actor
• “There's many times this year I've sat back and thought, I'm making a living from making things up. It's the only skill I have so I've been really lucky.” - Colin Mochrie, Scottish actor
• “To know how to hide one's ability is great skill.” - Francois de La Rochefoucauld, French writer
• “Also, they don't understand - writing is language. The use of language. The language to create image, the language to create drama. It requires a skill of learning how to use language.” - John Milius, American director

Because I have a garden, I just have to share the following from American cartoonist, Doug Larson, with you, “A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.”

Take time to make a list of your special skills. I am sure you have many. And, if you have been thinking of changing careers, you might use your favorites in a part-time business of your own.