I am going to pen down the list of skills that I have realized that matter the most for achieving your goals, whether it is long term or short term. Naturally, my list will be different from everybody else, since what we feel is important to us is evolved from our individual experiences.

Self-Discipline

The single most important skill you can have is self-discipline. It is the most necessary thing, which when coupled with any other traits you have, can do wonders. The power comes from sticking to something you decide you want to pursue, even if the motivation dies. Short-term motivation is often transient. Don’t be deluded by it. While it is good to be motivated, it’s rather un-human to be practically all the time. Everybody has to deal with lows at some point of time, and often when you face them, you question everything, including your motivation. That is precisely when self-discipline kicks in, and drives your forward. The good news is you can learn it over time, if you don’t you have it

Think of the difference between “I want to go for jogging because I am going to be fit and look slim” and “I will go jogging in the morning because I have decided I want to be fit”. There is significant different between the two because there will be a day when you don’t want to wake up and care about being slim

Self-Improvement

The next skill that is important is to ability to keep self-improving. Once you realize that you only want to compete with yourself, you will have instant increase in your motivation levels and happiness index. Don’t compete with the topper of your batch. Don’t worry that somebody else is making millions a year. You only know the information about the other person that you read in some news article. All of It doesn’t matter. You aim should be to improve daily and make sure you are doing better than your ‘yesterday self’.

You can only improve if you see the room to improve

Use a pen and paper, and write down one tangible thing that you think you will do tomorrow, which you think will make you a better person, and make it a point to do it

Focus

Ability to focus is equally important. We live in the age of infinite sources of content and distractions. God forbid if you procrastinate a lot. The likes of Facebook and reddit are there to feed your procrastination. To focus well at the task in hand is a great skill to have, and I cannot stress it enough. If you are able to avoid the junk that is out there, you are set

We often underestimate the magnitude of compounded efforts. A continuous, focused effort on an activity that you want to be the best in, will take you there. You will be surprised by the results yourself

The three skills that I have mentioned above are the ones that can be learnt over time. I was not naturally born with these skills. Over time, I have realized the importance and need of the above to excel in life. One should strive to be in the state of self-awareness

Think about the skills that you think will make or break you, and write it down. I would suggest you to only limit it to three. The more you have, the less focused you will be.

Being aware of what is important is already getting ahead in the curve