Transcription
High income doesn't come from working more hours. It comes from building a very unique set of skills. Now, these are skills that are not built overnight, but they're foundational skills that will serve you for a long time to build your success. If you start today, the kind of skill that no one teaches you in school, but everyone rewards you for in life, and these tend high income skills. They help me to build a life that I don't need to escape from. So let's break down what these skills are. The top 1% have to build their success and how you can learn these too.
Before we dive in, I created a free high income skills playbook that you can download and fill with tips and resources to help you build these skills step by step. Get in the link in the description.
So the first skill is communication. And the early part of my career, I wish I spent more time to work on my communication skills. And top performers are judged not just by what they say, but by how they say it. So calm, intentional communication skills, they really create trust and get more attention. You probably have seen great communicators where they go on to achieve amazing things. And one of the most effective communicators that I came across is Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple. He is a master of this. His deliberate tone and pauses. It turns ideas into impact and profit for the brand, making Apple one of the most successful companies in the world.
So early in my career, I used to speak through presentations or speak on stage with nervousness, and sometimes I would even get into these waffles and forget what I was going to say. So once I learned to pause, to breathe, and to use silence as a tool, my confidence and also influence increased in my own personal and professional life. I got better jobs and opportunities simply from communicating my ideas clearly, and I was invited to speak on various conferences and host client workshops. And all of that started with learning how to communicate really effectively.
If you want to build on this skill, start by simplifying your message. Use fewer words and avoid the big words and jargon to sound smart, because no one really understands you. And record yourself on your phone and just play it back. Practice when you're scared, as this will get you better over time. And that's from personal experience. And remember to speak slower when under pressure. Fast talkers always seem to be reactive and nervous, because strong communicators, they sound like leaders with authority, even before they become one.
And this next skill is so rare that it will be your superpower when you start to practice it every day. And that is listening with intention with others. So listening isn't about waiting for your turn to talk; it's about creating space for other people when they are. So, for example, a great interviewer that I've seen over the years, like Oprah, she doesn't just hear what you said, she absorbs the information you tell her. Then she leans in. She mirrors what you're sharing with all judgment. And I think that kind of presence really builds trust very fast.
So in my own personal work with clients, listening has helped me discover what their real roadblocks are, ones that they weren't even able to describe themselves. And that insight has honed my content in my workshops to actually address their pain points. You can practice this by sitting in one conversation today or tomorrow without interrupting. So repeat what the other person said back to them to show that you understand their points. People don't want you to fix them; they want you to hear them. And when they feel seen, that's how you build real trust and relationships.
So this next skill is all about stacking the skills in your favor. The top 1% don't rely on one skill. They stack a set of complementary skills that make them valuable in a very unique way. I love this example of Scott Adams. He's the creator of Dilbert. He wasn't the best artist or the funniest writer, but by combining his average art skills with business insights and his humor, he created something really distinctive that everyone loves. And in my own journey, I realized I wasn't just a creator; I was also a teacher, a storyteller, a system builder, and a community leader. By combining these strengths, I learned to carve out a niche that felt both authentic and in demand. That fits with what I love to do, because I think you don't have to be world-class at everything. But when you're good at a few intersecting skills like writing and speaking and strategy, or design and psychology and tech, just for example's sake, you become the best and the hardest to replace in this fast-changing world.
So start by listing out your top three natural skills. Then look for how they actually intersect. What problems can you solve with this unique blend of skills that only you have? And that intersection is your edge and your unfair advantage.
And speaking of unfair advantage, here is the biggest one that you can create for yourself. Your personal brand is the story that people tell about you when you're not in the room. And in the digital age right now, it's your digital leverage. So if you're not telling your story, someone else probably is. When I left the corporate world, I had zero followers and no audience, but I committed to showing up consistently. If I can share my life lessons, insights, and behind the scenes of building who I am today, and that consistency built trust. It built credibility and the global audience that now powers everything I do. And what I learned is that having a distribution platform through your personal brand, whether it's on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, or a newsletter audience, for your current and future goals in life, that is important for whether you want to get a new job, change careers, start a business, or just build a life that you love. And you can build this by just looking at your current online presence. What do your socials say about your values? Create one piece of content per week that reflects who you are and what you stand for. And your brand is built in public, but starts in private with the clarity of who you want to become.
So speaking of building a personal brand, one thing I believed in more than ever is this: you need your own place on the internet. It's a home for your ideas, your work, and your story. The reason why this is so important is in a recent report from LinkedIn, 81% of professionals said they're more likely to trust someone with a strong personal brand. And in a world where AI is doing more tasks than ever, what really sets you apart? What makes you memorable is not your resume; it's your reputation. But you don't want your personal brand to be scattered across social media profiles that you don't own. And that's why I want to tell you about this video sponsor, Framer. Framer is a no-code website builder that makes it incredibly easy to create a professional site that actually feels like you. For so long, I was frustrated with cookie-cutter templates that didn't match the look and feel that I had in mind. And Framer publishes real, responsive websites that are SEO optimized. I use it to create clean landing pages for my digital guides, and I just grabbed the template I liked. I added my visuals and copy, I dropped in a solid form, and it was live in the same day. There's no need to wait for a developer to make the page I wanted. You can try Framer for free to start building your personal brand with a website that tells your story.
So this next skill is something we all need to do more of in everyday life, and that is asking great questions, or asking better questions. Bigger, successful people are better at asking questions than giving answers. And Tim Ferriss, he made his career by asking questions that others didn't think to ask. And I think the key thing is to avoid asking binary questions like, "Do you like it?" Instead, ask, "What part resonated most with you?" And this creates more insight and deeper conversations, not just those one-word answers that kill the conversation.
So my young daughter, if I ask her how her school was today, she probably would just say "good" to me. But if I ask better questions like, "What did you do today at school that you really enjoyed?" then I get a much more detailed answer like, "I played with so-and-so this friend today, and we had this yummy mac and cheese for lunch," things like that. So in everyday conversation, try to aim for going one layer deeper than what's being said. Great questions lead to more clarity, and that clarity leads to deeper conversations. And this is fascinating research from the psychologist Arthur Aaron on the Fast Friends protocol. It's 36 structured questions designed to build closeness between strangers fast. And I found out about these through Charles Duhigg's book on communication called Super Communicators. And thanks to Charles for sharing with me. So these start simple and then grow deeper over time. For example, "What would make a perfect day for you?" or "If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?" I use a version of these in workshops and coaching sessions to build real trust, which helps me to deliver better experiences. I even use it on date nights with my husband, Simon, so we don't just end up talking about our daughters all the time. It will help you move past all that small talk and into meaningful conversations much faster, even with your own family. If you're interested, I've linked in the description to check it out.
And now let's talk about how to build your influence, which is another invisible key skill. So Simon Sinek, the author of Start With Why, he didn't become one of the most impactful voices in business by accident. He influenced by helping others see why his vision mattered more to them. So he did this by focusing on why they do what they do, rather than just what they do, and by emphasizing the impact their actions have on others. And the "why" drives people much more deeply than just what they do in their professional roles. When I started my YouTube channel, I wasn't trying to go viral. I focused on creating content that solves problems my audience deeply cared about. Because these are the videos I love to watch to educate myself. And over time, that consistency built trust, and trust turned to influence. Because I think that influence is the ability to change someone's belief. You don't need to be loud, but you do need to be consistent and say what you really believe, and then show that you actually live it.
And the top 1% don't just work hard; they learn to build repeatable systems that work hard for them. In their repeating tasks, they create processes, automations, routines, that scale what they do and grow exponentially. James Clear is a perfect example of this. He didn't just write a book like most authors; he built a publishing engine. After the book is out in the world, and that's the system itself. Create once, then earn attention forever. His weekly 3-2-1 newsletter is a system I love. How uncomplicated and simple it is, and easily repeatable. Every week, three ideas, two quotes, and one question. It goes out to millions of people every Thursday. It builds his authority and then compounds his influence over time, and for me, that's leverage in action.
So in my business, I used to burn out trying to do everything manually: scheduling the content, replying to every message, writing everything from scratch. Now, once I built systems using templates, automations, and amazing team members, I got my time back to spend on things I actually enjoy. So start with one question: What am I doing repeatedly that could be automated, delegated, or eliminated? Then build repeatable processes for tasks so you can easily outsource. So I use tools like Notion, Zapier, and all kinds of AI to streamline my work. The less time you spend on a repetitive task, the more time you have to create real value.
And when it comes to decisions, I love this framework, which is what Jeff Bezos calls the regret minimization framework. "Will I regret not making this decision ten years from now?" The top 1% move fast because they know most decisions are reversible. You can always find another way to make things work if this decision didn't work out. When I made the leap from a safe 9-to-5 job to working for myself, it wasn't always easy. I was really scared of all the uncertainty, but I knew I would regret not trying more than I would regret failing. And that one decision, it changed everything, and I never looked back. For me, overthinking is a silent killer of all opportunities. It is one of my biggest time wasters. If I need to make a decision and I fall into constant overthinking on whether I should or should not do something, set time limits on decisions that you have to make and trust your instincts. And you can always change direction when you need to. Because to me, taking action with momentum matters so much more in the long term to build a new kind of success.
So let me ask you a question: When something's no longer exciting, will you keep going? Serena Williams showed up to train when no one was watching. Kobe Bryant shot 800 free throws before sunrise. And these stories show that if you're dedicated to pursue what you want to achieve, anything is possible. And I remember for myself, there were weeks where my YouTube videos barely got any views, where my projects stalled with clients, and my motivation disappeared. But I kept going. Not because I was doing it for external validation, but because it was aligned with my bigger mission to create impact. And to me, that matters more. And that's grit that keeps me going. That's what drives me. You can build your grit by committing to one hard thing every single day that you will usually put off trying to lean into. Track your consistency on it, not just aiming for any perfection, because grit is doing the work when no one's watching. And that's where real mastery of your skill really lives.
So there's a beautiful quote from Naval Ravikant that says, "Play long-term games with long-term people." But you only stay in the game if you love the game. And this ties in so much with grit that I mentioned earlier. So in the early days of building my personal brand, I wasn't making any money. I wasn't getting any recognition. But I just loved the process of writing, creating, and teaching. For me, it's something I enjoy doing even if I never get paid for it. It's just what gets me up in the morning. I can't help but be excited about doing it. And that intrinsic motivation, it helped me to stay in the game long enough to build something meaningful that I still do each day. Right now, intrinsic motivation means doing the work for the meaning, but not how it looks on the outside. It's great that if my message can reach more people, but it's not the reason why I do what I do. Find your internal "why," your intrinsic motivation, the thing that you do, even if it didn't pay you, that will keep you going. So think about it for a moment. What's yours?
So these are the skills that the top 1% use to build their success. And I believe that skills pay the bills, but it's wisdom that builds a life. And these aren't just skills; they are shifts in how you see yourself and who you become as a person. I know that changing your life and your future isn't easy, but it is worth it for the person that you become. Stack these skills in your favor and practice them daily, and they'll create exponential returns in your life. And it's not just in your income, but in influence, opportunity, and opening doors that you never knew existed.
And let me know, what's one high-income skill that you're going to focus on next? Let me know in the comments below! And if this video sparked something in you, remember to subscribe for more videos like these to help you on your journey ahead and share with someone building something big in their life right now. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.