🗓️ How to Create a Personal Upskilling Plan (incl. 3 year-template)

When the world seemingly accelerates, the need for us to keep up does too.

The problem: “Where do I even start?” 🤯

The answer lies in upskilling. And more specifically - creating your own personal upskilling plan.

Why create an upskilling plan?

I find myself getting more and more questions about learning: what to study, how to study, what to outsource to others, and what to learn ourselves.

Navigating knowledge in this exponential era is not easy.

We can't control or predict the future much. But when you create a plan for your learning, you create a direction of the part you want to play in it.

👉 As a marketer, I’ve realized that upskilling is a personal necessity.

👉 As a course creator, I know the impact a two-week course can have on someone’s career trajectory.

👉 As a coach, I see over and over again, the power of keeping focus during a specific time period.

How to create a personal upskilling plan in 3 steps

1) Put X% of your time into ongoing training

I try to keep my ongoing educational journey to about 5% of my time.

Coincidentally, I also budget 5% for education.  By making online training a lifelong priority, it becomes an integral part of who you are. And you take 100% - intentional - ownership of your own professional skills.

You're already consuming loads of information every day - why not make it official and more structured?

2) Set out a light 3-year vision

3 years down the line. Based on trends, your strengths, and areas of interests: What could make sense to learn over the next few years?

You'll see the world through a new lens: a course, a book, a person or an opportunity that falls in line with your focus areas? Build a personal 'curriculum'.

Link → how to build a personal curriculum

3) Create personal sprints

Quarterly or monthly focus areas. Saying YES to an area helps you say NO to noise.

Keep your signal on and don’t let the noise distract you.

This can be the difference between dedicating 20 hours to a topic and getting a good grasp or aimlessly scrolling Instagram and watching Netflix.