What is meant by skills

Skills are abilities that allow a person to do something. They can be learned and improved over time. Skills can be grouped into different categories:

• Basic skills: These are foundational skills needed for everyday education, work and wider life. They include literacy (reading and writing), numeracy (being able to work with numbers) and basic digital skills.
• Essential skills: These are highly transferable skills that cover communication, collaboration, creative problem solving, and self-management and are covered in the Skills Builder Universal Framework. They allow us to make the most of technical skills and knowledge.

Technical skills: These are specialised skills required for specific tasks or fields. Examples include coding, graphic design, and data analysis.

Why to plan to use and build skills to achieve goals 

Understanding and developing skills is important for setting and achieving your goals because skills define what you can routinely do. You can set your goals based on your existing skills and capabilities. 

Equally, you might choose goals that require you to build new skills. We all have the capacity to build new skills, but it might take time and continued effort - so that needs to be built into your plan too. 

Developing a range of skills can make it easier to achieve different goals and take advantage of new opportunities.

How to use and build skills to achieve goals

Recognising the skills you already have is an important step in setting and achieving goals. Here are some ways to do this:

1. List your experiences: Think about past activities and challenges you have successfully completed including hobbies and voluntary or paid work. 
2. Reflect on your strengths: Identify tasks that you do well or that others frequently praise you for. You might also use the Universal Framework to reflect on your essential skills and where your strengths lie.
3. Seek feedback: Ask friends, family, trainers or colleagues about your skills.
4. Compare against your goals: Consider how your skills might support your goals and how they can be applied to achieve success.
5. Keep track of your skills: Create a skills journal or use an online tool to document and update your skills over time.

You might also need to identify skill gaps as developing new skills can help you reach your goals more efficiently. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Compare your current skills with your goal requirements: Identify what skills are needed to achieve your goal and check which ones you already have.
2. Research what is required: Look at guides, courses, or role models who have achieved similar goals to understand the skills they used.
3. Ask for feedback: Speak with experienced individuals who can provide insight into which skills you may need to develop.
4. Prioritise skill development as a task: Think about building skills as one of the tasks that is in your plan and then prioritise it appropriately.
5. Find learning opportunities: Consider online courses, workshops, books, or hands-on practice to build new skills.
6. Practice regularly: Applying new skills in real-life situations helps improve proficiency and confidence.
7. Monitor progress: Keep track of your learning and make adjustments as needed.

By actively identifying and developing the skills needed, you can create a clear and practical path toward achieving your goals.