Mastering New Skills in the Age of AI: A Guide for Working Professionals

The Need for Continuous Learning

As a working professional, you should always have this mindset: mastering a new skill. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace. I majored in software engineering in college, mainly writing code. Back then, it took ages to learn how to make a simple webpage. You had to type every single letter and learn the logic, principles, and implementation methods.

Now, even if you don't know code, you can create a webpage in just one minute with the help of AI. Developing tools, games, and programs has become incredibly easy. Recently, I've been using AI to write code and develop some tools.

This is just an example. The key point is to keep learning and stay curious about new things. For instance, try to master one new skill every day.

Note that mastering a skill isn't just about knowing it; you have to be able to use it and actually do it. Of course, it doesn't mean learning in a scattered way. You can dig deep into a certain field. As the saying goes, the more you know, the more you realize what you don't know.

AI: A Game-Changer for Personal Entrepreneurship

The emergence of AI is a huge boost for personal entrepreneurship. In the past, our personal abilities were limited. There were many things we couldn't do, and even if we could, it took a lot of time to do them ourselves. So, we had to hire employees or outsource the work by spending money. But now, AI can solve many problems, greatly reducing costs and improving efficiency.

It can expand our personal ability boundaries and allow us to do more things. Why do I specifically emphasize this for working professionals? Because I've found that there aren't many people with a real sense of crisis.

AI will replace many human jobs. At the same time, the new jobs it creates are all related to AI. Although many people are talking about AI these days, only a few are really using it in - depth.

Most people just chat with some AIs, use it as a search engine, ask it questions, and solve some daily problems. But this is far from enough. Because it's still a long way from the business world. AI hasn't become a skill you're good at using, and you can't create value for others.

In this situation, you're likely to be eliminated in the workplace or market competition. This is not only true in the AI field but also in other fields.

The Changing Job Market

Recently, I noticed the recruitment trend in our company. There are basically only two types of jobs left: sales and short - video related jobs. The sales position is always in demand. And short - videos represent traffic, as most of the traffic is concentrated on various new media platforms, content platforms, and social media.

As for the promotion of AI, it's done by in - house developers like me. Just joking, even if I stop doing development work in the future, I can even switch to short - video related jobs.

Because my side hustle started with short - videos and then shifted to text - based work. So, I've accumulated quite a lot of experience in content creation such as short - videos and writing, and I also know something about the algorithms of some platforms.

I'm really glad I started my side hustle early. Through my side hustle, I've mastered a lot of new skills in new fields that I never touched in my main job.

The Power of Multidimensional Competition

There's a kind of competitiveness called multidimensional competition, also known as cross - border competition. Maybe you're not the best in a single field, but when you combine the abilities of two or three fields, the competitiveness, business ability, and business value you create are much higher than just focusing on one field.

But the premise is that you're not weak in these two or three fields. Although you may not reach the top level, say, you're at the 70% - 80% level, not yet above 90%.

How to Stay Competitive

How can you keep enough curiosity and continuously improve your competitiveness? Remember this: learn a new skill and try a new thing every day.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 2025.03.19 [Day 562]