The Meta-Skills That Will Reign Through 2050 (Part 1)

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Each week, I share practical, story-driven insights on ‘how to stay relevant, resilient & remarkable in this age of machine intelligence‘ — exploring themes like AI partnership, personal agency, and building a career with leverage.

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The Meta-Skills That Will Reign Through The Year 2050 (Part 1)

There’s been a lot of talk around skills lately…

All fair answers.
(+) Super valuable in their own right.
But I’ve seen people knock ‘em out of the park and..

Why? 🤯

Because in a world where —

It’s not the skills themselves that will set you apart.

And here are the three I believe will outlast every trend between now and 2050:

In today’s dispatch, we’ll break down the first one ⤵️

1. Building Personal Agency

Of the three, this one sits at the core.

Because no matter what tools, titles, or trends come your way, nothing activates them until you decide to move.

The irony? Most of us were trained to do the opposite.

We were trained to wait. ⏳

But in today’s world, that WAIT can be the most expensive decision you’ll ever make. That’s why agency matters NOW more than ever.

So What is Agency, Really?

Agency is often mistaken for movement.
But that’s not quite right…

Movement is the effect.

The cause?
A decision. Made by you, for you.

So here’s the easiest definition I can offer:

It’s the ability to say:

And then… move. 🚀

It’s decision-making that leads to movement, and movement that leads to independence.

Independence from time, place, paycheck — even borrowed purpose.

That’s the essence of agency: “The quiet power to move yourself”.

So if it’s this straightforward..

Because agency, like any other muscle, atrophies when you don’t train it, and most of us stopped a long time ago — not out of laziness but out of habit.

You see, we were trained (quietly, consistently) — to wait for someone else to steer.

Think about it…
From the moment we could walk, we were put on rails. 🚂

Then came those long breaks —
The holidays. And what happened?
We drifted. We slept in.
We waited for structure to return.

This cycle? We lived it year after year.
And these patterns? Well, they didn’t fade — they deepened.

And without these external anchors?

We stall.

Take away the 9 a.m. check-ins, the deadlines, or the meetings — and our days begin to unravel. The blank space feels uncomfortable, almost dangerous. ⚠️

We’re simply not used to choosing our own direction. And so we don’t.

BUT there is good news

Because like any other muscle, agency can be built back up — Through reps.

Best part? The more you use it, the stronger it gets. 🏋️

Which is why it surprises me…

Because that couldn’t be further from the truth… ❌

Agency isn’t a business trait.
It’s a human one. A life skill.

Equally powerful whether you’re building a company, growing a career, or simply choosing how you want to move through this world.

In fact… 💡📈

I might go as far as saying that its impact might be felt most clearly INSIDE the workplace.

That’s the kind of person who compounds value in almost any system they touch.

“And that’s exactly the type of result that gets rewarded — every time.”

As a business owner myself, I’d pay top dollar for agency over anything else.

Not just someone who can do the job, but someone who can drive it forward.

Bottom line:

Skills can be taught. Tools can be learned.

So if you walk away with just 1 timely insight today, let it be this:

Agency is the most important professional skill you can build for your future.

That’s why it comes first. 🥇

It’s the engine. The multiplier. The meta-skill that makes every other skill tick.

That’s all for today!

Next week, we’ll talk about the steering wheel — Positioning — and why standing out will soon be the most valuable skill on the planet.

PS — If this issue resonated, the book’s going to hit even harder. Volume 1 of the Your Move, Human series launches soon. 🙈🙌

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Until then —
It’s check ♞ but not mate (not yet).
Your Move, Human.