skills are what turn you dreams into a reality
After writing last week’s post on the importance of learning new skills, I’ve been thinking about how it hurts society when people refuse to develop new skills. Why is this such a problem? Because it doesn’t matter how strong your desires for change are if you never gain the skills that you need to help.
People today are filled with desires for a different reality. They want to end homelessness, racism, pollution, poverty, and war, not to mention a million smaller things. They think the best way to solve these problems is by expressing their desires as loudly as possible, whether on social media or during our political elections. The problem with this approach, though, is that desiring improvement does not create improvement. You need skills to translate those desires into tangible action and create positive change. Everyone focuses on proclaiming their desires for change without realizing a fundamental truth: desires without skills don’t change anything.
Let’s consider an example. Imagine that you have always dreamed of being the next great Hollywood movie director. Every day since middle school you’ve desired to direct the next Star Wars or Chariots of Fire. But does that desire make you a good director or create a great movie? Of course not. Your desires are only valuable if they motivate you to develop the screenwriting, cinematography, and project management skills to make a great movie. The desire to direct a great movie is worthless without the skills to excel at and perform the actual work. This is true in every area of life, whether you desire to work on a major social problem, increase your company’s profits, or be the best parent you can be.
Contrary to popular mythology, the world doesn’t run on hopes and dreams, but rather on skill. Hopes and dreams are essential, but only so far as they show you what problems you are being called to address and motivate you to master the skills you need to be effective. Reality doesn’t change through desire, but rather through building skills and using those abilities to solve problems. Many people think:
Desire + passion + enthusiasm = changed reality.
But that doesn’t work. It just creates a lot of people clamoring for someone else to do the hard work of changing reality. Instead, realize that every improvement in society, whether it’s in your local community or across the world, follows this path:
Desire + skill + hard work = changed reality.
The problem is that many people who desire change the most in society either assume their desires are enough and never do anything to solve the problem, choosing to put the burden for change on the government, some corporation, or another individual. Or, even more disastrously, they assume that since they have such strong desires they don’t need to worry about skills, which leads them to act in foolish and destructive ways, causing more problems than if they would have done nothing at all.
This is why people who are passionate about change, like missionaries, politicians, and young people, often cause so many problems, even though they want to help. They then grow disillusioned when their passion doesn’t lead to positive change, causing them to either blame the other side or give up altogether. These people have never understood that reality doesn’t change through desire, but rather through building skills and using those skills to solve problems. Skills, whether it’s framing a house, designing a computer program, or leading an institution, are the tools by which we shape the world around us.
This isn’t just my idea; God makes it clear that skills are an important part of using His creation to its full potential. Listen to how Moses describes God’s project to build the tabernacle, the portable tent where He dwelled before the temple was built, in Exodus 35:
Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel…and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge, and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.
And he has given both him and Oholiab…the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skills to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine line, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers."
When God wanted the tabernacle built, He didn’t ask the Israelites, “Who’s passionate about engraving and designing and embroidery?” Instead, He chose people who were skilled in the tasks that needed to be done, and who also had the ability to teach those skills to others. God could have snapped His fingers to make the tabernacle but instead chose to create a world where skills are the pathway to changing reality, whether that’s weaving a beautiful tapestry, performing open-heart surgery, or creating a tight-knit community.
Sadly, people focus so much on their desires for an improved culture that they ignore the fact that someone has to gain the skills needed and do the hard work of actually solving the problems.
Don’t just desire the end of homelessness, develop the skills to increase the supply of housing or break the cycle of addiction.
Don’t just desire that struggling communities improve, develop the skills to create jobs for non-college-educated workers or teach elementary school kids how to read.
Don’t just desire that political polarization would decrease, develop the skills to facilitate honesty in journalism, reconciliation in politics, and a spirit of mutual community.
The solution to the millions of problems that we face isn’t to shout our desires louder and louder, but rather to build the skills and then go do the work. Instead of spending so much time talking about your desires to see your marriage, family, church, community, workplace, or country improve, follow this roadmap:
Figure out what you desire to change, whether big or small.
Uncover the problem, or at least a contributing factor to the problem.
Identify and acquire the skills needed to address the problem.
Use your skills to work at solving the problem.
Admit your shortcomings, gain more skills, and try again.
You won’t solve every problem in society overnight, sin and brokenness will always be entrenched in our lives, but taking a skills-based approach to your desires will help you make a positive contribution and change reality for the better. You’ll become a better friend, spouse, teacher, boss, worker, or citizen.
Some people will scoff at this. They think the problems are too big, the issues are too systemic, and the other people are too evil! So they focus on trying to gain influence by announcing their desires to everyone else, as if to say, “See how much I care about all of these things!” But the book of Proverbs tells us that skill, not desire, is what influences the direction of cultures and countries. Proverbs 29 says:
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
So if you want to change reality and make things better, don’t just focus on shouting your desires louder and louder. Instead, work at your skills, the ones God has gifted you for and called you to, and you will change the world around you for the better. Then, when the leaders around you see the good work that you are doing, they will give you the platform to impact society at levels you never could imagine.
Your desires for change are good, but let those desires motivate your efforts to identify and acquire the skills you need to help other people thrive.
