Build a useful stack
Your skill matrix
Track the skills you already bring and the ones you want to improve. Aim for strong combinations, not perfection in one field.
Place every skill in a lane, then mark it current or wishlist.
How the matrix works
Become broadly useful, then combine the pieces.
Reaching the top 20% in several complementary skills can create a rarer advantage than chasing top 1% mastery in one skill. Use the wishlist to choose one improvement focus at a time.
- 80/20
- Short, deliberate practice gets you useful faster.
- 20–30 hours
- Use a small practice burst before deciding what to deepen.
- Stacking
- Combine meta, general, and specialized skills into a useful offer.
AI-assisted skill discovery
What skill should you add next?
Gemini suggests individual skills for one matrix lane at a time. Review the reason, then add only the candidates you want to practice. Nothing is added automatically.
Manage Gemini keyChecking paid access…
Choose one focus
Practice next:
hours is the current target. Keep the scope small enough to produce evidence.
Skill matrix lanes
General skills
Be useful in many contexts.
Transferable capabilities—communication, persuasion, organization, and execution—help you create value across roles.
Current strength
0Add a transferable skill such as communication, persuasion, or systems building.
Wishlist to improve
0Nothing on your improvement list yet.
Specialized skills
Build an edge worth noticing.
Technical or domain depth gives your general skills a concrete arena where you can become unusually valuable.
Current strength
0Add a skill tied to the kind of work or business you want to explore.
Wishlist to improve
0Nothing on your improvement list yet.
Meta-skills
Make every other skill compound.
Focus, energy, and learning skills improve how quickly and consistently you acquire and apply everything else.
Current strength
0Add a foundation skill such as deep work, research, or energy management.
Wishlist to improve
0Nothing on your improvement list yet.
First record
Start with one skill you can point to.
Place current strengths and future wishes in the matrix. You do not need a perfect score to begin.
Add a skillNext move
Turn your stack into a useful direction.
Use the matrix to choose one capability to practice, then connect it to an opportunity.
Review living IkigaiPractice target: hours
- Problem
- First offer
Ikigai lens