How to Learn a $100K+ Skill in 90 Days

If you can commit to learning one high-income skill consistently for the next 90 days, this one action can impact the rest of your work life and make all the difference between working in a dead-end job and making a mediocre salary, and working in a six-figure career that you’re actually passionate about and enjoy.

What you do in the next 90 days could change the next 10, 15, or 20 years of your life–and even your retirement.

The problem with many professionals is not their lack of access–after all, we all have the same internet as well as free and readily available resources which are relatively inexpensive compared to a degree. The issue is your mindset–your lack of resourcefulness, goal-oriented mindset, and consistency.

It’s so easy to say, “One day I’ll do X, Y, or Z.” But it’s a totally different ball game to rephrase “one day” to “day one.” Moving away from inaction and actually getting started while being consistent with your professional development can get you extremely far in your career, much further than others who take the initial steps (if any) but have no solid plan of action and do not maintain their progress.

As a good example, Coursera is a highly popular platform for undertaking free and inexpensive online courses and certifications, including Google’s career certificates. Some of its courses, like the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, has 2,650,136 enrolled at the time of writing. But the actual student completion rate is a far cry from the enrolment figures.

In late 2023, a writer at the Washington Monthly noted that she observed there were 1.9 million learners enrolled, but by the time she reached last module, only 328,000 were at the end–an 83% attrition rate.

So what can you do today to shift from being part of that 83% and actually taking consistent action towards your professional development?

1. Set A 90-Day Learning Outcome

One reason why most people fail when deciding to implement anything new in their lives, including New Year’s resolutions, is that they chase vague goals, such as, “I want to get into tech,” or “I want to learn AI skills.” These lack clarity and urgency, and are not enough to motivate you when you feel like quitting.

For you to follow through and be consistent with your professional development, you need to have a powerful end goal, one that inspires and motivates you beyond “This social media influencer promoted it, so I want to join,” or, “Everyone else is studying this course, so I should do it too,” or, “This certificate will look good on my resume.”

Knowing exactly what you need it for will help you be more structured and focused when learning a high income skill. For example, if your goal is to start a freelance business in digital marketing and land your first client within four months, you could say that your goal is to complete the Google Career Certificate for Digital Marketing and E-Commerce within 90 days. Once that 90-day goal is achieved, you could then work on creating your portfolio and freelance website, so you can start accepting clients by the end of four months. Clear outcomes work well for your brain, and give you something to measure your progress by.

2. Build In Public

Another important step you should take when developing a new skill is to build in public. This serves a dual purpose. Not only are you forming accountability by telling others that you are working on learning a specific skill, which helps you maintain consistency because people know you’re doing it, but it also helps attract potential clients and employers and career opportunities by the time you’re finished. (especially if you showcase this on your LinkedIn profile as a weekly or daily LinkedIn update).

Talk about what you’re learning each day. Create sample projects to demonstrate the skills you’re developing. Even record a short video to talk about your progress if you feel confident. By the end, people will have already been familiar with you and associate that specific skill with you as a professional, which helps halve the legwork when you’re ready to market yourself at the end for career and job opportunities.

3. Learn Outside The Box

If you want to learn a skill faster, you need to think outside the conventional approach most people take. Don’t be content with just studying an online course. The best way to develop high-income skills is to start practicing and start networking. Join groups of professionals who are engaged on the same subject. Find others who are studying the same course or who have already completed it and are working in their dream careers. Talk to them about their journeys and experiences. Obtain mentorship and seek advice.

Get hands-on practice as much as possible, even doing pro bono work, so you can feel confident in your expertise. In a nutshell, you need to find practical, tangible ways to learn outside of the limitations of an online course or certificate. You will find that many course providers, like Codecademy, encourage you to build your own projects outside of their learning environment, as this shows employers that you’re proactive and also helps you to learn faster.

Start following these three steps today. Begin by defining your vision and goal for the end of your course of study, pace yourself by getting others to hold you accountable, and find multiple methods of learning and developing your skills outside of sticking to a course syllabus.

High-Income Skills FAQs

What are high-paying skills?

High-income skills are skills that are in strong demand and pay extremely well, usually within the region of $100,000 or above. Learning them can significantly boost your current salary and even help you make a career pivot. These include generative AI, social media marketing, project management, data analytics, web development, and communication and leadership skills.

How long does it take to learn a high-income skill?

Short courses and certificates offered online usually take around three to six months to complete, but the exact length depends on your schedule and how much time you dedicate to studying each week.