Before the Skills: The Three Pre-Skills Nobody Taught You - 139

Episode Description

Ever followed the directions perfectly and still not gotten the result? In this episode, DrB explains pre-skills: the skills you need before you can build the skills you want. She walks through the three that matter most: managing yourself in time, banishing procrastination, and making decisions with a values-based strategy. If it hasn't worked, it was never you. It was a missing skill, and skills can be learned.

Key Points Covered

• What a pre-skill is, with the two-wheeler and balance example, and why so many how-to books skip them.
• Pre-skill 1: manage yourself in time, not time itself. Build settling time into your schedule and put tasks on a calendar, not a to-do list.
• Covey's jar: put your rocks (your 4 to 6 most important things) in first, or they will never fit.
• Pre-skill 2: procrastination is a symptom, not a flaw. It shows up where you run out of knowing how to begin, continue, or finish. Includes the three saboteurs: negative thinking, fear of failure, and fear of success.
• Pre-skill 3: decision-making. Understand decision fatigue, decide in bulk, and filter options through your values and criteria.
• Why beliefs and identity come first, pre-skills second, and executive function skills third.
  
  

Links Mentioned

• drbarbaracohen.com — All episodes + show resources

• It Was Never You:   Why Capable, Successful Adults Keep Hitting the Same Wall
  October 20, 2026, 10 am – 2 pm pacific time + VIP hour:  https://itwasneveryoumasterclass.com/  

•  Get Sh*t Done (GSD) Program Information – 9-month program
  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/gsdprogram 

• Grant assistance page for help with funding for GSD program:
  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance 

• The Transformation Club (TTC) – if time or money commitments have been holding you back - the affordable membership program for Executive Function skills development:
  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram 

• Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:
  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function 

• Follow me on DrB Facebook Page and enjoy live videos and more

• Follow me on Instagram and enjoy relevant resources
  
  

   

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