Billionaire entrepreneur: This No. 1 skill sets me apart—it’s the real way to do 'almost anything’ successfully

One simple skill can help you succeed — in business, relationships or anything else — more than nearly any other, says billionaire entrepreneur Ron Shaich.

Simple, though perhaps not easy: You need to be able to combine long-term vision with short-term execution. "You have to be both strategic and detailed," says Shaich, 71, the former Panera Bread co-founder who sold that business for $7.5 billion in 2017 and is now chairman of multiple restaurant chains including Cava and Tatte.

"The real key in running and building [a business] — in doing almost anything — is to actually be able to operate on multiple planes at the same time, to be thinking five years [ahead] and then thinking [about the next] five weeks," says Shaich, whose net worth was most recently estimated at $1.6 billion by Bloomberg.

If you want to advance your career or enrich your personal life, you'll benefit from having a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish, possibly even years in advance, says Shaich.

Simultaneously, successful people are proactive enough to recognize and act on the first steps they need to take — and detail-oriented enough to know which steps they aren't ready for yet, he says.

"[It's] a continual process of asking: 'What is it today? What is it that in three years, four years, five years, when we look at ourselves at that point, we're going to wish we had done today?' That's the most important question we're asking," he says.

Each year, Shaich spends a day or two writing down goals he wants to achieve in the coming few years. They cover everything from physical health — exercising more, building up to be able to run a 10K — to enhancing his cognitive and spiritual health by learning to play chess and studying Judaism, he says.

Then, he maps out exactly what incremental steps he first needs to take, and when. He

checks the list every few months to ensure he's on track, or make adjustments if he thinks he's falling behind, he says.

"You need to hold yourself accountable," Shaich says. "It isn't enough to write it [down]. You've got to sit down [and], in a clear way, say, 'This is how I'm getting there.'"

Other leaders tend to share the same sentiment, according to a 2024 survey by consulting group McKinsey of more than 600 executives and managers from companies around the world. Roughly half of respondents said organizations that make short-term decisions that fully align with the companies' long-term goals were "much more likely" to report revenue growth that outpaced competitors, McKinsey said.

As CEO of Panera, Shaich set a long-term goal in 2010 of using technology to improve customer experiences and stay relevant in the long run, he wrote in his 2023 book, "Know What Matters." His shorter-term steps toward accomplishing that goal included digital ordering and mobile payments, he wrote.

Those initiatives cost money to implement. But long-term success requires putting your ultimate plan ahead of "making a few dollars more" in the immediate future, Shaich told CNBC Make It in 2023: "It's really about the deeper issues: What is it you are trying to create with your life? What are you going to respect?"

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC's new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.