Important life skills to lead a successful life – 8 Skills

Life is the name of continuous change and uncertainty which does not stop or wait for us to plan or do something for the same. These skills you will always need to make the most of your life.

The skill can be any like tying your shoelace, swimming, driving a car, or learning the usage of computers. The list of important and essential life skills may differ from person to person so, there is no definite list as some may be more relevant to one but not for others.

WHAT ARE LIFE SKILLS

 

Life skills are the skills that are useful for our life, needed to cope with people, deal well and effectively with change and uncertainty, and most importantly needed to grow in life and career.

They are also needed to get rid of self-limiting beliefs and fear which we have inside us.

There are eight life skills which are important for all whether a person is a student, housewife, businessman or serviceman as these are needed for growth and self-development. 

 

EIGHT SKILLS – IMPORTANT FOR LIFE

 

The most important skills are as follows:

 

SKILL TO LEARN

 

The first and the foremost skill which everyone needs is the ability to learn like when you are in the market to get a new job, it is important to know what employers need in the people they are hiring which can be learning computer programming or proficiency in a foreign language. 

By having the ability to learn new things quickly, you can make a mark for yourself as compared to others. It creates a demand for you as compared to others. This ability can be developed by doing continuous self-analysis, increase your capacity to learn through meditation or mental exercise, and also understand the need for learning.

 

SKILL TO ASK IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL QUESTIONS

 

The next important ability which we all should develop is to ask important and powerful questions as these questions create value for us. These questions, communicate the value and trust of yours with them. When you ask questions to someone they listen to you carefully. It builds confidence and connects them with you. They open up with you and gives a solution, speak up their viewpoint which they had not done previously.

If the questions are powerful they can discuss and evaluate without any fear. These questions also help them to take responsibility for their decisions as subconsciously these questions can help them understand things more clearly. They are more clear than ever before as questions can reduce ambiguity in their minds. We need to really learn this art to reach people.

 

ASSERTIVENESS AND SELF CONTROL

 

This is the one more most important ability which all of us should learn. These skills are the ones that mean standing up for yourself and be calm even if the provocation is exercised against you. Assertive means having a confident and powerful personality that is liked by every one of us. We can have a number of benefits like having less anxiety or less depression.

Self-control is the ability to regulate one’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in temptations and impulsive situations. It is needed to avoid distractions and generate more productive and confident behavior. Self-control can be improved if you are mindful, spend time thinking, and be grateful for the things around you.

 

SELF AWARENESS AND EMPATHY

 

These are the skills that are very important elements of the emotional quotient.

Self-awareness means knowing your personality properly, which includes your own behavior, character, feelings, motives, and desires. If we have awareness of ourselves, then we can use our full potential and do our best in life. This is ultimately going to make us happy, feel more genuine.

Empathy means the capacity to understand or feel what the other person is experiencing and act or speak accordingly. Empathy alone can promote effective leadership qualities in you. It helps you to stay competitive and it gives you a better understanding of other people’s perspectives and opinions. It also helps you to develop a good relationship with coworkers, clients, and others. It builds trust and removes the confusion.

 

DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING

 

Decision making is the ability to make decisions effectively, choosing the best possible option, and making the best in less time. Feedback influences decision making. Decisions are taken every moment, every day and the time available to take the decision is very less. So, we need to make sure that we not only make the right decisions but also take quick decisions. To take decisions correctly, we need to do the following activities.

  1. Recognize the problem

  2. Analyze the problem

  3. Consider your goals

  4. Look for alternatives

  5. Select the best alternative

  6. Put your decision into action

  7. Accept responsibility

  8. Evaluate the results

 

If all the above-mentioned steps are performed it will help us to make the best decisions. This is also helping us to develop the habit of problem-solving which means rather than getting fearful of problems we should be able to solve the problems which are part of the decision-making ability only.

There are various strategies that can help us solve problems, practice any but which one to apply depends on the problem and this ability should be learned to be more effective.

 

RESILIENCE AND ABILITY TO COPE UP WITH THE CHANGES

 

This is the ability that will help you to overcome your fear of dealing with uncertainty and cope up with the changes effectively and efficiently. Resilience means the capacity to recover from difficulties and toughness. We should learn this ability so that we know how to cope despite of setbacks, barriers, or limited resources.

It measures how much you want something and how much you are willing or able to overcome obstacles that come your way. It requires a lot of emotional strength and willpower to deal with. To develop this ability you need to think thoroughly and ask what is the worst that can happen because of any change.

Ask yourself whether you can change it or control it or not and if you can control then how much. The most important thing here is you need to accept the change and reframe the obstacles into opportunities.

Look out for the positives in the obstacles, learn from them, and start taking action. In the whole process, you will have to deal with stress and ask for support from your support system.

 

CREATIVITY AND CRITICAL THINKING

 

Creativity means looking at things differently or thinks out of the box. Critical thinking means solving problems from a different perspective, avoiding the orthodox method of thinking or solving problems.

This is something which should be developed in early-stage as it requires a lot of time to be developed. These abilities make a person a good communicator, open-minded, risk-takers. They often have a lot of knowledge, they are very flexible, which helps in increasing confidence.

They solve problems very efficiently, earns a lot of respect among people. They innovate and do things differently and make a difference in the viewpoint of others. These all make them successful in whatever they do.

Try lateral thinking and do roleplay activities to develop creative and critical thinking. The more you practice the more you will develop this ability.

 

It is said that “GREAT PEOPLE DO NOT DO DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

 

COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

 

This is a very important ability which each one of us should develop as it helps people to have confidence and convey their emotions, thoughts in the best possible way. This skill includes spoken, written, or nonverbal methods of communication.

The method can be any but the most important thing is that the message should be conveyed and understood by the listeners. The following thing should be taken care of:

The communication language should be simple and in short messages.

The communication should be as per the listeners wherein we need to consider the usage of language which is known by listeners, actions which listeners can understand.

The effectiveness could be developed by the following practice, play, and perform the method.

This ability is the one that comes only and only when it is practiced and made part of our life as a habit.

 

BENEFITS OF LEARNING LIFE SKILLS

 

The life skills if learned will benefit and change the whole life of yours as they let you grow because you have a lot of skills in your profile and the overall personality becomes so powerful. The whole life can change and you will be surrounded by lots of positivism that is coming from inside. When inside you there is the power, positiveness the outside world will automatically become positive and powerful.

 

I have got more career and communication advice and inspiration for you at www.anjujindal.com.

The famous courses I have for people are Fearless communicator blueprintCareer growth blueprint.

To join the community for free courses – community career growth mastermind. 


About the Author: Anju Jindal

Anju is a trainer, entrepreneur, and career growth specialist who helps students, working professionals, women, and Job seekers to reach out to their goals by implementing a Career Growth plan

To get latest updates follow me on social media

Related course

Career Hack Blueprint

Related series