Top Skills Everyone Should Learn
Say whatever you want, aren’t we always striving to be perfect? To be honest, that is indeed a good thing. People are here to talk about you but you have to be the person of whom you feel proud of. There’s no point in allowing yourself to succumb to the whims of others.
Use your time and energy judiciously to see to it that you are the best version of yourself — someone of whom you’re proud, someone who can be an inspiration to many and above all, someone who is satisfied being herself/himself.
Given below is a list of skills you might want to work on. I’m not saying you should be an expert in all of them. But if you can imbibe some of the many, I believe your life would be a success.
Learn a new language
Learning a new language is a great way to learn about other cultures. A language is considered to be the gateway to a culture. As the world is getting more globalised than ever, fluency in multiple languages is imperative. You get to learn about other people, their lifestyle and also increase you knowledge of the world you live in.
Knowing many languages is a highly valuable skill as well. Many employers have clients abroad and they need people who can be an interpreter/translator. Also if you’re planning to visit a country with a totally different language, learning a few words beforehand can enhance your experience. At first it can be overwhelming, but hey, new things take time.
Public speaking
I’m sure most of us are scared to speak out loud in public — what would people say? What if we make a mistake? What, how, why, where? Do you think it really matters? Maybe today they’ll remember the mistakes you made but they’ll forget the next day.
It all depends on your perspective. Yes, they might laugh at you, so what? If 100 people laugh at you, there’ll be another 100 who will appreciate your effort. Keep practising until you become a pro. That’s how I beat my phobia of public speaking.
Good communication
Well, this has a lot to do with public speaking.
In this day and age, it is important to learn how to express your thoughts properly and concisely. People are so busy nowadays. They want you to be fast and concise. Not just that, you need to be be able to speak coherently otherwise half of your speech would go in vain.
People will find it hard to relate and possibly just leave. You might not be taken seriously and more likely be left out in any conversation.
Don’t be scared of change
The very thought of change brings people to shiver. What they don’t realise is that change is the cycle of life. Learning how to adapt with the changing world is not only be beneficial to your mental well-being but also give you an edge over the ever changing world of careers as well.
Employers are usually in search of workers who are fluid with change.
As you know, sudden change is actually the norm these days. Who would have thought, we would be struggling with a pandemic to this scale? Indeed many people resisted but they had to ultimately give up and go with the flow.
Get into gardening
You probably have noticed how hard it was to get groceries during lockdown and how much time we wasted just watching movies and scrolling the social media!
Many people took this opportunity to explore the long-forgotten concept of gardening and today they are not only enjoying what they do but also opened a side hustle selling plants. Isn’t that amazing? From herbs, spices, vegetables and flowers, they‘re also managing to get food from their own garden which is a healthy alternative.
In a more spiritual aspect, gardening helps you connect back with nature. You can also call it a type of meditation.
Learn cooking
To be frank, I mostly enjoy the food that I cook myself than those I eat in restaurants. The flavour, the spices and everything else is so well-balanced. Learning cooking was a blessing in disguise.
Your culinary skills might be handy in case you invite your family and friends as well. There is no greater happiness than seeing them enjoy the food you have prepared yourself. At the same time, this is also gonna save you a lot of money as conventionally you would‘ve ordered from a restaurant.
Cooking has become as easy as just watching a video from YouTube and mixing all the ingredients. You can literally learn anything from YouTube. Do consider that if you’d like to become a good cook.
Learn a musical instrument
Many people, like myself for instance, want to learn some kind of instrument. In my case, I wanted to learn violin but destiny wanted me to concentrate on studying, which I did.
Anyways, did you know that learning some kind of musical instruments can actually help you be more expressive? Music is a convenient way to help you channel and release any stuck emotional feelings.
In case you’re exploring this possibility, it is obvious that you will take the tuition fees into consideration. But why fear when you can get everything online at a much cheaper rate! And if you’re not concerned about getting a certificate, it is completely free.
Over time, you can get creative and create your own notes which can be a fun thing to do actually.
Crafting from scratch
Honestly, there can be no other better decorations in your house other than the ones you make yourself. It gives a very personal touch. You can try creating simple decorative items at first. Think out of the box. Unleash that creative side of yours.
There are literally tonnes of wastes we discard each year and surprisingly we can actually turn them into something very useful. With used papers, you can make figurines, with vegetable scraps, you can make water colours and so on and so forth.
Crafting doesn’t only mean creating, you can also modify certain items. For instance, adding some accessories on whisky bottle makes it look quite classy.
Find your interests/passion
Any average youth will be clueless about what he/she likes. They have glued themselves on their phone where they hardly have time to even think about themselves, forget about interests and passion. All they care is how do I look good on social media and what should I do to win in PUBG.
It might sound funny but this is an alarming situation. At the time they should think about setting goals and find their likes and dislikes, they’re stuck on their phone!
Instead, they could have explore themselves.
Find your hobbies, what you like and don’t like and then take appropriate actions on them. This will give you a purpose in life. Everyday you have to be willing to wake up and live for your passion.
Basic self defence
This is a skill which needs to be taught to everyone right from school. The world is a dangerous place and if you don’t know how to defend yourself, be ready to say bye. I’m not saying this to scare you but that’s how reality is, no matter how much we try to romanticise it.
We are living in a world where hate crimes, violence and broad daylight murder are very common. Today we might see a man get killed, tomorrow we don’t know who might be next.
Learning some basic self defence techniques such as, Taekwondo, Kushti or Silambam can potentially save your life or the lives of others, if need be.
Self-confidence
Many people feel they’re not able to stand up for themselves be it in an argument or during a fight. They are vulnerable and lack the confidence to fight for themselves.
Even for any endeavour they might have, they are unable to work towards it for the fear of failure. What will people say? How will I manage to face the society? These are all questions that come through.
Having self-confidence will not only boost your morale but also help you to be skilfully prepared to face any situation in life with great poise.
Learn basic life support
Let’s assume you’re in a restaurant and suddenly food got stuck in someone's their throat. What do you do? Call the ambulance? But we do know that a delay of even 1 second can kill a person!
Instead if you only knew how to perform the Heimlich maneuver, you could have saved his/her life.
Basic life support also entails first aid as well. Giving someone CPR at the right time can certainly prevent their untimely death. CPR is a technique used to re-start the heart beat and keep the person breathing. This is a life-saving skill.
Create goals
Again, many of us are completely oblivious of what are even goals. I wouldn’t blame anyone. The society we live in taught us, “Work, Eat, Sleep and Die”. That’s like a normal life cycle for 90% of the 8+ billion people in the world.
I keep on stressing that everyone of us needs to have goals. Write it and stick it where you can see them daily.
This will give you an inspiration and a motivation to work on your goals. By doing so, you can possibly develop other life important skills — resilience, critical thinking, the art of not give up and much more. I promise you, once you’ve achieved your goals, you will feel on top of the world.
Learn to see the positives in everything
It is not a hidden fact that good and bad are part of our lives. No matter where we are or who we are, bad experiences will follow us as much as good experiences do.
However, people somehow like to highlight the bad ones more than the good ones. And so it creates a notion that they are having a very awful life.
How to circumvent that? It’s very simple; be grateful for the things you have. As for the bad experiences, no matter how privileged you are, you will face them. But why waste your life counting your failures when you can well appreciate and potentially create even more blessings? This is a key skill to success.
Be a good listener
We are always very vocal about what we want and how we want it. We’re programmed to listen to reply and not listen to understand. Have we ever given a thought about others?
We’re constantly busy victimising ourselves to gain attention. Hardly do we lend an ear to someone or have the patience to listen to others.
Do you know how many people are suffering in silence without even saying a word? Be that someone to them to whom they can open up and talk. Listen to what they have to say without being judgemental. Sometimes all that people want is an ear to listen to them.
Improve your memory
After we leave school or university, we leave our memory to nuts. We are not bothered whether or not we remember certain things.
Just like muscles from your body, your brain also needs exercise. Left to fend on its own, the power and efficiency of the same will begin to wane.
So how can you circumvent this? Get involved in some brain activities — puzzle solving, sudoku, reading daily, scrabble and so many others.
Have multiple sources of income
You see the pandemic has proven to all of us that being dependent on a sole source of income is not a well set approach.
Many people were left unemployed and broke during the pandemic. Imagine not being able to provide for your family and being on a constant pressure of being thrown out of your house. That’s exactly what they went through.
But on the contrary, many people levelled up their skills and explored other possible sources of income. Do your own research and find out the best skills you can possibly employ to further diversify your income streams.
Learn how to spend your money wisely
I have seen people who are mindless about how they spend money and that included me as well. You see, there is nothing wrong in spending; we need money to survive. However, we should also prioritise our expenditure accordingly.
One concept that can solve this issue is the 50/30/20 Rule. It works for most people that I know. For some of you, it might be a new concept — the rule states that 50% of your net pay should be spent on your needs, 30% on your wants and the rest 20% should be kept as savings/paying debts.
Once you master this skill, you will never fear of spending beyond your means.
Yoga practices
Nothing feels better than a calm mind and a healthy body. Success usually follows such type of people. When you are mentally and physically fit, your mind and body support you to achieve whatever it is that you want.
Yoga is popularly known as a mind, body and spirit exercise which aims to keep them in balance. Additionally, Yoga is also known to be a type physical exercise because it not only helps in the prevention of diseases but also improves the mental health as well.
Mastering the art of Yoga will give you a positive mind in a positive body.
Meditation
If you’re like me, that means your mind is always spread in the seventh sky, detached from reality. You are probably too enthusiastic about life and feel bored very easily.
You want to have a control over yourself but you’re unable to do so because you find it difficult to handle the flighty nature of the mind.
However, learning to meditate for atleast 10–15 mins daily can help calm down your mind and bring your thoughts in harmony. Ultimately, you will feel a sense of deep serenity and be able to articulate your thoughts properly.
Exercise
Keeping the body fit should not only be a priority but the duty of everyone. Your body is a temple and needs regular exercise to keep healthy.
The food we eat nowadays is laden with excessive fats, chemicals and other harmful components. By not exercising, you’re allowing these things to accumulate in your body and cause serious health issues.
When you exercise, your muscles are moving, your blood is reaching to every corner of your body and the oxygen and nutrients are properly distributed. When you remain slack, your pulse rate is slow and this can cause a range of other diseases, such as, coronary heart disease, hypertension and even diabetes.
Get your muscles exercised and you shall see a positive change in your health.
Swimming
You want to get exercise but not too keen to do some jogging or I should say kind of “boring” exercises? Well, you got options!
Swimming is a great way to work your entire body. Your legs are moving, your hands are moving and your whole body is dancing to the tunes of water, just like an independent fish. I know you have a very solid imagination.
No doubt, swimming is also known to maintain cardiovascular health and help you maintain your weight as well. Keeping the technicalities aside, swimming can be a fun activity too. I’m not sure about you but I love swimming — snorkelling being my favourite.
Healthy and nutritious eating
In a world of unhealthy lifestyle, food becomes our number one enemy. Have you ever heard, “You are what you eat”? Unhealthy food can have serious consequences, more so, when you have it on a regular basis.
Changing your diet or maintaining your diet to a healthy one will not only give you good health but, if you’re interested, insights into the various type of nutrients — how much of what you should consume, when you should eat, what you should eat.
This is not only a skill to strive for but a way for the acquisition of knowledge as well.
Be your own fashion icon
Believe it or not, everyone is judged according to how they dress. Your fashion style speaks in a number of ways to others. People kind of get a gist of your lifestyle and what you are about generally.
If you’re working in a corporate sector, it is important of how you project yourself to others. Make a deal or break a deal type of situation.
Therefore choose a style which describes your personality and sends a bold message to the world about what you are. Successful people, more often than not, tend to have a good style as well which explains why they attract crowds wherever they go.
Able to accept criticism as we do with compliments
One of the biggest fear that most of us have is the fear of being criticised. We stand up vociferously to defend ourselves once we feel that our foundation is being threatened. We just don’t like it when someone criticise us.
But wait a second.. You do like to be complimented. You do feel boasted. You do enjoy the attention that people give you. But then why you’re scared about criticism? Isn’t it the other side of the coin?
Instead take it as a lesson to improve yourself so that you can be successful. I’ve had a lot of criticisms right from my childhood. Of course I was resentful of what happened. Because then I realised it was the criticisms which made me the way I am today. Instead of being resentful, learn to acknowledge it and create a better you.
Start Blogging
Well, I know this is not for everybody. But if you love writing and documenting about yourself, like me, why not start with something as small as a personal blog?
Certainly, it comes with a great responsibility but once you start, everything will fall into place. In my case, I was good at writing but not that good at expressing my thoughts.
Blogging helped me channel my thoughts and improve my writing skills as well. If you don’t want to be a public figure, you can also create a personal private blog where you can write whatever it is that you want and personally monitor your growth.
Online courses
If you’re reading this, it definitely means you’re connected to the world wide web. Why not use it to further explore your interests by doing some online courses! You can learn just anything, from gardening to coding to cooking… well just, anything.
Online courses do come free such as those you get in FutureLearn, Udemy, Internshala and Coursera but some courses are paid. I have done courses in all of these platforms, both paid and unpaid and to be honest, I have learnt a lot which I would probably not have otherwise. Give it a try and learn any skills you would like.
Saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘Sorry’
These might seem very trivial. But trust me, these simple words are the keys to winning the hearts of people. You see, people, including you and I, want validation and the feeling of being important in the society. Saying these simple words to others, fulfils that desire.
Did you ever notice that you feel so good when someone acknowledges your contribution to their work? How do you feel when someone says “thank you” or “sorry”? It lightens you up, right? You feel good that someone recognised your effort or someone is truly sorry for what they did. Why not reciprocate that to others?
What else…
Excelling in a new skill is your responsibility. Do not blame others if you’ve failed to stand up for yourself. You have no control over what people do or say but you have control over yourself.
Don’t wait for the right time to start, make the right time for you to start. Read that again! Time gone is time lost.
