10 Important Life Skills

Problem solving

Everyone encounters difficult problems that need to be solved. Problems that are unsolved for a long time can have a negative impact both mentally and physically. It is therefore an important skill to be able to spot a problem and be able to solve it.

To work out problems, it's a good idea to:

1. Practice putting problems into words: "The problem is that..."
2. Think about if the problem is maybe just a symptom of another problem.
3. Find the root of the problem and be able to distinguish between causes and symptoms.
4. One way to get to the root cause quickly is to ask over and over again "Why?"

Once it is clear what the real problem is, the next steps are often to:

• Split big problems down into smaller parts.
• Find all kinds of possible solutions.
• Choose the best solution.
• Conduct the solution.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think logically about what you see, hear, and encounter. Critical thinking helps to separate facts from emotions and other factors that influence beliefs and behaviours.

People with critical thinking:

• Don't believe anything blindly.
• Base their opinions on facts.
• See many sides to issues.
• Are better at making good decisions.
• Are governed more by their own values rather than by, for example, peer pressure or media coverage.

Effective communication

Communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, are very important in everyday life. They help express needs, opinions, and feelings based on the situation you are in.

Communication skills:

• Strengthens relationships with others.
• Boosts self-confidence.
• Makes it easier to take part in society.

To practice communication skills, it is important to practice active listening.

Active listening means listening to understand, not just to respond.

Decision making

A large part of taking responsibility for one's own life is based on the ability to make decisions.

Every day you have to choose between different options. Sometimes these are small decisions that don't matter much, but in life you also have to make many important decisions.

Before making an important decision, it is a good idea to do the following:

• Be sure what the goal is or the problem the decision is supposed to solve.
• Collect data or information.
• Find out what options there are in the situation.
• Assess the pros and cons of each choice; what is gained and what is lost? It is a good idea to seek advice from people with more knowledge.
• Make the decision.

Only time will tell if the decision was good or bad. It is not possible to make only good decisions in life. Some decisions need to be made quickly, which gives less time to gather information. If the decision ultimately turns out not to be a good one, it is important to learn from it and try to do better next time.

Creative thinking

Creative thinking involves looking at new ideas and methods for doing things or solving the problems we encounter.

Ways to practice creative thinking include:

• Come up with as many ideas as possible in no time. Adjust the time and compete with quantity over quality. The ideas can be written down with short text, keywords or simple sketches.
• Think things from other perspectives. For example, practice by arguing both for and against something or thinking things from the point of view of all parties involved.
• Release all restraints and think, for example, "If pigs could fly and anything was possible, how would I solve this problem?"
• Build on the ideas of others. Look at what already exists or listen to other people's ideas and always say "yes and then we could add to it by..."

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to put oneself in the shoes of others. Compassion involves not judging others based on their own lives and experiences but trying to understand their needs and feelings.

Life brings you all kinds of tasks and people you have to deal with, often people who are very different from you and have different opinions and values. This is sometimes accompanied by difficult communication and disagreements that are important to resolve in a positive way. Empathy plays a key role in this.

Empathy makes you better at building good relationships with other people and society as a whole.

People skills

It is an ability to build and keep positive relationships with other people. It has a great impact on mental well-being.

It is also important to practice setting boundaries for others and ending relationships that are not good for us.

Compassion for others is the foundation of people skills that help you communicate well with other people, both in your personal life and at work. These skills help one live in harmony with other people, work in teams, influence others, be able to manage difficult conversations, and build negotiation skills.

Building Self-Awareness

It's called self-awareness to know yourself well. This means knowing one's strengths and weaknesses, knowing what one wants and what one fears. Self-awareness also involves knowing what one's interests are, how one feels, and what matters in life.

Knowing yourself well helps to recognize when you are under stress or feeling bad. Being able to show leniency to oneself in such circumstances is the basis for being able to show empathy to others.

Dealing with stress

Research has shown that stress is at the root of many physical and mental diseases. Misconceptions often play a major role. Degrading thoughts such as "I will never be able to do this" or "no one likes me" are often quick to take over when faced with challenges in life.

Learning healthy ways to deal with stress and stress has a big impact on reducing the risk of physical and mental illness.

Mindfulness is a powerful way to reduce stress and worry. It involves teaching the mind to stay in the present, what is happening right now in this moment.

• It is often late to change what happened yesterday.
• No one knows what tomorrow will bring you. So, it doesn't help much to worry about it today.

Now is the only time we have to change and control at any given time.