To achieve success, happiness, and fulfillment, cultivating life skills is essential. These abilities optimize your potential and empower you to reach your goals. While life skills encompass a broad range of crucial competencies, understanding your unique strengths can provide a powerful foundation. By taking the HIGH5 strengths assessment, you can gain invaluable self-awareness, pinpointing your natural talents and abilities that align with various life skills. This insight empowers you to leverage your strengths effectively, maximizing your potential and paving the way for professional and personal growth.
This can include critical thinking, communication skills, writing skills, and other useful proficiency skills. These life skills can be applied to benefit your everyday life in numerous ways and contribute to long-term fulfillment. They are beneficial to your career and personal life, too. However although necessary, many people struggle with developing life skills and identifying which abilities are important to their growth. With time, dedication, and listening to your inner emotions, you can identify what you truly want. In this article, we will give you an overview of how to build life skills and show examples of which skills are essential for personal and professional development.
What are life skills?
Life skills are a relatively broad category of traits and abilities that can vary based on your unique aspirations, circumstances, and personal makeup. By taking the HIGH5 strengths assessment, you can gain profound insights into your innate talents and propensities, empowering you to identify the life skills most aligned with your natural strengths. This self-awareness can guide your development journey, allowing you to focus on cultivating the skills that leverage your talents most effectively, whether in your career, relationships, or personal growth. Aside from this broad definition, the World Health Organization notes that there are six subtypes of life skills (more here).
Six subtypes of life skills
1. Communication and interpersonal skills
Ensures people can effectively communicate messages, persuade, write to, and cooperate with others.
2. Decision-making and problem-solving skills
Helps people value the pros and cons of decisions, work with others to solve a common goal, and understand problems.
3. Creative and critical thinking
Involves thinking outside the box, finding new solutions, giving unique perspectives, establishing new ideas, creating innovative products, and accurately assessing information or data.
4. Emotional intelligence (empathy and self-awareness)
Emotional intelligence is the ability to connect with others through empathy and common understanding. It also involves understanding yourself; your inner life, your struggles, and the source of your emotions. inner life and the source of your struggles is a key part of being emotionally intelligent. .
5. Self-control or assertiveness
Being able to stand up for yourself or stand up to injustice as well as staying calm in intense situations ensures you are assertive.
6. Resilience
To be resilient, one must persevere, be willing to accept challenges, try again if they fail, and learn from their mistakes.
Pro tip From HIGH5
As you explore the different categories of life skills, reflect on the HIGH5 assessment results to identify which specific strengths resonate most with you. This can help you prioritize and focus your efforts on developing the life skills that leverage your natural abilities.
20 examples of life skills for work and personal life
The importance of each life skill varies from person to person. Some may prioritize empathy over assertion, but others may focus on developing their cognitive skills. To you, some skills will be more important than others, depending on your goals, career, and passions in life. However, some skill are universally considered to be important – they help you achieve almost any goal and benefit most relationships. Here are some of the most critical life skills:
- Writing skills
- Reading skills
- Research skills
- Listening skills/active listening
- Negotiation skills
- Leadership skills
- Creative thinking or critical thinking
- Numeracy skills
- Time management/organizing skills
- Cooking skills
- Self-awareness
- Employability skills
- Humor skills
- Teaching skills
- Study skills
- Independence
- Resilience
- Self-discipline/self-control/assertiveness
- Self-care (especially when it comes to hygiene and nutrition)
- True learning/passion for knowledge
- Adaptability and acceptance change
Writing skills
Writing skills help translate ideas into written text. In both personal and professional settings, effective writing ensures clear communication, persuasive messaging, and detailed documentation. The ability to write helps businesses reach a wider range of clients, connects departments, and makes communication smoother. Being persuasive or inspiring can be tough over email or written channels, but great writers can harness their skills to be just that.
Tip: Practice writing regularly. Write an essay on a topic of interest, a reader’s letter to a newspaper, or craft a fictional story. Read books and articles to get inspired and pay attention to writing techniques. Any type of text work can help you improve your phrasing, write more concisely, and thus be communicate more clearly. Another good tip is to seek feedback to improve clarity and style. Show your text to a friend, a colleague, or a family member and ask for their impression and their honest opinion. Are you more invested and ambitious with your writing, you can also hire a professional editor or beta-reader.
Reading skills
Reading skills include one’s ability to read texts, understand them, search for hidden or deeper meaning, and apply this knowledge to the outside world. Reading helps individuals gather knowledge and improves their vocabulary. It also exposes them to new ways to solve problems or different perspectives. Responding to emails, writing cover letters, drafting presentations, applying to jobs, and so on requires reading and writing abilities.
Tip: Make a routine of reading the newspaper every morning, to get an overview of current events and also pay attention to technical writing details. Aim to read at least one book a month – you can achieve this by e.g. setting a goal of spending 30 minutes reading each night before bed.
Research skills
Research skills involve identifying the right questions, finding credible sources, and using effective searching strategies. These skills help you gather information, analyze data, get a better overview of a topic, field, or particular case, helping you make informed decisions and communicate more credibly.
Tip: Be critical and learn how to distinguish valid, trustworthy sources – for instance by applying the CRAAP test. Ask questions like: “Is the source up to date?” Is this article published by professionals? Is the information supported by empirical evidence? It is also important to be open to new ideas and perspectives that may challenge your original conceptions.
Listening skills/active listening
Active listening is the ability to fully concentrate, understand, respond, and remember what is being said in a conversation. This skill enhances communication and ensures that you accurately receive information. This will also help you better connect with your conversation partner, and they will find you more agreeable and comfortable to talk with – hence, strengthening your emotional connection
Tip: Instead of focusing on what to say next, practice active listening by summarizing in your head what the speaker has said before responding.
Communication skills
Communication skills enable individuals to clearly express their ideas, communicate their stresses/challenges, and delegate tasks to others. Writing and reading skills are both subsets of communication skills; oral communication is another form. Effective communication ensures your audience clearly gets the message you are sending. To be a great communicator, one must tailor this message to each new audience he or she encounters. Communication is important in the workforce, no matter what your position. It is also crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship.
Tip: Look into the field of rhetorics to become more persuasive when speaking in front of an audience, and watch online videos of people giving inspiring lectures, such as TED talks on a subject of relevance or interest.
Negotiation skills
Negotiation skills involve discussing issues to reach a mutually agreeable solution. These skills are crucial in resolving conflicts, making deals, and achieving desired outcomes.
Tip: Focus on finding common ground and be willing to compromise. There are many tips online that can help you practice such skills. For instance, look up common sales techniques. These can be applied not only in a marketing context but in any situation where you find yourself in a position to negotiate – from a salary discussion with your boss to haggling the price of a new car.
Leadership skills
Leadership skills enable you to guide, motivate, and support a team toward achieving common goals. Effective leaders inspire confidence and foster a collaborative environment. Tip: Develop your leadership skills by seeking out leadership roles and learning from experienced leaders.
Creative thinking and critical thinking
Creative thinking involves generating innovative ideas, while critical thinking entails analyzing and evaluating those ideas for feasibility. Both are essential for problem-solving and decision-making. When listening to the news, how does one know what is true? Critical thinking is the answer. To be accurately informed, you must be able to think for yourself. As an adult, you no longer have a parent telling you right from wrong. You must be able to decipher this on your own. When solving any problem, critical thinking will be involved. You cannot be a fully independent person if you cannot think for yourself. If you rely on someone else to get your opinions, try to question what they tell you in a respectful way. Critical thinking also helps when developing new products or trying new ways to approach problems.
Tip: Engage in brainstorming sessions and practice questioning assumptions to enhance these skills. As previously mentioned, developing your research skills will also help you incorporate a more critical approach when presented with new ideas.
Numeracy skills
Numeracy skills involve understanding and working with numbers. These skills are essential for tasks ranging from budgeting to analyzing data.
Tip: Practice basic math regularly and use tools like spreadsheets to improve your numeracy.
Time management/organizing skills
Time management is the ability to plan and control how you spend your time to effectively accomplish your goals. Organizational skills help you keep your work and living spaces tidy, which in return can make you more efficient and spend less time on cleaning.
Tip: Use a planner or digital calendar to schedule your tasks and set priorities. Keep your home tidy and clean regularly. Taking a few minutes each day for small tasks like doing the dishes and putting your clothes back neatly in the closet is more time-efficient than having to spend hours binge-cleaning and mass-tidying your house when it gets too cluttered.
Cooking skills
Cooking skills involve preparing food safely and effectively. These skills are important for maintaining a healthy diet and managing food budgets.
Tip: Start with simple recipes and gradually try more complex dishes as you gain confidence.
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to understand your own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. This skill helps with personal growth and the improvement of interpersonal relationships.
Tip: Reflect on your daily experiences, for instance through a journal.
Employability skills
Employability skills are the transferable skills needed to make you a valuable employee. These include teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and adaptability.
Tip: Continuously develop new skills and gain experience through internships, courses, or volunteer work.
Humor skills
Humor skills involve the ability to use humor effectively to create a positive atmosphere. This can improve relationships and reduce stress. Using humor gives a more positive impression to others, especially affiliative humor; telling jokes and banter that appeals to everyone [1].
Tip: Observe and learn from comedians or speakers to incorporate humor into your interactions.
Teaching skills
Teaching skills involve the ability to explain concepts clearly and help others learn. These skills are valuable in educational settings and in any role that involves training or mentoring others.
Tip: Practice explaining complex ideas in simple terms and seek opportunities to teach or mentor others.
Study skills
Study skills include techniques for effective learning and information retention. These skills are crucial for academic success and lifelong learning.
Tip: Use a variety of study methods, such as summarization, mnemonics, and spaced repetition, to find what works best for you.
Independence
Independence is the ability to think and act without relying on others. This skill is important for self-sufficiency and confidence.
Tip: Set small, achievable goals that will gradually increase your independence.
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and persist in the face of challenges. This skill is essential for overcoming obstacles and achieving long-term goals. Throughout the course of a lifetime, you will undoubtedly be met with challenges. Knowing how to persevere and learn from your mistakes ensures you can conquer the goals you set for yourself. When you fail, you must be able to get back on track and try again, or you will be limited by your comfort zone, and succeeding will be difficult.
Tip: Develop resilience by viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.
Self-discipline
Self-discipline involves regulating your behavior and emotions to achieve personal goals. Assertiveness is the ability to stand up for yourself while respecting others.
Tip: Set clear goals, create a plan to stay focused, and practice assertive communication techniques.
Passion for knowledge
A passion for knowledge involves a genuine interest in learning and self-improvement. This drives personal and professional growth.
Tip: Stay curious and seek out new learning opportunities, such as courses, books, and workshops.
Adaptability and acceptance of change
Adaptability is the ability to adjust to new conditions and accept changes. This skill is crucial in a fast-paced and ever-changing world.
Tip: Embrace change by staying flexible and open-minded, and view new situations as opportunities for growth.
Activities for developing life skills
Engaging in specific activities can help develop and enhance life skills. Here are five effective activities:
- Group projects: Participating in group projects fosters teamwork, communication, and leadership skills by working collaboratively to achieve common goals.
- Debates: Engaging in debates helps improve critical thinking, public speaking, and persuasive communication by articulating and defending viewpoints.
- Volunteer work: Volunteering offers opportunities to develop empathy, resilience, and problem-solving skills while giving back to the community.
- Budgeting exercises: Practicing budgeting helps enhance financial literacy, numeracy skills, and self-discipline by managing and allocating financial resources effectively.
- Cooking classes: Enrolling in cooking classes can improve self-care, time management, and creativity by learning to prepare nutritious meals.
These activities provide practical, hands-on experiences that build essential life skills meaningfully and engagingly.
Pro Tip From HIGH5
When setting goals for life skill development, ensure they leverage your top strengths identified by the HIGH5 assessment. This strengths-based approach can accelerate your progress and increase your motivation.
Practical skills for everyday life
Most people need certain essential life skills to successfully navigate their careers and personal lives. While there is no definitive list of skills all adults must have, some skills seem to be extremely important to most people. These skills include:
- Parenting skills
- Relationship skills
- Financial literacy and managing finances
- Self-care
- Technological skills
Parenting skills
For anyone who has kids, necessary skills include being loving, managing stress, maintaining independence, teaching effectively, listening, managing behavior, practicing self-care, and many more.
By implementing these aspects in their upbringing, kids will feel more open to communicating with you. Their behavior will improve and they will be on track for a healthy and happy future life. Acquiring these skills is surely hard work, but it pays off in the long run.
Relationship skills
Relationship skills are essential for everyone, not those in romantic relationships. These skills also help you effectively communicate with friends, colleagues, networking partners, and other individuals. In romantic relations, they will ensure both parties feel loved, understood, and comfortable. A wide range of skills are included in the category of relationship skills: emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, verbal and nonverbal communication skills, empathy, active listening, and team-building skills are all examples.
Financial literacy and managing finances
Money is a major part of being an adult. To be financially stable, you must understand how to effectively spend, make, save, and even donate money. Part of having financial skills is deciding which items are worth spending money on and which are not. A good way to determine this is to consider the necessity of an item; ask yourself how much it will improve your life. Creating budgets and sticking to them is another way to be more in control of your finances. Saving for retirement, a future business venture, or a child’s college fund all involve being financially accountable.
Self-care
Self-care involves taking actions to maintain your physical and mental health. This includes proper hygiene and a balanced diet. Life can get stressful at times, and many individuals turn to bad habits when coping with stress. They may neglect their hygiene, start eating unhealthily, cease exercising, or start smoking. Knowing how to avoid these habits and instead focus on healthy habits is crucial. Potential ways to care for oneself include going to the gym, taking a shower, reading, listening to music, and eating healthy. Taking care of your body and mind will help you be productive, healthy, and positive. Establish a daily self-care routine that includes exercise, healthy eating, and relaxation.
Technological skills
To navigate today’s digital world, you must have an understanding of technology. This does not mean you have to be a Python coder with a doctoral degree. Rather, you must know how to effectively utilize technology to your advantage. Ensure you can communicate with others over the internet. Try using software like Discord for communication or some project management tools like ClickUp to make some of the more tedious tasks you have more enjoyable. In either case, technology is not going away anytime soon. Learn how to harness it to your advantage instead of distracting yourself with it.
Pro Tip From HIGH5
When cultivating life skills as an adult, refer to your HIGH5 assessment results to uncover your inherent strengths. Focus on developing life skills that complement your natural talents, and explore ways to leverage your strengths in areas like parenting, relationships, finances, and self-care.
Life skills for students
The list of skills students need to succeed differs from that of adults. Each student has their own goals, plans, and passions which could change the skills that are most important to them. Nonetheless, nearly all students need certain skills to be successful in school and beyond. These include:
Writing skills
Whether they are writing essays, emails, job applications, cover letters, presentations, or college applications, it is no doubt that students must be able to effectively write. Writing ensures that kids are able to take advantage of all the opportunities given to them. Few colleges are willing to accept children without a proper essay or high literacy scores. Additionally, if a teen is especially persuasive and powerful in their writing, more colleges are willing to accept them. Thus, their future could depend on having good writing skills.
Learning skills
Lifelong learning is incredibly important to students. If they get passionate about learning early on in life, they are likely to continue being passionate as adults. Learning and gathering knowledge benefits teens and young students in an immense number of ways. They expand their vocabulary, learn new skills, improve themselves, become better critical thinkers, gain new perspectives, and so much more. Being able to learn quickly also helps students be adaptable and willing to change.
Study skills
For up to six hours a day, high schoolers will be studying. Knowing how to effectively use this time and potentially reduce the burden of studying can help students set themselves up for success. Study skills are a relatively broad category of abilities, though. It involves learning, critical thinking, time management, organization, communication, and other skills, too. Students who have study skills can not only achieve better test scores but also decrease the amount of time they spend studying each day. This is applying the efficient “work smarter, not harder” mentality to studying.
Decision making
As students get older, especially when they reach high school or college age, they are expected to make more decisions for themselves. While some go on to make immense mistakes, such as starting to smoke or getting into fights, others take a more long-term and rational approach to decision-making. To choose the latter option, a student must be able to avoid peer pressure, stay focused, and put an emphasis on studying over short-term pleasures.
Having integrity
Young children may not have the ability to have integrity. They are not fully familiar with the differences between right and wrong. However, as the child ages and becomes a student, having integrity becomes more and more important. They will be faced with the temptation to do unintelligent activities. With self-control, they can avoid these. If they make the wrong decision, quickly admitting to it and moving on is far better than lying to others. In fact, a lack of integrity can cost students college admissions or force them to leave beloved friendships.
Life skills FAQ
What are the 5 essential life skills?
Every individual needs life skills to attain their full potential. If you are having trouble focusing on just a few, consider the following 5 as the most essential skills: interpersonal skills (including communication), problem-solving, leadership, interpersonal skills (active listening, empathy, collaboration, and so on), and organization as well as time management.
References:
- Johansson G, Holmberg K. Associations between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being in adolescents. Scand J Psychol. 2008;50(5):449-457. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12075.
