15 Skills School Doesn’t Teach You: How To
This article is about the skills that school doesn't teach us but are essential for life. I’ll give examples or a background of why the skills are important, how to start developing these skills, and provide tips for mastering each one of these life skills.
The article talks about 15 skills that are essential for life but not taught in school. Then at the end of each skill, there is a tip on mastering it or ways to make sure you don't forget what you've learned.
The skills school doesn't teach you can be just as valuable as the ones they do.
15 Skills School Doesn’t Teach You
How to find alternative solutions
What happens when life doesn’t go your way? Do you react emotionally? The skills you learn here go well beyond the school curriculum - we cover social and emotional skills as well. We can’t just rely on school to teach us how to find alternative solutions, how to deal with conflict, how to keep open mindedness, or how to be resilient.
School is great for teaching you the basics, but what about more unusual skills? “Side B” This is where situational awareness plays its factor.
However, if you want to be an innovative thinker, then it's highly important that you experiment with different skill sets. It’s impossible to know which skill will work best for you until you explore them all.
This is why I have taken the time to compile a list of 15 skills school doesn't teach you and what some alternative solutions might be.
How life works
Life is not how school works.
Skills you learn in school such as math, science, and reading are important to have. But it's not the only thing you need in life. There are many things that schools don't teach you like personal finance, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness. Employers want employees who can think critically and creatively solve problems on their own.
The skills that schools don't teach you are the skills that employers look for when hiring new employees.
There are certain skills you can't learn from a book, from a lecture, from your life experiences. The skills you learn in school are just the basics - the foundation for your success.
How to deal with mental problems
The most difficult thing to learn from school is how to deal with mental problems. This may be because the curriculum doesn't cover mental health and stress, or that the teachers themselves are not trained in delivering this information.
Some schools are beginning to introduce mental health classes in their curriculum. In most cases, schools will leave it up to the individual student to get help when they need it which can be a problem when they don't know how or even where to find help.
Please, never attack mental health alone, talk to someone, anyone. One solution I would recommend is to start JOURNALING. Its the building blocks in starting to trust yourself again with your own thoughts on paper not just in your head causing friction with your decision making and overall thought process.
How to self control
Self-control is a skill that has become less common due to the amount of distractions in our society. We need to learn how to prioritize and manage ourselves so we can be successful and fulfilled. Self-control is a skill that most people need to learn. It's not as easy as it sounds, and taking the time for self-reflection can be beneficial. Self-control comes down to our ability to regulate what we do, how we think, and what we feel.
The ability to control your emotions and thoughts can be an important tool for achieving goals.
Self-control, the ability to control one's emotions and thoughts, is an important tool for achieving goals. Schools usually don't teach self-control; they focus more on passing tests than on teaching students how to better themselves.
Thoughts are also a product of our biology, which means it is possible that your thought patterns do not suit what you want out of life. The best way to change your thought patterns is by practicing the skill.
How to stand your ground
Standing your ground is sprinkled with confidence, every time. So the question to ask, “How to increase my confidence levels?” the answer is Self Commitment. Self commitment leads to self confidence and confidence leads to standing your ground and trusting yourself.
There is a common belief that in order to succeed, you have to be willing to suppress your emotions and show no fear. That if you feel confident, people will think that you are too sure of yourself - or over-confident. I’m here to tell you, F*** em! don’t let the mass confuse your confidence with arrogance. Establish your values and goals, set a plan, trust your decisions, and trust the process. Only adjust after completing 70% of your initial plan, then reflect, adjust, and re execute.
However, the thing is that it is impossible for anyone to have these skills naturally. Instead, we learn them through practice and by standing up for ourselves when needed.
Also, throughout our lives we make decisions about how we act in different situations - it was never easy and it still isn't now. You need to know what's best for your own self-development and work on building a strong character.
How do you develop this skill? There are two main ways: one is by learning how to speak up and say what’s on your mind in a polite way (Tactically). Another way is by just refusing things that aren't good for you, even if it's hard at first. Saying no can be hard at first, but with practice it becomes easier over time.
How to deal with unpredictability
Life is unpredictable, but it is difficult to expect how we react to an unexpected event. To deal with the unpredictability of life, it is important to learn certain skills.
In life, there are certain things that you need to do in order to be able to deal with unpredictability. For example, you might want to learn how to cook or become more athletic. These skills can be learned in extra-curricular activities or classes at school or even through self-study and practice.
Athletics are a skill that many people don't know how to use until they need them. In the era of social media and reality tv, it's difficult for reality TV stars who have never really had any athletic experience to train and participate in competitions without a trainer from early age.
You can never predict what will happen in the future. The world is changing quickly, and one of the worst things you can do is to get stuck in a mindset that only has a few tools.
How to analyze & visualize
Universities and vocational schools offer numerous degrees to choose from: engineering, computer science, accounting and finance, law and public policy, journalism. But there is one skill that doesn't get much airtime: data analysis and visualization.
If you want to be successful in this era of technology-driven industries, you need to learn data analytical skills and how to visualize your findings with charts or graphs.
Google, data collecting company.
Tesla, data collecting company.
Analyze + Visualize= Situational Awareness
Situational Awareness allows you assess your environments so you know which mindset is required at real-time. Recognizing when to play offense or defense comes from analyzing the situation and visualizing a plan of action, parallel with Game Theory.
How to negotiate
The Art of Negotiation is the process of coming to mutually beneficial agreements by discussing and exchanging ideas with others. It can happen with two people, a group of people, or even when you're buying something from a store.
We should all think about our own personal objectives and what we want to get out of the negotiation before entering into one.
The negotiation process can be broken down into six simple steps:
1) Understand what each party wants
2) Brainstorm options
3) Set priorities
4) Come to an agreement
5) Decide on implementation strategy together
6) Check understanding and set expectations
The negotiation process is not always straightforward - it may require you to be creative depending on the type of job you are negotiating for and the amount of leverage that you have
How to learn
I know this may sound a bit ridiculous but I’ve learnt a lot of skills in life that were never taught to me at school, or even at university or grad school. The skills that are taught are often very general and don’t prepare us for the real world.
In my opinion, the most important skill to learn is how to learn. It takes time, effort and commitment but it is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Skills schools don't teach you this because it's not as profitable as say learning formulas or theories or debating tactics etc.
In order to learn how to learn we first have to identify what our strengths and weaknesses are which brings me onto my next point. We also need to work on those weaknesses and improve them by reading about those subjects/topics.
You need to know how to teach yourself.
There's so much information out there, you just need to be able to find it and make sense of it. In order to do that, you need the skills that schools won't teach you - like logical thinking, research and organization. There are countless opportunities available to those without a degree but those who have creativity and can learn quickly. Digital agency owners look for people with skills rather than degrees when hiring.
How to manage you
No matter how well you are doing in school, you will probably not be given the skills to manage yourself. Unless it's your major, or is a requirement for graduation.
This doesn't mean that these life skills don't exist. It just means that they are not being taught in schools to the majority of students.
Managing yourself sounds like a skill you might learn in a management course, or from a self-help book. But when it comes to your mental health, subconscious mind, and energy level, it's something you need to be in charge of every day.
No matter what your job is-whether you're an entrepreneur running your own business or an employee at a major corporation, you'll have more success if you can handle stress better, reduce the number of sick days you take and make the most of the hours that are available to you each day.
How to plan
Planning is one of the most overlooked skills in the school system and it is something that many people struggle with.
No matter what you do, you will have to plan at some point and it is important that you get better at it so that you can be as effective and efficient as possible.
The best way to plan is to write down your tasks and the time you expect them to take. Make an educated guess based on your previous experience.
The skills school doesn't teach you are the ones that will make you a successful in school & in life.
- How to plan and prepare for your future
- How to manage your time and energy
- How to be creative and innovative
How to wing it
It's about being able to think on your feet and come up with solutions when you don't have all the information. Learn to be a good listener, In Mogressive coaching we teach the law of neutrality. Listening is an important skill for any job, but it's especially important for those who work in customer service or sales. Listening helps you understand what your customers want and need so that you can provide them with the best possible service.
“Winging it” is a formal “guesstimate” based on the data you’ve collected and assessed. Whenever you wing-it, trust it and follow through. You are basically trusting your instincts or gut feelings.
Do me a favor and keep a record for two days, have two columns, one-side your gut feeling and the other side your rational/logical thinking. Whenever you are making a daily decision you either think the thought process all the way through “logically” or you trust you gut feeling. Which one do you think wins most of the time? Yep, your gut feeling. Always trust your gut feelings.
How to trust the process
In the long run. It's not about how much money you make or how many people know your name. It's about what you're doing with your life, and whether or not it makes a difference.
The first skill that you'll need to master is a trait called trust. Trusting that the process will unfold as it is meant to, even if you don't know how. Trusting that if you follow the basic steps and work at it, your results will grow exponentially.
Trust is a strange thing for some people. You might have been burned too many times and now find it difficult to place your faith in someone or something else. However, this necessary skill is also one of the most crucial in order to make progress in whatever field you are exploring. When we are faced with uncertainty and darkness, we must trust ourselves enough to believe that we can do better next time around or take another path altogether.
It is always good to be curious about the world and always challenging yourself to grow.
How to quit
There’s a difference between failing, failure, and quitting.
“Fail Elegantly” In Silicon Valley, there is a quote being passed around, “Fail Fast”. A lot of people have a vague notion that "doing the right thing" and "sticking to their morals" are interchangeable notions. It's not true, though. Doing the righteous thing isn't just about being willing to suffer for the sake of others, it's also about working hard and thinking creatively in order to find a solution that will make everyone happy in the end.
You need to know why you're quitting, what you want to do as a career and what your plan is.
The skills school doesn't teach you may vary from person to person. A lot of people who quit their job are not able to find a new one due to lack of experience or they don't have enough skills. If this is the case, it's important to look back on why you wanted to be in that particular position and the skills that you lacked in order for yourself not go down the same path again.
If this was just a temporary job and now that time has come it's time for something new, make sure that your future employer understands your situation as well so they can provide support in getting back on track.
How to collaborate
It’s not just about deciding who does what and when, it's about working together to find ideas and solutions for your problem.
The modern world and workplace is getting more and more globalized and polarized, there are more and more people from different countries working together. And while the skills school provides you with general knowledge, they don't teach you the things that are going to be the most important in a globalized workforce.
You will learn how to communicate with people who have a different cultural background than you. How to deal with people who have a different set of values than you. What kind of questions you should ask them when you first start working together to get an understanding of them.
What kind of questions that are going to make it easier for cooperation rather than conflict or misunderstandings.