What is the importance of Life Skills in 21st century human life?

Academic achievement is undeniably important. 

What is the importance of Life Skills in 21st century human life? Its relevance cannot be overlooked.

Life’s success extends far beyond test scores, as much as academic excellence paves the way for further education and career opportunities, a strong skill set in basic life skills is equally essential for navigating everyday life and achieving well-rounded success. 

As a Human being that is gifted with numerous potentials, which is exhibited in our capacity to engage in things such as inventions, applaudable social services, and other outstanding achievements in all spheres of life. 

All of this isn’t built upon academic skills alone but essentially on basic life skills, these skills equipped us with utilization strategies.

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What is Life Skills?

Basic life skills are a set of foundational abilities that empower individuals to function effectively in everyday life. 

They are seen as skills that are acquired via learning or direct life experiences that make sure an individual deals with whatever life is present. 

These skills encompass a wide range, that includes communication skills, self-help skills, financial literacy, time management, adaptability, critical thinking, teamwork, decision-making, collaboration skills, and personal and social responsibility amongst others.

Who's 10 Core Life Skills 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 8 major life skills have been identified. These are:

1. Self-awareness
2. Empathy
3. Thinking outside the box
4. Conflict resolution
5. Problem solving skills 
6. Good interpersonal relationship
7. Stress management 
8. Emotion management
9. Effective communication 
10. Decision making.

What is the importance of Life Skills in 21st century human life?

Self-Help Skills 

Self-help skill is also referred to as adaptive skills, they are the everyday practical skills to function efficiently and independently. 

This skill is broadly categorized into four aspects of life needs:

1. Self-feeding
2. Self-bathing and body grooming
3. Toileting and general hygiene
4. And helping with chores.

READ ALSO: 10 Unique Life Skills for Teens to Make the Most of Life Before 30's

Decision Making

The need to make a rational and well-informed decision cannot be overruled as one grows, this is what decision-making skill teaches, embedded in it the analytic skills, collaboration, and critical thinking, These skills present themselves in the form of anchoring brainstorming sessions, collection of feedbacks from colleague and close members, researching market trend and their impact amongst others. 

To be a good decision maker you must be able to:

1. Identify essential factors that may hinder good decision-making.
2. Make an evaluation of the options and prioritize.
3. Anticipate outcome and seek logical consequences
4. Navigate risks and obstacles
5. Reason well in context and do analysis.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a word that originates from the Greek word ‘Kritikos’ meaning the ability to “discern or judge”. 

It is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication. 

It can also be seen as a form of thinking that questions, analyzes, makes inferences, evaluates, and makes judgments about what one hears, says, or writes.

This skill is essentially important because it gives room for connecting logical ideas and creating a bigger and clearer picture.

Collaboration Skill

The Yoruba adage that says a single tree cannot make a forest is so relatable to human endeavor. 

At one point in your life, you will have to depend on someone for one thing the order to make success an event or activity, learning this skill is crucial for successful interpersonal relationships as it is all about working well with others to achieve a common goal, though not just about solely on achievement of a task but, about creating an accommodating sphere of workspace, resolving conflicts and building teamwork.

This skill is thus essential in one's work life, so aside from your academic achievements, this skill will make you thrive in your field of work.

The key ingredients for excelling in this collaboration stage of your life are effective communication, being open-minded to ideas, and conflict management.

Adaptability Skill

Adaptability skills are the traits that allow you to adjust quickly to changes, and evolvement in life, work space, and the environment at large. 

As an individual ready to gear up his or her adaptability the need to change the way you learn, think, work, and interact with people is very essential. 

By constantly being aware that change is dynamic the better for our adaptive skill building. 

Adapting generally revolves around 9 abilities, these are:

1. Ability to embrace growth.
2. Ability to stay abreast of what is going on around you.
3. Ability to keep up the continuous learning spirit.
4. Ability to communicate well.
5. Ability to develop problem-solving skills
6. Ability to be open-minded to feedback and criticism.
7. Ability to be flexible
8. Ability to improve on your time management.
9. Ability to seek cross-sessional experiences.

What is the purpose of Life Skills?

Imagine a brilliant student graduating with top honors, yet struggling to manage their finances, cook a healthy meal, or maintain a clean living space. 

This scenario highlights the gap between academic knowledge and practical life skills. 

Thus, life skills are the essential abilities we need to navigate the complexities of everyday life. 

They empower us to be independent, responsible, and adaptable individuals. Some relevant purposes of Life skills are:

1. Increased Independence
2. Improved Problem-Solving Abilities
3. Enhanced Self-Confidence
4. Stronger Relationships
5. Improved Time Management

READ ALSO: 12 Proven Strategies For Novice Career Builders | Life-Changing Tips

How to promote life skills

Life skills are learnable and can be nurtured throughout life. 

Some strategies perceived to help cultivate these valuable skills in yourself are:

Horn your interpersonal skills

The skill you depend on to communicate and interact with others either verbal or non-verbal communication is an interpersonal skill. 

To hone your life skills, you must be eager to improve your interpersonal skills. 

By actively listening to what people say, ask for rephrasing before you give a reply to be sure you are on the same page with the person you are communicating with and also avoid missing information. 

Giving constructive criticism is also an avenue to build your interpersonal skills that in turn will help your life skills overall

Keep learning

Learning they say never ends, to improve your life skills, you must be ever willing to learn because learning equips you with how to face hurdles and negative life occurrences. 

It enables you to see a solution amidst the problem as your mind sharpens. 

These can be achieved via taking up courses, reading books, having a mentor-mentee relationship as well as interacting with people. 

It is also important to be social.

Seek the service of a life coach

The easiest and quickest way to learn life skills is to hire a life skill coach who helps you draft a plan based on your crucial area of needs. 

A life coach is a trained personnel saddled with the responsibility of helping people strengthen their life skills

Be positively Oriented

Failure is not the end of life but an opportunity to re-strategize, by not seeing hurdles as a curse but as an avenue to grow, this positive spirit will help harness your life skills also surrounding yourself with a positive spirit individual is crucial to your life skill journey as they will help you see the light and be your cheerleader amidst all odds.

Introspection Is the Key

Introspection gives you an insight into your capabilities and limitations that can help you grow. 

By developing self-awareness this can be made known. For a successful self-aware practice adopt performance feedback techniques to understand areas that require improvement. 

Also, be sure to always look for opportunities to enhance your skill set to increase your performance at work.

Promote Open-Minded 

Be open to criticism and see it as an avenue to grow, and encourage the expression of minds and feelings without being sentimental about it. 

This will help you improve your confidence and interpersonal relationships.

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FAQs on What is the importance of Life Skills in 21st century human life?

1. How can I start teaching basic life skills to my child?

Very simple to start as early as possible at an early age, by practicing a basic independence approach.  

Facilitate your wards to dress by themselves, arrange their turn after use at an appropriate place complete age-appropriate tasks. 

As they grow older, gradually introduce more complex life skills.

2. What are some resources for teaching life skills?

We are in the world of creativity various authors have emerged to suit the nature of the individuals we have now, we have online books and catalogs to shop for age-appropriate videos on life skills, and there are after-school programs that often offer workshops or programs focused on life skills development.

3. How can I encourage my child to learn life skills?

Make learning fun!  Don’t be too rigid take your time to get to know your child and use approaches that best suit the way they are wired. Consider your child's feelings, involve them in some decision-making in the house, turn chores into games, involve children in meal planning and grocery shopping, and highlight the benefits of being independent and responsible. Celebrate their progress and achievements to keep them motivated.