Top 10 life skills

These are the most important life skills, those skills that allow us to progress.

If we were to ask someone on the street what they think are the most important life skills, they would surely tell us many, but all of them would be directly related to three main aspects: social relationships, development and good use of cognitive abilities and management of emotions.

There are several skills related to these three aspects that are present in practically everything, whether at work, at school, in the family, with friends or with a partner.

Among all the proposals of all the proposals on life skills, the most important the most important and considered the most "standard" is that of the WHO in 1999, ten skills in total that we will see in more detail below.

What are life skills?

The world is a diverse place, made up of about 7,000 billion people, each with their own particular personality, characteristics and skills. No two people are alike, but within this diversity we all need to have developed specific skills in order to thrive in life. These life skills are what enable us to survive and enable us to survive and cope with the social, physical and emotional demands of our existence..

There are several skills that we could consider as fundamental to life, and everyone might even have their own list of what they are. Most would agree that it is important to have a good relationship with others, to recognize our emotions and manage them, to accept ourselves as we are and to know how to make the right decisions. They would also stress that it is very important to understand others without making hasty judgments about how they are and to say assertively and kindly what our opinions are.

But of all the lists of life skills we could mention, the most important is the one proposed in 1999 by the World Health Organization (WHO). the most important is the one proposed in 1999 by the World Health Organization (WHO).The World Health Organization (WHO), an organization that lists 10 of the most important Life Skills or LSH, defining them as those skills necessary to behave in an appropriate and positive manner, allowing us to effectively face the demands and challenges of daily life.

These 10 life skills were originally designed to prevent problems directly related to public health, including the use of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis at an early age. They were also aimed at avoiding high-risk behaviors in the population, improving the population's health habits, preventing discrimination, promoting self-esteem and positive social relations, and improving academic performance, considered important not only in health, but also in cognitive and social aspects..

The main life skills, and their usefulness

According to the WHO, ten are the most important life skills, the first four being social skills, 5 to 8 being cognitive skills and the last two being skills for the control of emotions.

1. Self-awareness

As its name suggests, self-knowledge is knowledge of oneselfthat is, recognizing how we are in terms of character, personality, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Having this skill developed allows us to easily recognize which aspects we need to improve, allowing us to progress as people.

It is also important because before being able to deal with others it is essential to know oneself. It is necessary to know how we are in order to be able to see to what extent we are at the level of what our society demands of us and, therefore, if a change is more or less urgent. Knowing ourselves will allow us to motivate ourselves in life, to know what we need to achieve our dreams and achieve greater well-being.

2. Empathy

In essence, empathy can be defined as the ability to imagine what other people's emotions and experiences are like, even in situations with which we are not familiar..

This skill is fundamental to be able to understand how other people are, to accept them as they are even if they are very different from us and, thus, to establish social interactions based on mutual respect and understanding.

3. Assertive communication

Assertive communication is the ability to express ourselves in an appropriate, socially adequate way, but without hiding what we really think and want to say.. It involves both verbal and non-verbal skills and must take into account the particularities of the cultural context when communicating with others.

Having this skill well developed enables us to achieve our personal goals in a way that is socially acceptable and does not harm others. It is very important to take care of the way we say things, without disturbing our interlocutor, but expressing ourselves clearly and concisely.

This ability allows us to ask for advice or help in times of need, something that is not often easy for us. In addition, it not only involves asking others but also asking them if they are well, actively listening to them to know what their dreams and emotions are and thus trying to help them as much as possible.

4. Interpersonal relationships

Relating positively with others is a fundamental skill to be able to survive day-to-day life, since human beings are animals. since human beings are social animals. The skill of interpersonal relationships is a necessary ability to start and maintain good relationships with others, whether with a friend, a family member or a partner,

This is a fundamental skill to develop a good social and mental well-being, not only helping us to have good social relationships but also facilitating us when to cut with those who are toxic and do not bring us anything. Knowing how to have interpersonal relationships is not only to have good friendships, but also to cut with those people who endanger our mental health.

5. Decision-making

In order to have a successful and fulfilling life, it is necessary to know how to make good decisions. Of course, throughout our lives we make mistakes, but in most situations, as long as we have thought about what action to take, we will be able to survive the day to day.

Making good decisions involves knowing how to choose, behaving proactively, with initiative, decisiveness and being able to anticipate problems or needs.. It implies being consistent with those decisions we make, previously evaluating what we are deciding and knowing which is the best path to take.

6. Problem and conflict management

Closely related to the previous point, the management of problems and conflicts can be understood as the ability to solve problematic situations in an assertive, peaceful and functional way..

All problems in this life require some response on our part, since it is not as simple as simply ignoring them: problems do not disappear by magic.

As a skill, problem and conflict management allows us to deal with the Wide range of problems that arise in life, preventing these situations from becoming chronic and crystallizing in the form of physical, mental, emotional and psychosocial damage. Among the skills within this ability would be the ability to reflect, analyze, change and improve any situation, learning from it and growing personally.

7. Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is a very important skill in this life, directly related to problem management. It involves making decisions that are out of the norm, considering that a new alternative could give better results than what has been previously tried. than what has been previously tried for the same problem.

Creative thinking involves imagining possible scenarios before applying a new way to solve a problem, trying to understand if it is really worth trying and, in case it has failed, trying to recycle the same idea but taking a new perspective.

8. Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to objectively analyze information and experiences that occur in our lives.. Many times the information we receive from our family, friends, school and, above all, the media is biased or has been distorted in a way that encourages us to have a particular opinion.

Critical thinking would be the ability to try to go beyond what we have been given, seeing to what extent what we have been told is true and how much information has been omitted. It is necessary to analyze, compare and judge objectively the information we are told in order to be able to have our own opinion about a concept or social issue.

9. Managing emotions and feelings

Knowing how to recognize our state of mind and understanding the best way to modify it in a functional way is a key aspect for our mental health. Managing emotions and feelings is the ability to learn to feel, express ourselves emotionally and manage our feelings, understanding what we are feeling and how to cope with it. learning to feel, express ourselves emotionally and manage our feelings, understanding what we are feeling and how to cope with it, preventing it from damaging our daily life or damaging our social relationships.We understand what we are feeling and how to cope with it, avoiding that it can damage our daily life or harm our social relationships.

10. Tension and stress management

Finally, stress and tension management is a very important life skill, directly related to the previous one, which involves to know how to recognize when we are stressed, to apply relaxation techniques and to eliminate this stress or to channel it into something constructive. it into something constructive.

It also involves recognizing what are the sources of that stress, what effects it has on our lives and how its occurrence can harm our social relationships and work and academic productivity. Given that stress is already considered an epidemic, having well-developed stress and stress management skills is considered an extremely adaptive skill for 21st century society.

Summarizing

Although there are many criteria used to define life skills, the WHO considers ten to be the most important for our daily lives. These skills take into account social relationships, cognitive skills and emotional management, three fundamental aspects to be able to develop and progress as a fully functional person.

Having a healthy life is not only about avoiding risky behaviors such as taking drugs or having unprotected sex, but also about having a good social life, feeling successful in life and managing emotions appropriately. Having an assertive communication style, a satisfactory management of emotions and behaving in a prosocial manner are aspects that allow us to survive in the midst of the complex and diverse jungle that is society.

Bibliographical references:

• Mantilla, L (1999). Habilidades para la vida: Una propuesta educativa para convivir mejor. Bogotá.
• Melero, J (2010). Life skills: a model to educate with meaning Zaragoza.
• World Health Organization. (1999). Guidelines: Life Skills Education Curricula for Schools. Geneva, Switzerland.
• Cuartero, N. (2014). From self-awareness to social skills. Cuadernos de Pedagogía (442), p. 65.