Life Skills

LIFE SKILLS

The term ‘Life Skills’ refers to the skills we need to make the most out of life. Life skills are usually associated with managing and living a better quality of life. They help us to accomplish our ambitions and live to our full potential .Any skill that is useful in our life can be considered as a life skill. According to World Health Organization (WHO) Life skills have been defined as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”.

 1. Self-awareness

It includes recognition of self, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Creating self-awareness can help adolescents recognize when they are under stress or feel pressured. Self-awareness is often a prerequisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.

2.  Empathy

Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person. To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, it is important that we, during our adolescent years, learn to understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy can help adolescents accept others who may be very different from them. This can improve their social interactions; not just in peer group interactions in classroom settings but also later in life, in situations of ethnic or cultural diversity.

3. Critical thinking

It is an ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner. Critical thinking can contribute by helping the adolescent to recognize and assess the factors that influence attitudes and behavior, such as values, peer pressure and the media.

4. Creative thinking

It is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas).

5. Decision making

It is a skill that can help an adolescent deal constructively with decisions about their lives. Young adults can learn to assess the different options available to them, and consider what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

6.  Problem solving 

It helps in empowering the adolescent to look at a problem objectively, the different options for solutions and would help them come to a solution after weighing the pros and cons of the different options available.

7. Interpersonal relationship skills

 It helps the adolescents relate in positive ways with people they interact with in their everyday lives. This may entail being able to make and keep friendly relationships, maintaining good relations with family members and also being able to end relationships constructively.

8. Effective communication

It means helping the adolescents express themselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to cultures and situations. This means being able to express opinions, desires, needs and fears and also includes the ability of being able to ask for advice and help in a time of need.

9. Coping with stress

It is the life skill which means recognizing the sources of stress in their lives, recognizing how this affects them, and acting in ways that help them control their levels of stress, learning positive coping styles and replacing passive with active coping mechanisms. This may include changing their environment or lifestyle, and learning how to relax.

10. Coping with emotions

 It includes recognizing emotions within themselves and others, being aware of how emotions influence behavior, and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. A important aspect of this skill is learning to manage intense emotions like anger or sadness that can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.