Life skills are categorized as any skills that improve your life or make life easier. These skills can be simple such as knowing how to tie your shoe, or they can be more complex such as knowing how to change a car tire. People can learn life skills at every new stage in life. Here, you’ll learn more about the ways that you can benefit from life skills and how it can enhance your life. Regardless of your overall goals, learning all kinds of life skills is considered valuable, impressive, and enriching for your personal and professional life.
What Are Life Skills?
Life skills are wide-ranging, help improve your life, and vary from person to person. For instance, knowing how to cook is just as much of a life skill as knowing a second language or being proficient in Microsoft Word. Regardless, those three aforementioned life skills all benefit your life in some way, whether professionally or personally. In addition, life skills vary from person to person based on several factors. For example, one person may know how to cook very well, whereas another person may not because they were never taught the life skills needed to cook a good meal.
Regardless of your reason for learning, life skills are incredibly important. Some life skills benefit you professionally. For instance, you could add a number of life skills to your resume to impress your potential employer such as second languages and understanding certain software. But not all life skills are related to career advancement. In fact, there are many life skills that simply make your life better by providing you with a creative outlet or peace of mind. When you know certain skills, your life may be made easier, therefore less stressful, and therefore improved.
Benefits of Learning Life Skills?
Many life skills can save you money in the long run. Imagine you are at your house or apartment, and the kitchen sink starts to leak. You have the option to call a plumber, but that is going to be costly. If you know basic plumbing, you may be able to fix the leak and therefore avoid spending money unnecessarily. Similarly, if you can change your own oil, you don’t have to spend as much money on your car by taking it to the auto shop. By providing for yourself, being resourceful, and learning new skills, your life can be easier, and you can have extra cash in your pocket.
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Plus, learning life skills can help you make new friends, become a part of new communities, or impress a potential partner. For example, if you learned how to cook an intricate meal, that is a life skill that can really make an impression on your next date night. Maybe you want to join a club related to your desired life skill. By joining a class, club, and being a part of an organization, you could meet other individuals who value your learned skill as much as you do. Meeting like-minded individuals who will encourage you while learning your skill is a great support to have.
There are many life skills that are advantageous in the professional world. To impress your future employer, you may need a few life skills that show you are an employee with determination, versatility, and a work ethic. If you work in a field where you often encounter people who speak different languages, knowing a second language is considered a life skill that many employers think is useful. If you were able to mitigate any language barrier issues in your place of work, that is incredibly advantageous and would help you make an impact in your field.Â
New Career
There are some life skills that can later become side gigs or career paths. In Astoria, the Ferrari Driving School offers Forklift Training and Certification courses that will certify you to operate a Class C forklift. Many trucking companies seek this kind of certification when hiring new employees, so it is a practical life skill that comes with expanded job opportunities. Not only this, but the certification allows you to load your own truck, which can cut out additional costs for your employer. It also opens up new job opportunities that you did not have previously. With the proper training, you will be operating a forklift in no time.
Practicality
Some life skills improve your life because they are practical and make your day-to-day easier. Some life skills can even be life-saving. For example, SureFire CPR in Corona, California, has a CPR, AED, and First Aid class that will equip you with all the necessary knowledge that could one day save a life. This class focuses on adult, child, and infant CPR as well as how to assist anyone who is choking or unconscious. Not only that, but you will receive a two-year certification as a result of completing the course. Having these life-saving skills is incredibly necessary for virtually everyone, whether you work with children, in a school, or just want to be able to help in the event of an emergency.Â
Saving Money
You can even save money by learning certain life skills. For example, the New York City College of Technology in downtown Brooklyn offers a Homeowner’s Guide to Basic Plumbing course that provides you with all the basic knowledge you may need to make home repairs in your apartment, condo, or house. At some point, you may encounter an issue with a drip, a clogged drain, or a toilet. In this class, you will learn how to install new equipment, stop leaks, and fix basic plumbing issues that would generally be very costly. This online course is hands-on and thorough, so you will leave feeling confident in your ability to take care of your own plumbing. You never know when an issue may occur, so it is proactive to be equipped with the knowledge to solve these problems.
Relieve Stress
Having a good grasp on certain life skills can relieve stress, thus improving your life. In fact, stress management is considered a life skill that many people struggle with. However, there are ways to learn stress management and live a more relaxed lifestyle. For example, the Yoga Prose: A Virtual Yoga and Writing Workshop is an online course that is designed to help you relax your body and release any built-up emotions. This session is taught by an experienced writer and yoga teacher who will help you identify how your body and mind are feeling. You will practice breathing techniques, stretches, and journaling. These courses are designed for personal development and stress relief so you can leave feeling lighter, happier, and more aligned.
Meet New People
Some skills are specific to how you interact with others as well. Interpersonal skills such as communication and empathy, are important aspects of any healthy relationship, whether the relationship is platonic or romantic. The Craft of Charisma, located in SoHo, New York City, provides a Dating Mastery Program to anyone who feels they need a little extra help finding their true love. This is an intense experience that promises to help you learn how to move past anxiety, set up conversations, initiate consensual physical touch, and accept rejection. All in all, you will learn dating techniques and coping strategies that will help you develop as a confident individual who is comfortable talking to your prospective partner. These classes are small, intimate, and provide in-field practice as well, so you will meet at a variety of locations and get ample practice talking to other people.
How to Start Learning Life Skills
There are many ways to learn life skills because there are so many different life skills to learn. However, traditional methods of learning are considered the most effective way to learn quickly and with ease. In-person and online courses taught by a professional and experienced instructor make the learning process simpler by being able to answer questions and assist you in real time. The classes on CourseHorse are offered from all across the country, are easily accessible, and will help you acquire your desired life skill in no time. Classes with interactive or hands-on approaches allow you to dive right into improving your life skills, which can help make life easier and more enjoyable.
For example, there is a course dedicated to helping women learn the basics of car repair and maintenance. The Empowering Women in Automotive course by Master Automotive Training in Rancho Cucamonga, California is the perfect way to acquire the basic life skill that is needed when you own a car. This workshop is interactive and fosters a welcoming and supportive learning environment for all students. Among many other useful skills, you will learn about fluid and oil levels, how to identify common car issues, and how to gauge the pressure of the tires.Â
There are also classes that help you navigate your surroundings such as the Native Plants 101: Identification and Gardening course offered by UW Botanic Gardens in Washington State. This online course discusses native plant species and how they grow the best within the environment. You may learn about new plants you have never even heard of and, as a result, you may choose to incorporate them into your own garden. Learning how to grow your own food and plants is an essential life skill that everyone can enjoy.
Other courses may help you advance in your career. For instance, the Effective Technical Writing online course offered by the American Management Association helps you improve your technical writing skills to better reach your intended audience. Technical writing is a unique genre that focuses on specialized content, conveys objective reasoning, and is accessible to audiences. This seminar provides you with techniques that help you write more clearly, avoid writer’s block, and develop an understanding of the reader's needs. Technical writing looks impressive on a resume and will give you a leg up in many different industries.
Some life skills appear more daunting than others. Becoming a brand new parent is a life skill that can cause quite a lot of apprehension. By enrolling in the online Childbirth Education Basics course by Birth Day Presence, you will feel more prepared and capable of bringing your little one into the world. This class offers a welcoming environment to all types of families and will educate you on a number of different topics such as birth preferences, pain medication options, and how to prepare your body for all the changes it will undergo. As the instructors are experienced doulas and childbirth educators, you can be assured that you are in safe hands learning from this course.
Key Takeaways
The main takeaway is that anyone can learn new life skills at any time. There are many factors to consider before choosing which life skill to learn, but ultimately, you can learn a new life skill at any point in time with enough time, dedication, and patience.
- Life skills are an assortment of skills that make life easier or better. They vary from person to person and the level of difficulty depends on the subject.
- For example, if you learn how to cook, that is a basic life skill. Some may find cooking more challenging than others for a number of reasons such as prior experience or knowledge of kitchen equipment.
- Everyone learns some life skills. It is important to always be willing to learn new life skills so you can improve your life, save money, help others, relieve stress, and have fun.
- Specifically, many life skills can help you advance in your career. By learning how to operate certain machinery, you may be offered a promotion at work. You can even turn a hobby into a full-time career, depending on the life skill.
- There are many ways to start learning life skills. You can find free resources online, but you will be left to your own devices if you have a question or encounter a problem while learning.
- While there are many ways to learn about life skills, formal training is the best option such as an in-person or online class. If you prefer to learn on your own or with a specific group, there are also private lessons or classes available through CourseHorse. Contact CourseHorse to find options for online or in-person classes, including private group sessions.