UNIT-1

UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SKILL MANAGEMENT

LIFE SKILL MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION:
The term ‘Life Skills’ refers to the skills you need to make the most out of life.

Any skill that is useful in your life can be considered a life skill. Tying your shoe laces, swimming,
driving a car and using a computer are, for most people, useful life skills. Broadly speaking, the term
‘life skills’ is usually used for any of the skills needed to deal well and effectively with the challenges of
life.

It should therefore be clear that everyone will potentially have a different list of the skills they
consider most essential in life, and those that they consider unnecessary. Someone living in a remote
rural community might put driving a car high on their list of essential skills. A Londoner or New Yorker,
however, would probably rank that pretty low.

Defining Essential Life Skills

There is no definitive list of life skills.

Certain skills may be more or less relevant to you depending on your life circumstances, your culture,
beliefs, age, geographic location, etc. However, in 1999, the World Health Organization identified six
key areas of life skills:

 Communication and interpersonal skills. This broadly describes the skills needed to get on and
work with other people, and particularly to transfer and receive messages either in writing or
verbally.
 Decision-making and problem-solving. This describes the skills required to understand
problems, find solutions to them, alone or with others, and then take action to address them.
 Creative thinking and critical thinking. This describes the ability to think in different and
unusual ways about problems, and find new solutions, or generate new ideas, coupled with
the ability to assess information carefully and understand its relevance.
 Self-awareness and empathy, which are two key parts of emotional intelligence. They
describe understanding yourself and being able to feel for other people as if their experiences
were happening to you.
 Assertiveness and equanimity, or self-control. These describe the skills needed to stand up for
yourself and other people, and remain calm even in the face of considerable provocation.
 Resilience and ability to cope with problems, which describes the ability to recover from
setbacks, and treat them as opportunities to learn, or simply experiences.
It is also true that different life skills will be more or less relevant at different times your life. For
example:

 When at school or university, you'll need study skills. These may include understanding how to
organize you for study, do research, and even write up a dissertation or thesis. These are not
skills that everyone will need, but writing skills are likely to be useful in a variety of careers and
jobs.
 When buying a house, you may need to employ negotiation skills, and you will certainly need
plenty of patience and good temper. These skills are also likely to be high on your ‘essential life
skills’ list if you have children!
 You'll need to work on your employability skills to get a job, and will also need to think about
how you apply for a job, and how you might cope in an interview;
 When you have a job, you may need to develop leadership skills, especially if you need to lead
teams or groups;
 When you start a family, you'll need parenting skills. You may also find that time management
and organizing skills become much more important.

By learning new skills, we increase our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with
the tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life, finding ways to cope with the challenges
that life, inevitably, throws at us.

Most people associate learning with a formal education, but learning can, and should, be a lifelong
process that enhances our understanding of the world and improves the quality of our life.

It will be clear that Skills You Need has many pages that can help you to develop these important life
skills, and lots more.

These skills fall into a number of areas, including personal skills, interpersonal skills, writing skills and
numeracy skills. Each of us already has a number of these skills; equally, we will all recognize that
there are particular areas that could be improved.

Personal Skills

Personal skills are the essential life skills we need to help maintain a healthy body and mind.

These skills include many of those on the World Health Organization’s list, such as resilience, self-
control and self-awareness. They include skills such as how we recognise, manage and cope with
emotions. You can find out more about your personality type on our page Myers-Briggs Type
Indicators (MBTI) and our page Keeping your Mind Healthy is also worth a read.

Being able to manage anger and stress can also be essential life skills. Learning about anger and stress,
recognising what may trigger them (in ourselves and others), what the symptoms are and how to
control or manage such emotions can greatly enhance the quality of our lives. You can find more
about how to cope with stress in our pages on Stress and Managing Stress. We also have a section on
Anger and Anger Management.

Many people battle with low self-esteem and confidence, which can cause stress and prevent them
from reaching their full potential. Our pages Improving Self-Esteem and Building Confidence provide
practical ways to overcome these issues.

Our personal skills pages also contain a section on Caring for your Body, including more on the
importance of food, diet and nutrition, and why and how you should exercise to remain healthy.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

The second important area of life skills is interpersonal and communication skills. These are the skills
that we use to make connections with other people and are therefore an important part of what
makes us human.

Communication skills are generally seen as a subset of interpersonal skills, as are decision-making and
problem-solving, but both are important enough to consider in their own right too.

This is such a huge area that you may find that it is worth taking our Interpersonal Skills Self-
Assessment Test to find out how good your listening and other interpersonal skills are.

Communication and other interpersonal skills cover a huge range of skills, including:

Effective listening skills, together with techniques such as clarification and reflection, can help prevent
misunderstanding.
Verbal and non-verbal communication, include both how to use your voice and choose the right
words, and also the use of tone of voice, body language and how you dress. They can help to build
rapport.
Unfortunately, there are also many barriers to effective communication in any communication
situation. These can lead to misunderstanding or even conflict.

Literacy: Reading and Writing Skills

Most people communicate, at least some of the time, using the written word—through letters,
emails, reports, text messages, social network feeds and a host of other methods.

Being able to write clearly and concisely is a very powerful way to communicate, either one-to-one or
to a much larger audience. We provide articles that will help you to improve your written
communication and learn or refresh your knowledge on some of the fundamental rules of writing.

Our Writing Skills section includes lots of help and practical advice to help you improve your writing.
Numeracy Skills

Many people struggle with maths or numeracy. Developing or refreshing your numeracy skills,
however, can give you a real boost in life. Better numeracy skills can:

 Make you more employable;

 Help you to develop a better understanding of the world around you;
 Save you time and money; and even
 Improve your mental health.

We don’t all need to be great mathematicians, and we’re certainly not all rocket scientists, but an
understanding of the basic principles of day-to-day numeracy, arithmetic and maths will help to open
many doors.

See our Numeracy Skills section for easy-to-follow, real-world examples of basic numeracy. There is
plenty there about particular areas of maths that may be a struggle. The section also contains useful
information about real-world maths, including budgeting, understanding interest, and loans and
savings, all of which could save you money in both the short and longer term.

Lifelong learning and personal development

When you look at this list, it will probably be clear why a willingness to learn may be the most
important life skill of all!

There are so many important life skills, but it is also important to remember that you have been
developing these skills since you were born. Continuing to learn and grow is only an ongoing part of
that process.

DEVELOPING AN IDENTITY:

 Research your audience, value proposition, and competition.

 Design the logo and a template for it.
 Integrate language you can use to connect, advertise, and embody on social media.
 Know what to avoid.
 Monitor your brand to maintain its brand identity.

UNDERSTANDING SELF
1. Mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My
understanding of the word does not agree with yours.

2. Intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.

3. Superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should
have become a leader.
4. Knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an
understanding of accounting practice.

5. A state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and
goodwill were the supreme virtues.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS: Types of mental health problems

If you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health problem you might be looking for information on your
diagnosis, treatment options and where to go for support. Our information pages will help you learn
more.

Anger

Explains what anger is, and how to deal with it in a constructive and healthy way.

Anxiety and panic attacks

Explains anxiety and panic attacks, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Bipolar disorder

Explains what bipolar disorder is, what kinds of treatment are available, and how you can help
yourself cope. Also provides guidance on what friends and family can do to help.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)

Explains body dysmorphic disorder, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

Explains what BPD is and what it’s like to live with this diagnosis. Also provides information about self-
care, treatment and recovery, and gives guidance on how friends and family can help.

Depression

Explains depression, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support.
Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Dissociation and dissociative disorders

Explains dissociative disorders, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Drugs - recreational drugs & alcohol

Explains the mental health effects of recreational drugs and alcohol, and what might happen if you
use recreational drugs and also have a mental health problem. Includes suggestions for where you
might find support.

Eating problems

Explains eating problems, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support.
Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Hearing voices

Explains what it is like to hear voices, where to go for help if you need it, and what others can do to
support someone who is struggling with hearing voices.

Hoarding

Explains hoarding, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes
tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Hypomania and mania

Explains hypomania and mania, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Loneliness

Explains loneliness, giving practical suggestions for what you can do and where you can go for
support.

Mental health problems - introduction

Explains what mental health problems are, what may cause them, and the many different kinds of
help, treatment and support that are available. Also provides guidance on where to find more
information, and tips for friends and family.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Explains obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), including possible causes and how you can access
treatment and support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Panic attacks

Explains what panic attacks are, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Paranoia
Explains paranoia, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes
tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Personality disorders

Explains personality disorders, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and
support.

Phobias

Explains phobias, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes
tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Postnatal depression & perinatal mental health

Explains postnatal depression and other perinatal mental health issues, including possible causes,
sources of treatment and support. Also gives advice for friends and family.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Explains what post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD are, and provides information
on how you can access treatment and support. Includes self-care tips and guidance for friends and
family.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)

Explains what PMDD is and explores issues around getting a diagnosis. Also provides information on
self care and treatment options, and how friends and family can help.

Psychosis

Explains what psychosis is, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support.
Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Schizoaffective disorder

Explains what schizoaffective disorder is, including its symptoms and causes. Gives advice on how you
can help yourself and what types of treatment and support are available, as well as guidance for
friends and family.

Schizophrenia

Explains schizophrenia, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support.
Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)