Life is a constant learning curve, and low points are an inevitable feature of any curve. Thankfully, there are some core abilities you can develop to help you handle these ups and downs, gifting you with a more fulfilled, happy, and healthy adult life. If you’re ready to master the art of adulting, here are the essential life skills you’ll need:
1. Money Management
All things money—from budgeting to learning how to save—are essential life skills you have to master if you want to achieve financial goals and avoid challenges like debt. This includes acknowledging areas we struggle with and utilizing tools and resources to help us get the task done. Whether you need to find a tax return calculator, get a number-literate friend to help, or hire an accountant, getting your finances in order is the foundation of a stable adult life.
2. Health Literacy
Health literacy is your ability to use all knowledge and resources available to you to keep yourself well. You only get one body, and in most places in the world, health care is inadequate or expensive. With this in mind, you owe it to yourself to do the very best you can for your brain and body.
3. Self-Control
A major study published in American Scientist showed that children with excellent self-control were strongly predicted to be more successful than those with low levels of self-control.
The good news is that as an adult, it is never too late to improve your levels of self-control. Doing so can help you make better decisions, regulate impulses, have better emotional regulation and improve your chances of building considerable wealth, happiness, and health.
4. Stress Management
One of the best things you can do as an adult is learn how to care for yourself so you avoid unnecessary stress. Exercise, restful breaks, and the ability to establish boundaries are key facets of effective stress management.
Developing these skills is a complex journey but a necessary one. Chronic stress can cause irritability, headaches, anxiety, and depression, It can even increase our chance of developing serious illnesses and diseases.
5. Effective Communication
We all have different daily roles—employee, boss, mother, child, friend, aunt. To be our best in any of those roles, we have to be effective at communicating. This includes being good at reading body language and using your own body language effectively. It also requires you to develop your listening and speaking skills so you can gracefully navigate scenarios that might otherwise test your patience.
6. Adapting To Technology
Statistics show that the amount of older people (over 65) in America using new technology has grown in the last decade. We also know that there is a lot of ageism in technology, and more often than not, older people have to make the effort to be included in new digital changes. In fact, to some degree, we all have to continually learn to be more adaptable to new technologies in order to keep up. It is an essential life skill because everything is being digitized, and if you don’t adapt, you’ll get left behind.
7. Sleeping
Thanks to blue light technology, 24/7 stimuli, and the lack of effort we put into our sleeping environment, most modern adults are operating on some level of sleep deprivation. However, plentiful sleep is essential for a good life. Without it, we cannot function properly. So it pays to think of sleep as a key life skill and work out how to master it.
As long as you’re learning, you’re on the right path, becoming more aware, adaptable, and capable every day – which can only ever be a great thing.