“Life skills and soft skills make you smart life”

“Life skills and soft skills make you smart life”

Life Skills need for integrated happy life,for trend generation

Nalla vivekanand M.sc.MBA, M.Phil,LLB

“The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is not true.” -Antisthenes 444 - 365 BC

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes” -William James (Psychologist)

(You can change the way you think and feel by changing what you say when you talk to the mind.)

Psychosocial competence is a person's ability to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. It is a person's ability to maintain a state of mental well-being and to demonstrate this in adaptive and positive behaviour while interacting with others, his/her culture and environment. Psychosocial competence has an important role to play in the promotion of health in its broadest sense; in terms of physical, mental and social well-being. In particular, where health problems are related to behaviour, and where the behaviour is related to an inability to deal effectively with stresses and pressures in life, the enhancement of psychosocial competence could make an important contribution. This is especially important for health promotion at a time when behaviour is more and more implicated as the source of health problems. The most direct interventions for the promotion of psychosocial competence are those which enhance the person's coping resources, and personal and social competencies. In school-based programmes for children and adolescents, this can be done by the teaching of life skills in a supportive learning environment.

The Skills -This involves a group of psychosocial and interpersonal skills which are interlinked with each other. For example, decision making is likely to involve creative and critical thinking components and values analysis.


Defining Life Skills

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Described in this way, skills that can be said to be life skills are innumerable, and the nature and definition of life skills are likely to differ across cultures and settings. However, analysis of the life skills field suggests that there is a core set of skills that are at the heart of skills-based initiatives for the promotion of the health and well-being of children and adolescents. These are listed below:

What are Life Skills? Life skills are behaviors that enable individuals to adapt and deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. There are many such skills, but core life skills include the ability to: The Ten core Life Skills as laid down by WHO are:

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Empathy
  3. Critical thinking
  4. Creative thinking
  5. Decision making
  6. Problem Solving
  7. Effective communication
  8. Interpersonal relationship
  9. Coping with stress
  10. Coping with emotion
  • Inner to outer circle
  • Life skills education
  • across cultures
  • Mental well-being
  • Behavioural preparedness
  • Health giving pro-social behaviour


A review by UNICEF found that approaches relying on life skills have been effective in educating youth about health-related issues—such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; nutrition; pregnancy prevention; and preventing HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Life skills education programs can also be effective in preventing school dropout and violence among young people. Finally, these programs can lay the foundation for skills demanded in today's job market.


Self-awareness includes recognition of ‘self’, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is often a prerequisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.


Empathy - To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person. Without empathy, our communication with others will amount to one-way traffic. Worst, we will be acting and behaving according to our self-interest and are bound to run into problems. No man is an island, no woman either! We grow up in relationships with many people – parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts, classmates, friends and neighbors’. When we understand ourselves as well as others, we are better prepared to communicate our needs and desires. We will be more equipped to say what we want people to know, present our thoughts and ideas and tackle delicate issues without offending other people. At the same time, we will be able to elicit support from others, and win their understanding.


Empathy can help us to accept others, who may be very different from ourselves. This can improve social interactions, especially, in situations of ethnic or cultural diversity. Empathy can also help to encourage nurturing behaviour towards people in need of care and assistance, or tolerance, as is the case with AIDS sufferers, or people with mental disorders, who may be stigmatized and ostracized by the very people they depend upon for support.


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


Creative thinking 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).


Decision making helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. This can have consequences for health. It can teach people how to actively make decisions about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

Problem solving helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain.


Interpersonal relationship skills help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance to our mental and social well-being. It may mean keeping, good relations with family members, which are an important source of social support. It may also mean being able to end relationships constructively.


Effective communication means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means being able to express opinions and desires, and also needs and fears. And it may mean being able to ask for advice and help in a time of need. Coping with stress means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or lifestyle and learning how to relax. Coping with emotions means involving recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.


Coping with stress: 95% of all the diseases are created by stress. Wrong beliefs like “I’m not good enough” or "Something is wrong with me" cause up to 95% of all illness and disease. The membrane of the cell is the brain of the cell, not the nucleus. Our beliefs are stored in the membrane of our cells. Unless we are fully aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it at every moment, we are always acting on our unconscious programming stored as beliefs in our cells. Scientific research has established that stress is the core factor in physical, mental, and emotional disease. Discovering how unconscious physical, mental and emotional habits create stress, aging, addiction and disease, through awareness and simple lifestyle changes reclaiming youthful vitality, joy and well being.

Recognizing Mental Stress and Well being

Mental Stress Mental Well Being

• Saying ‘No', 'I can't' - Saying ‘Yes’, 'I can!'

• Disapproval Self/Others - Approval Self/Others

• Mental Confusion - Mental Clarity

• Thoughts of Fear, Anger, Grief - Courage, Acceptance

• Mental Tension - Relaxed, Creative thinking

• Wanting Control, Approval, Safety - Allowing, Being

• Mental Resistance - Allowing, Welcoming

• Judgment, Attacking, Blaming - Allowing, Forgiveness

• Constant Thinking - Spacious, Quiet Mind

• Resentments, Grievances - Forgiveness, Freedom

• Bored - Curious

• Deadly Serious - Playful Humor

• Complaining - Appreciation

• ‘I am Separate’ - ‘I am connected with the world’

Coping with Stress: (stress Brain Chemistry, Mental Health and Neurotransmitters) Mental health relies on neurotransmitters and hormones being produced utilized and metabolized properly. Hormones and neurotransmitters govern our moods, emotions, behavior, and sleep patterns, as well as every aspect of our physical health. Stress resulting from false beliefs causes imbalances of hormones and neurotransmitters. The diminished availability of just one neurotransmitter or a disruption in its path can adversely affect every aspect of life and health.

Suboptimal Neurotransmitter Levels

  • Depression, low mood, mood swings.
  • Insomnia, sleep disturbances.
  • Difficulty concentrating, focusing or remembering.
  • Autism, anxiety, irritability, tension, panic attacks.
  • Fatigue, lack of energy.
  • Migraines, headaches, PMS or Menopausal symptoms.
  • Weight issues, sugar, alcohol, food cravings.
  • Every thought has a biological impact on the body and emotions and influence our heart rhythms.
  • Thoughts of frustration causes a chaotic heart rhythm pattern creating stress and raising levels of the aging hormone, cortisol.
  • Thoughts of appreciation cause a coherent heart rhythm, and raise the youthful, happy hormones of dopamine and oxytocin.

Balancing Brain Chemistry Our thoughts and attitudes alter our brain chemistry. When the body and mind can make its own “feel-good” neurotransmitters again, the craving for sugar and alcohol disappears. True peace, joy, optimism and centeredness replace mental and physical fatigue, anxiety, depression and nervousness.

Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins Created Naturally –Lowering Stress

  • MEDITATION, HEARTMATH produces optimum levels.
  • POSITIVE THINKINING – raises levels.
  • DEEP BREATHING is one of the most important ways.
  • SUNLIGHT bright light increases.
  • EXERCISE one of the best natural ways.
  • ELIMINATING SUGAR – Sugar creates imbalance.
  • SPENDING QUALITY TIME with loved ones.
  • SEX is a powerful producer.
  • LAUGHTER and smiling have a positive effect on.
  • OMEGA 3 and VITIMIN C increase levels.
  • EAT SPICY FOODS like chilies', peppers and jalapenos.
  • EAT fruits, vegetables, lean protein, nuts and seeds.

Coping with Emotional: Emotional Factors in Mental well being our feelings are a wonderful barometer of our well being. When we are not caught up in negative thinking, our feelings remain positive, and we feel joyful, loving and peaceful. When we are feeling fearful, angry, or depressed it is a sure sign that our thoughts have become negative and dysfunctional. Developing this awareness and making the decision to eliminate negative thinking can be dramatically life changing. Alter your own brain chemistry with thoughts of appreciation, gratitude, joy and love.

  • Emotional signs
  • Irritability People are low information processors—max out on info processing when stressed b/c constantly thinking of things, More information makes you angry, see everything as serious
  • Sadness, depression
  • Apathy
  • Anxiety Free-floating anxiety: constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop
  • Mental fatigue Forget things, what you meant to do
  • Overcompensate or live in denial by taking on extra work

Coping and self-management skills refer to skills to increase the internal locus of control, so that the individual believes that they can make a difference in the world and affect change. Self esteem, self-awareness, self-evaluation skills and the ability to set goals are also part of the more general category of self-management skills. Anger, grief and anxiety must all be dealt with, and the individual learns to cope loss or trauma. Stress and time management are key, as are positive thinking and relaxation techniques.

The Skills -This involves a group of psychosocial and interpersonal skills (described in section 3) which are interlinked with each other. For example, decision making is likely to involve creative and critical thinking components and values analysis. Under five main headings relating to: concerns shared by the organizations represented; the definition of “life skills”; the reasons for teaching life skills; life skills education in schools today; and life skills outside schools. Identified in relation to life skills education included the need to:


  1. Strengthen and improve school health;
  2. Promote the development of long-term and holistic life skills curricula in schools;
  3. Promote democracy, gender equality and peace;
  4. Prevent health and social problems including psychoactive substance use, HIV/AIDS, adolescent pregnancy and violence.
  5. The needs of adolescents;
  6. The importance of supporting life skills initiatives for children who do not attend School


Why teach life skills?

  • That the life skills are essential for: The promotion of healthy child and adolescent development; primary prevention of some key causes of child and adolescent death, disease and disability; socialization; preparing young people for changing social circumstances
  • Life skills education contributes to: basic education; gender equality; democracy; good citizenship; child care and protection; quality and efficiency of the education system; the promotion of lifelong learning; quality of life; the promotion of peace.

It was also suggested that the learning of life skills might contribute to the utilization of appropriate health services by young people.

  • Areas of primary prevention for which life skills are considered essential include:
  1. Adolescent pregnancy;
  2. HIV/AIDS;
  3. Violence;
  4. Child abuse;
  5. Suicide;
  6. Problems related to the use of alcohol, tobacco and other psychoactive substances;
  7. Injuries;
  8. Accidents;
  9. Racism;
  10. Conflict;
  11. Environmental issues.

The following reasons why life skills are essential for primary prevention were listed during a brainstorming session:

State of the art in life skills education in schools

  1. The Meeting emphasized that life skills education is already happening, and that it is possible for United Nations agencies to speed up its development at country level. Many teachers are already engaging in activities related to the development of life skills, but need support to create effective approaches to life skills education for health promotion and primary prevention.
  2. Life skills are generic skills, relevant to many diverse experiences throughout life. They should be taught as such, to gain maximum impact from life skills lessons. However, for an effective contribution to any particular domain of prevention, life skills should also be applied in the context of typical risk situations.
  3. Facilitating the learning of life skills is a central component of programmes designed to promote healthy behaviour and mental well-being. To be effective, the teaching of life skills is coupled with the teaching of health information and the promotion of positive (health promoting and pro-social) attitudes and values. The development of life skills requires modeling of life skills by school staff and a “safe”, supportive classroom environment that is conducive to the practice and reinforcement of skills. Furthermore, life skills education needs to be developed as part of a whole school initiative designed to support the healthy psychosocial development of children and adolescents, for example, through the promotion of child-friendly practices in schools.
  4. To be effective, life skills lessons should be designed to achieve clearly stated learning objectives for each activity. Life skills learning is facilitated by the use of participatory learning methods and is based on a social learning process which includes: hearing an explanation of the skill in question; observation of the skill (modeling); practice of the skill in selected situations in a supportive learning environment; and feedback about individual performance of skills. Practice of skills is facilitated by role-playing in typical scenarios, with a focus on the application of skills and the effect that they have on the outcome of a hypothetical situation. Skills learning are also facilitated by using skills learning “tools”, e.g. by working through steps in the decision- making process. Life skills education should be designed to enable children and adolescents to practice skills in progressively more demanding situations for example, by starting with skills learning in non-threatening, low-risk everyday situations and progressively moving on to the application of skills in threatening, high-risk situations.
  5. Other important methods used to facilitate life skills learning include group work, discussion, debate, story-telling, peer-supported learning and practical community development projects. Practical advice offered during the Meeting included: be humorous, and make it relevant!
  6. Life skills learning cannot be facilitated on the basis of information or discussion alone. Moreover, it is not only an active learning process, it must also include experiential learning, i.e. practical experience and reinforcement of the skills for each student in a supportive learning environment.
  7. The introduction of life skills education requires teacher training to promote effective implementation of the programme. This can be provided as in-service training, but efforts should also be made to introduce it in teacher training colleges. The successful implementation of a life skills programme depends on:
  8. The development of training materials for teacher trainers;
  9. A teaching manual, to provide lesson plans and a framework for a sequential, developmentally appropriate programme;
  10. Teacher training and continuing support in the use of the programme materials.
  11. The scope of life skills education varies with the capacity of education systems. Although programmes can begin on a small scale and for a targeted age group, as a longer-term goal life skills education should be developed so that it continues throughout the school years – from school entry until school leaving age. Life skills education can be designed to be spread across the curriculum, to be a separate subject, to be integrated into an existing subject, or a mix of all of these.
  12. The development of life skills education is a dynamic and evolving process, which should involve children, parents and the local community in making decisions about the content of the programme. Once a programme has been developed, there needs to be scope for local adaptation over time and in different contexts.
  13. In the short term (after 3-6 months of implementation), the effectiveness of a life skills programme can be measured in terms of the specific learning objectives of the life skills lessons, and factors such as changes in self-esteem, perceptions of self-efficacy, and behavioural intentions. Only in the longer term (after at least a year) is it feasible to evaluate life skills education in terms of the prevention of health-damaging and antisocial behaviour, e.g. smoking and use of other psychoactive substances, or incidence of delinquent behaviour. Additional factors may be measured to assess the impact of a life skills programme, such as the effect of life skills education on school performance and school attendance.
  14. Evaluation of life skills education should include a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment. Qualitative assessment gives an indication of how well the programme is implemented and received. This is an important aspect of evaluation, which has an effect on the interpretation of quantitative research findings.

Life skills outside school

  1. Current knowledge about life skills education internationally is derived chiefly from the school setting. There is a need for greater understanding of the nature of life skills education for young people who are not attending school, in order to identify the best strategies for supporting effective life skills initiatives to reach out-of-school children and adolescents. There was a consensus among participants that the development of life skills initiatives out of school requires special attention from United Nations agencies.
  2. Different types of life skills intervention to reach out-of-school children and adolescents were identified:

(1) Life skills in action. This involves the modeling of life skills using methods such as video films, puppet shows and cartoons (in magazines, newspapers and on television). Such initiatives can be coupled with support materials to introduce discussion about the scenarios presented. The support materials can be developed for implementation by peer or other educators in settings such as youth clubs. UNICEF’s Sara and Meena projects are of this type.2

(2) Life skills training workshops. Short courses of life skills training can be carried out with children and adolescents who participate in sports and recreational clubs. Life skills training workshops can also be integrated into existing courses offering training in livelihood or vocational skills.

(3) Life skills for vulnerable children and adolescents. There is a need for life skills interventions to reach vulnerable children such as street children, sexually exploited and working children, and orphans. Little is known about life skills interventions with vulnerable young people, although there are many indications that life skills play an important role in determining which children cope in difficult circumstances. One suggestion made during the Meeting was to start from what the children are interested in and experiencing and to use that as a basis for building life skills sessions with them. However, that would mean a less structured approach, implying an additional need for well trained educators.

  1. All these three approaches to life skills learning are most likely to rely on short-term interventions. Given the limitations on access to out-of-school children and adolescents over an extended period, an important consideration in the development of life skills interventions will be to identify what is the minimum intervention required to have a positive impact.

KEY ISSUES & CONCERNS OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

  1. Developing an Identity

Self – awareness helps adolescents understand themselves and establish their personal identity. Lack of information and skills prevent them from effectively exploring their potential and establishing a positive image and sound career perspective.

  1. Managing Emotions
  2. Adolescents have frequent mood changes reflecting feelings of anger, sadness, happiness, fear, shame, guilt, and love. Very often, they are unable to understand the emotional turmoil
  3. They do not have a supportive environment in order to share their concerns with others. Counseling facilities are not available.
  4. Building Relationships

1. As a part of growing up, adolescents redefine their relationships with parents, peers and members of the opposite sex. Adults have high expectations from them and do not understand their feelings.

  1. Adolescents need social skills for building positive and healthy relationships with others including peer of opposite sex. They need to understand the importance of mutual respect and socially defined boundaries of every relationship.
  2. Resisting Peer Pressure
  3. Adolescents find it difficult to resist peer pressure. Some of them may yield to these pressures and engage in experimentation.
  4. Aggressive self conduct; irresponsible behaviour and substance abuse involve greater risks with regard to physical and mental health.
  5. The experiment with smoking and milder drugs can lead to switching over to hard drugs and addiction at a later stage.
  6. Acquiring Information, Education and Services on issues of Adolescence
  7. Exposure to media and mixed messages from the fast changing world have left adolescents with many unanswered questions

2The widening gap in communication between adolescents and parents is a matter of great concern.

  1. Teachers still feel inhibited to discuss issues frankly and sensitively.
  2. Adolescents seek information from their peer group who are also ill informed and some may fall prey to quacks.
  3. Fear and hesitation prevents them from seeking knowledge on preventive methods and medical help if suffering from RTIs and STIs.
  4. Communicating and negotiating safer life situations
  5. Sexually active adolescents face greater health risks.
  6. Girls may also face mental and emotional problems related to early sexual initiation.
  7. Resisting the vulnerability to drug abuse, violence and conflict with law or society.


Challenges faced by Young people: Developmental Challenges

As adolescence is the period of onset puberty to adulthood. During this period children go through physical, cognitive and emotional changes. For this reason it is very important for individuals to understand and be prepared for the phases of adolescence. During the adolescence stage the individual’s body begins to grow rapidly, size and the shape of the body changes, causing some teenagers to feel uncomfortable in their body. In addition to physical growth, teenagers also experience hormone changes and sexual maturation. These changes leave them confused, vulnerable and egocentric. Research reveals that these pubertal changes affect adolescent’s self image, mood and interaction with parents and peers (Berk, 2007).


However, if the adolescent is informed in advance about these changes, their psychological reactions are known to differ from those that have no prior knowledge about these pubertal changes. For girls who have not been informed about menarche the reactions could be shocking, frightening and disturbing. Similarly for boys who have not been informed about spermarche the reactions could cause mixed feelings. Moreover, information on these changes could help the young person to develop a more positive body image.


On the other hand, when teens have a poor body image, self esteem is low, relationships gets rocky. Conversations with friends shift to dieting and exercise, focus gears to how they look than on what they want to accomplish in life. In the worst cases, eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and other unhealthy behaviours develop. The media complicates this condition by placing standards for how girls and boys should look defining what is beautiful in our culture and society. Accepting and being satisfied with the way the body is transforming will have a positive impact on the self image of an individual. According to Ohannessian, McCauley, Lerner, Lerner and von Eye (as cited in Atwater & Duffy, 1999) young people who had high levels of self worth are able to cope well with the challenges they face, than the adolescents who had poor family adjustments.


Adolescence is a time for excitement, growth and change. Sometimes adolescents divert their energy into more experimental activities such as smoking, drugs, fighting and breaking rules. Often parents, teachers and care givers are concerned about these changes and believe that this is due to raging hormones. Buchanan, Eccles, and Becker (as cited in Price, 2007) stated that the advancement in developmental psychology and neuroscience explained this phenomenon as the result of complex interplay of body chemistry, brain development and cognitive growth. Nevertheless, these changes that the adolescents experience take place in the context of multiple systems, such as individual relationship, family, school and community that support and influence the change. Neuroscientists believe that by the time the young child reaches puberty, youth had undergone the crucial transformations in the brain development (Price, 2007). The ability to distinguish theory from evidence and to use logic to examine complex relationships and multivariable situations improves in adolescence and adulthood (Berk, 2007). This capacity to think about possibilities expends the mental horizon of the young person causing them to voice out their opinions in family matters, religion, political and moral system. These differences in opinion lead them to explore their boundaries in the quest of finding their identity and thus, involves in risky behaviours.


Environmental Challenges

According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (as cited in McWhirter, McWhirter, Mcwhirter, & McWhirter, 2007) individual human development takes place within multiple ecological systems. The Microsystem consists of people with whom the individual comes into direct contact, including family, school – classmates, teachers and staff. The family Micro system has a major influence on individual development because within this system the individual learns values and attitudes, which will have a long term impact in the future. Hence, the stability of the family, the parenting style, types of family problems and conflicts in a family will determine the type of stresses, conflicts and psychological effects on the individual particularly on adolescents. These ups and downs in the family cause parent-child conflicts, risky behaviours and mood changes in the adolescent’s life (Lahey, 2007).These situations lead to unnecessary stress, anger issues and low self esteem resulting in, low academic performances, and disruptive behavior in school and at home.

  • Provide a safe and supportive environment for all youth, including teenage parents and children and youth living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS. These young people need the care and protection of adults they can trust. This is a role for which teachers and other adults in the community may need training and support.
  • Work to meet the special needs of children and youth in unstable and crisis situations. Instability and adversity are normal conditions for many young people, and their vulnerability to sexual health risks can increase significantly during crises.

What is the Life Skills Education Approach? The life skills approach is an interactive, educational methodology that not only focuses on transmitting knowledge but also aims at shaping attitudes and developing interpersonal skills. The main goal of the life skills approach is to enhance young people's ability to take responsibility for making healthier choices, resisting negative pressures, and avoiding risk behaviors. Teaching methods are youth-centered, gender-sensitive, interactive, and participatory. The most common teaching methods include working in groups, brainstorming, role-playing, storytelling, debating, and participating in discussions and audio visual activities.

Are Life Skills Education Programs Effective in Improving Young Adults' Sexual and Reproductive Health? Over the years, life skills education programs that include sexual and reproductive health information have proven to be effective in delaying the onset of sexual intercourse and, among sexually experienced youth, in increasing the use of condoms and decreasing the number of sexual partners. Evaluation shows that life skills programs can contribute to the reproductive and sexual health of young people around the world. Some programs that have been proven effective or that have shown promise for improving youth's reproductive and sexual health are highlighted here.

How can Life Skills Help Young People make Better Choices concerning their Health?

Developing life skills helps adolescents translate knowledge, attitudes and values into healthy behaviour, such as acquiring the ability to reduce special health risks and adopt healthy behaviour that improve their lives in general (such as planning ahead, career planning, decision-making, and forming positive relationships). The adolescents of today grow up surrounded by mixed messages about sex, drug use, alcohol and adolescent pregnancy. On one hand, parents and teachers warn of the dangers of early and promiscuous sex, adolescent pregnancy, STDs/HIV/AIDS, drugs and alcohol, and on the other hand, messages and behaviour from entertainers and peer pressure contradict those messages. Often, they even promote the opposite behaviour. It is through life skills that teenagers can fight these challenges and protect themselves from teenage pregnancy, STDs, HIV/AIDS, drug violence, sexual abuse, and many other health-related problems. Hopefully, developing life skills among adolescents will empower girls to avoid pregnancy until they reach physical and emotional maturity, develop in both boys and girls responsible and safe sexual behaviour, sensitivity and equity in gender relations, prepare boys and young men to be responsible fathers and friends, encourage adults, especially parents, to listen and respond to young people, help young people avoid risks and hardships and involve them in decisions that affect their lives.


What does Research say about the Outcomes of Life Skills-Based Education?

  1. Developing of life skills have produced the following effects: lessened violent behaviour; increased pro -social behaviour and decreased negative, self-destructive behaviour; increased the ability to plan ahead and choose effective solutions to problems; improved self-image, self-awareness, social and emotional adjustment; increased acquisition of knowledge; improved classroom behaviour; gains in self control and handling of interpersonal problems and coping with anxiety; and improved constructive conflict resolution with peers, impulse control and popularity. Research studies have also shown that sex education based on life skills was more effective in bringing about changes in adolescent contraceptive use; delay in sexual debut; delay in the onset of alcohol and marijuana use and in developing attitudes and behaviour necessary for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Life Skills and Positive Prevention methods

  1. Getting Started
  2. Establishing Rules for our Group
  3. Listening Skills
  4. Various Forms of Communication
  5. How to Start and Stop Conversations
  6. Aggressive Behaviour and Assertive Behaviour
  7. Types of Group Pressure
  8. How to Say "No"
  9. Gaining Self-confidence
  10. Coping with Stress
  11. Coping with Anger
  12. Responding to Criticism
  13. Criticising and Praising
  14. Critical Thinking Skills
  15. Decision Making Skills
  16. Stages of Problem Solving
  17. Coping with Conflict
  18. Negotiating Skills
  19. I'm Unique
  20. Teenager: A Child or an Adult?
  21. How to Start Friendships
  22. Sustaining Friendships
  23. How to End Harmful Friendships
  24. Relationships with Members of the Opposite Sex
  25. Relating with Adults
  26. What are Drugs?
  27. Good and Bad Uses of Drugs
  28. Drug Misuse and Abuse
  29. Tobacco
  30. Alcohol
  31. Drugs and Other Toxic Substances
  32. Behaviours of Drug Users
  33. It's Okay to be Drug Free
  34. How to be a Responsible Person and Say "No" to Drugs

Soft skills Need to develop soft skills for enhancing the life.

  1. Personality & attitude Development,
  2. Failure Management
  3. Improving success ratio & Performance
  4. Team building
  5. Leadership basics
  6. Analytical and logical thinking
  7. SWOT Analysis (based on psychology test)
  8. Management a different perspective
  9. Communication Concept
  10. Communication Skills
  11. Presentation skills
  12. Public speaking
  13. Workplace skills
  14. Team Building
  15. Time & Time Management
  16. Stress & strain Management
  17. Personal Effectiveness

Benefits of Soft Skills training:-

  1. Enhance and improve employable skills
  2. The ability to communicate effectively with coworkers, employers, client s and customer s, friends and family members
  3. The opportunity to enhance organizational skills
  4. Improve Personal and professional effectiveness
  5. Helps in promotions and upgrading Skills
  6. Increased efficiency and leadership skills to improve team results
  7. Development of presentation skills to promote more successful projects
  8. Gaining the ability to recognize symptoms of stress and learning management strategies
  9. Soft skills represent a fundamental at tribute to today’s knowledge based economy.


The Workforce Profile defined about 60 "soft skills", which employers seek. They are applicable to any field of work, according to the study, and are the "personal traits and skills that employers state are the most important when selecting employees for jobs of any type."

TOP 60 SOFT SKILLS

1. Math.

2. Safety.

3. Courtesy.

4. Honesty.

5. Grammar.

6. Reliability.

7. Flexibility.

8. Team skills.

9. Eye contact.

10. Cooperation.

11. Adaptability.

12. Follow rules.

13. Self-directed.

14 Good attitudes.

15. Writing skills.

16. Driver's license.

17. Dependability.

18. Advanced math.

19. Self-supervising.

20. Good references.

21. Being drug free.

22. Good attendance.

23. Personal energy.

24. Work experience.

25. Ability to measure.

26. Personal integrity.

27. Good work history.

28. Positive work ethic.

29. Interpersonal skills.

30. Motivational skills.

31. Valuing education.

32. Personal chemistry.

33. Willingness to learn.

34. Common sense.

35. Critical thinking skills.

36. Knowledge of fractions.

37. Reporting to work on time.

38. Use of rulers and calculators.

39. Good personal appearance.

40. Wanting to do a good job.

41. Basic spelling and grammar.

42. Reading and comprehension.

43. Ability to follow regulations.

44. Willingness to be accountable.

45. Ability to fill out a job application.

46. Ability to make production quotas.

47. Basic manufacturing skills training.

48. Awareness of how business works.

49. Staying on the job until it is finished.

50. Ability to read and follow instructions.

51. Willingness to work second and third shifts.

52. Caring about seeing the company succeed.

53. Understanding what the world is all about.

54. Ability to listen and document what you have heard.

55. Commitment to continued training and learning.

56. Willingness to take instruction and responsibility.

57. Ability to relate to coworkers in a close environment.

58. Not expecting to become a supervisor in the first six months.

59. Willingness to be a good worker and go beyond the traditional eight-hour day.

60. Communication

Life Skills Education results in bridging up communication barriers with parents and other adults. It enables young people to handle stressful situations effectively without losing one’s temper or becoming moody, learning to disagree politely with use of appropriate “I” messages, and assertive skills are important for development of self esteem, positive attitudes, making a firm stand on values, beliefs and cultural differences. When an individual learns all the basic skills to cope with challenges individuals will feel more confident, motivated, and develop a positive attitude towards life, thus, make more mature and adult like decision, starts taking responsibilities for their actions and in turn refrain from risk taking and risky behaviours and become more useful people for the next generation.











Tonetta Smith

I think outside the box but understand the parameters. Consultant, Counselor, Educator, Speaker, Life Coach & Entrepreneur.

1y

I teach life skills and soft skills. I have thought they need to be taught together. When I found your article, I was speechless. This work is incredible, and I have changed a lot of my structure to your model.

Very informative and insightful.. Very useful and clarifies well. This is the best clarification ever that I read about life skill

Harleen Kaur

Content Marketer | Copywriter | Content Writer

2y

This article is quite insightful. Thanks for sharing

Is honesty a skill?? to be learned in a classroom? or a character inculcated/imbibed from the day you are born. I think common sense should be included in the long list and it shall cut the length of the list to a small one but all inclusive - COMMON SENSE, HONESTY, DEDICATION TO SOCIALLY PRODUCTIVE WORK and COMPASSION/LOVE. Thats the end of the list. The hardwork of the author is appreciated but the easiest way to fail is to make long list where one cannot prioritise - everything looks important. Do not confuse yourself with too many things. A few with focus will lead to victory. One main value with a supporting value is all that we need. Mahatma Gandhi just followed two values - Truth and non-violence (second gave clarity to first when he was in doubt), Mother teresa - Love and Service, Sri Krishna - Love and Peace, Sri Rama - Truth and Dharma (righteousness), Jesus - Love and Truth. Why are we wasting time on splitting hair - when it is sure to confuse us and lead to failure.

David L Brathwaite

Youth Commissioner/Life-Skills Facilitator at Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment

2y

this great stuff for training

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