A new year is an opportunity for self-reflection and planning. Many people make resolutions at this time. However, a few months into the year, these resolutions can become forgotten, and we may need help maintaining the goals we set for ourselves.
To avoid disappointment this year, focus on what skills you want to develop instead of making New Year’s resolutions. Concentrating on learning as a long-term goal can be more effective than resolutions like going to the gym or losing weight.
At SACAP Global, we offer short online courses to help you develop durable skills that add value beyond any calendar year. In this post, we’ll discuss practical life skills which you can develop at any time of the year.
What are life skills?
In other blog posts, we’ve discussed human skills and the importance of adapting our skill sets as technology evolves. While we focus on developing appropriate competencies for the changing workplace, building general life skills, or what we also call durable or future skills, is vital.
Upskilling in certain areas can have positive effects on all aspects of life. These focus areas include communication, navigating conflict and critical conversations, financial literacy, and managing mental health.
We’ll discuss these below and share some ways to upskill in these areas by taking relevant short courses at SACAP Global.
Improving communication
Communication is a highly underrated skill that is becoming increasingly important. We communicate all the time via text, phone calls, online and in-person conversations, but how well are we doing it? In a world overwhelmed with new information, clear communication is essential.
Managing conflict and difficult conversations
Technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) may improve specific processes and help us streamline data management and particular tasks. However, there is always the risk of potential conflict with any level of human interaction. People can’t interact without some level of disagreement. Therefore, learning how to manage conflict is critical instead of avoiding it.
Entrepreneurial skills
You might not want to run your own business, but entrepreneurial skills are highly valuable regardless of your work. Learning to be an entrepreneur can empower you with the know-how to live more independently, be more creative and learn tools for testing out your ideas in the real world. Intrapreneurs can also benefit from this skill set by applying these principles in their job roles.
Entrepreneurs also need to learn another highly underrated skill: financial literacy, a vital tool for navigating a complex world. Our finances can cause us so much stress, so it’s crucial to understand how to manage our money to cope better. Learning to manage our money also contributes to a sense of freedom and less time spent worrying about expenses.
Managing mental health
We’ve shared many articles on how important it is to manage your mental health. If you choose one skill to improve this year, this one might be the most beneficial! We live in a highly complex world, so feeling overwhelmed and anxious is understandable with so much information to process.
In addition to dealing with our present circumstances, we have all experienced adversity in our lives, some more than others. These problematic circumstances may have also left you feeling depressed, so you must find support to help deal with any negative experiences so you can cope effectively.
While you should seek professional help with any mental health difficulties you are experiencing, there are also many tried and tested practices that can support your mental health throughout the year. These include getting enough sleep, exercising, eating well, and finding ways to express your feelings.
SACAP Global courses to help you thrive in the new year
We’ve covered some of the broader life skills you can learn to set you up for a productive and fulfilling year ahead. To learn some of these durable and future skills, check our list of relevant courses below:
Communication, conflict management and critical conversations
These courses will help you to empower yourself with improved communication abilities and become more aware of how you interact with others:
- Effective Interpersonal Communication
- Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication: Relationships & Conflict Management
- How to Have Critical Conversations
Mental health
Our three flagship courses on mental health will empower you with tools to better manage your wellbeing and support others:
Entrepreneurial skills
By learning how to be an entrepreneur, you can be more empowered in your creative and management capacity, which includes learning more about finance:
SACAP Global will also launch a range of new courses in early 2025. Follow us on our social media channels for updates. For more information about other related courses, browse our course list.