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.

This page provides a broad, general introduction to the concept of life skills. We explore traditional frameworks, modern 21st-century life skills, and point you towards other pages that you may find useful for developing your own abilities.

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What are the most important life skills?

While there is no single definitive list of essential life skills for adults, the abilities that are universally valuable for personal and professional success generally include:

• Communication and interpersonal skills

• Decision-making and problem-solving

• Creative and critical thinking (the "4 Cs")

• Emotional intelligence and self-awareness

• Resilience, adaptability, and self-control

• Digital literacy and financial management

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Defining Life Skills: From WHO to the 21st Century

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

• 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, coupled with the ability to assess information carefully.

• 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 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 the ability to cope with problems. This describes the ability to recover from setbacks and treat them as opportunities to learn.

Modern 21st-Century Life Skills

As the world has evolved, so too have the skills required to thrive. Today, the WHO framework is heavily supplemented by what educators and employers call 21st-century skills. These include:

• The 4 Cs: Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication. These overlap with the WHO list but place a heavier emphasis on working effectively in modern, diverse teams.

• Digital Literacy: In our heavily connected world, knowing how to safely navigate the internet, manage screen time, and practice digital etiquette is an absolute necessity.

• Adaptability and Agility: With the rapid pace of change driven by technology and global shifts, the ability to pivot, unlearn outdated methods, and embrace new environments is paramount.

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 organise yourself for study and do research.

• When buying a house, you may need to employ negotiation skills, and you will certainly need plenty of patience.

• You'll need to work on your employability skills to get a job, and think about how you might cope in an interview.

• When you start a family, you'll need parenting skills. You may also find that time management and organising skills become much more important.

Examples of Essential Everyday Life Skills

Skills You Need has many pages that can help you to develop these important abilities.

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

Personal Skills, Mental Wellbeing, and Self-Care

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

These include skills such as how we recognise, manage, and cope with emotions. Today, prioritizing mental wellbeing and self-care is recognized as a vital life skill. Being able to set healthy boundaries, manage anger, and mitigate stress can greatly enhance the quality of your life. You can find more about how to cope with modern pressures in our pages on Stress and Managing Stress.

Many people battle with low self-esteem and confidence, which can prevent them from reaching their full potential. Our pages on Improving Self-Esteem and Building Confidence provide practical ways to overcome these issues. Furthermore, our section on Caring for your Body explores the importance of food, diet, and nutrition.

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.

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 abilities, including:

• Effective listening skills, together with techniques such as clarification and reflection, to help prevent misunderstanding.

• Verbal and non-verbal communication, including tone of voice, body language, and how you dress. They can help to build rapport.

• Navigating the barriers to effective communication, which can otherwise lead to conflict.

Literacy: Reading and Writing Skills

Most people communicate, at least some of the time, using the written word—through emails, reports, text messages, and social networks.

Being able to write clearly and concisely is a very powerful way to communicate. Our Writing Skills section includes lots of help and practical advice to help you improve your writing, regardless of the medium.

Financial Literacy and Numeracy Skills

Developing or refreshing your numeracy and financial skills 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 by reducing financial anxiety.

We don’t all need to be great mathematicians, but an understanding of the basic principles of day-to-day numeracy and financial management is crucial. See our Numeracy Skills section for real-world examples. There is plenty of information about real-world maths, including budgeting, understanding interest, and managing loans and savings.

The Importance of Life Skills in Daily Life

To see how these skills overlap in reality, consider a standard day. You might use time management to get ready in the morning, emotional intelligence to handle a stressful commute, communication and critical thinking during a meeting at work, and financial literacy when reviewing your budget over lunch. In the evening, interpersonal skills and empathy help you connect with your family or friends. Life skills do not operate in isolation; they are an interconnected web that supports your overall wellbeing.

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Conclusion

Perhaps the most important life skill of all is the ability and willingness to learn. 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. Learning is not confined to formal education; it is a lifelong process that continually enhances our ability to cope with the challenges that life, inevitably, throws at us.

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