“Learning new skills is fun and exciting, but it can also be incredibly challenging and daunting. Most people don’t enjoy being bad at something and failing over and over again. And yet, you’ll have a tough time learning anything new if you don’t see your mistakes as opportunities for growth, instead of as failure. Meanwhile, some skills are actually fairly easy to learn and can have a massive impact on your life. Some helpful internet users spilled the tea about what they see as top-tier, life-changing skills that you can learn in just a few short weeks. ”
1.
Reading books. I’ve just gotten back into it and I feel with every book I read, I learn something new, either about myself or about life or I just feel a sense of accomplishment!
2.
Self Control. It's way easier than you think. You start with delayed gratification. You can have the things you desire, but when you want them you have to set an arbitrary time frame that you have to wait to get them. Start with absurdly easy time frames, like 5 minutes. Keep extending the delayed gratification until you feel like you have better control over your impulses. It happens surprisingly fast and will start bleeding into everything you do. Suddenly, you will find yourself rationally navigating even the most impulsive situations.
3.
Emotional regulation.
Most adults are toddlers with bills.
Learning to pause before reacting is life-changing.
4.
Researching information and sources.
So much [nonsense] is fed to society that knowing what is a good source and good information is critical to making good decisions.
People make decisions every day so this is huge in the long run.
5.
First Aid.
It would change someone elses life far more compared to your own. But that someone could be a friend or relative making it life-changing for yourself as well.
6.
Sewing.
ghostwillows:
This! Mending clothes is the most useful for everyday and it costs almost nothing to start and modern clothes are constructed terribly.
7.
Saying “no” without over-explaining or feeling guilty.
8.
I estimate most people could become financially literate in 100 hours of efficient study: understand the basics of budgeting, saving/investing, banking, insurance, taxation...with potential cost savings of many thousands of dollars in the course of their lives.
9.
You could become decently skilled at cooking in a month if you tunnel focus. From there you can take control of your health,
finances and if you get really good, it can help your dating and [intimate] life.
10.
Correctly brushing and flossing your teeth. Remember kids, only floss the teeth you want to keep.
11.
Stretching every day. Spend 10-30 minutes a day stretching and some basic yoga moves, your flexibility will improve so much. Also get yourself a foam roller, my back and legs has never felt so good.
12.
Working out regularly.
It's a lifetime journey of learning, but it only takes a few weeks to start feeling comfortable in the gym & get over the worst soreness from starting weight lifting.
Someday, if you're *lucky*, you will be old. Working out regularly can be the difference between being in an assisted living or living independently. (Also being strong is ridiculously fun).
13.
Socratic journaling. Took me about a month to learn how to regulate my thoughts when dealing with anxiety. The best thing I could do for my mental health and it’s free.
14.
Practicing not eating mindlessly+snacking unhealthily. It [is a pain] for the first few days due to carb + sugar withdrawal, but your body adapts quickly and will feel much better.
15.
Swimming. Pretty much the number 1 skill to prevent an accident.
16.
Managing suffering (anxiety/depression, otherwise)
I know it takes a lifetime to feel better, recover from trauma, etc...but learning the skills to deal with these feelings and then implement them doesn't take long to accomplish...the fruits of the labor itself tho takes years, but is something life-changing (speaking from personal experience, as a trauma survivor myself).
17.
Learning how to communicate clearly and confidently.
In just a few weeks, you can improve how you explain ideas, set boundaries, and express yourself. It helps in interviews, relationships, negotiations, and even daily conversations. People often underestimate how powerful good communication really is.
18.
Yoga. Since learning yoga, I've fallen in love with exercise, and it's changed my habit of procrastinating on exercise. I feel a great sense of accomplishment every time I master a new yoga pose. And consistent exercise has definitely made my body better; I no longer get out of breath after climbing just a few flights of stairs like before.
19.
Learning to mind your business is very rewarding. You may think I’m joking but I’m telling you when you mind your business half the stress goes away.
20.
Kicking the doomscrolling habit…!
A few months ago I deleted all those doomscrolling social media apps (I’m lucky I don’t get the urge to doomscroll on Reddit) after a long period of setting screen time limits, ignoring my screen time limits, setting them harsher etc. Just delete it!
I suddenly have heaps more time in my life to do the things I really want to do— and importantly, the motivation to do them!!! It’s really positively impacted my critical thinking skills, my impulse control, my productivity etc.
Yeah, I’m no longer up to date with the ‘trend of the day’ but the ability to form my own opinions about things has been very refreshing.