This will help you to reach retirement age without remorse and regret about why you did not spend them on things that were more important. One of the prerequisites is to possess and hone certain life skills that will help us to function effectively, with minimum stress and maximum productivity in personal and professional lives. Life Skills for Livelihood Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Why are life skills important?
Life skills help people to deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are important because they apply across the life span and promote and protect life, health and well-being in all situations. According to the World Health Organisation, life skills are thinking, coping, and social skills, which are abilities that can enhance people’s interactions with others and with the environment, and which may even give rise to greater individual resilience in situations of adversity. Ten core sets of skills have been identified by experts: Self-awareness Empathy Communication Interpersonal relationships Decision making Problem solving Creative thinking Critical thinking Coping with emotions Coping with stress Life skills are abilities that enable people to behave in healthy ways, particularly in situations that challenge them.
It is important to develop appropriate skills as indicated above, in order to prevent manifesting unhealthy or negative behaviour. Appropriate and adequate knowledge, attitudes and values enable one to develop healthy life skills, and prevent negative health behaviour as indicated in the conceptual model below: Knowledge Attitudes Values Life Skills Psychosocial Competence & Behaviour Positive Health Prevention of Negative Behaviour Life skills enable people to act in ways that can contribute to personal and social changes for the promotion of their own health and development, as well as that of the communities in which they live. They are needed by individuals to function effectively and constructively in society. They include personal and social skills and help the person to function confidently and competently in their families and in society.
Life skills are competencies and actual behaviours which