Essential Life Skills That Should Be Taught In Schools
How many of us really
know what to expect of the real world when we leave school? Don't you
wish that we had been taught about what to expect when we start our
lives in the outside world? Up to that point in time, our world had
been exams, friends, and more exams. Some of us would have known a
little romance, and perhaps even found true love. But for all the
skills and knowledge that we learn in school, we are largely left
totally unprepared when we join the workforce and start our lives in the
real world.
This
article lists three of what I believe are the more important subjects.
You can call it a wish list of what I wish I had known when I left
school. Get all three right, and you might just lead a charmed life.
Get them wrong, and life might just become a bit of a struggle.
Personal Finance
This really needs to
be just a very simple lesson - that the amount you spend cannot exceed
the amount that you earn. This is actually so simple that some will say
that it is common sense and does not even need to be taught. But, time
and again, we see many individuals getting into trouble when they spend
more than they can afford, and the interest on the loans they take up
snowballs out of control.
We actually even see governments doing the
same thing. While you can spend more than you earn for a while, and I
would agree that it might even be necessary for growth in some
situations, it cannot be sustained in the long term. Easy credit is
attractive and does have its place in the economy, but abuse of it can
ruin your whole life.
Making Money
I'm not talking so
much about the hard skills needed to make money, like a doctor having to
be well versed in the intricacies of the human body, but more about the
mechanics of how money is made. I'm talking about the difference of
how money is made when you are working for it and when you are running a
business.
When you are working
for a living, you are essentially exchanging your time for money. This
is true regardless of whether you are a daily rated worker, or you get
paid a monthly salary. Your employer pays you for your time, during
which you are expected to make more money for him, or be worth more to
him, than the money he pays you. He takes the risk of an uncertain but
potentially greater payoff, while you run a lower risk but also have a
lower payoff.
When
you are running a business, the roles are reversed. Your employees are
exchanging their time for a guaranteed income from you. You can
potentially make a lot of money, but the returns are not guaranteed and
there is a good chance that you will lose all your money.
Another way of making
money is through the passive income model. We are all familiar with one
form of passive income, which is the interest we get from our bank
deposits. In fact, there are many other forms of passive income which,
as a school leaver, most are probably do not know of. Among these are
dividend income from stocks, rental income from property, income from
multilevel sales structures, etc.
Communication
So much of
communication is actually miscommunication. We say one thing and it's
taken to mean another, or a colleague says another thing and we take it
to mean something she never intended. Sometimes the wrong words are
used, or we listen from the wrong angle, or we simply misinterpreted a
certain action, or...a thousand and one other possibilities. At times, I
feel that it is amazing that 2 human beings can come together and
cooperate successfully.
It will be a very valuable life skill to be
able to communicate effectively. The key would be to be able to say
what you want to clearly and directly, without any hidden meanings, in
such a way that leaves the other party no room for misinterpretation.
Similarly, we must
also be able to listen effectively. We must be able to listen to what
is said, interpret it accordingly, and if needed, confirm with the
speaker that the correct message has been received.
I seriously feel that
if everybody makes an attempt to do this, and if this is a skill taught
in schools, the world would definitely be a better place.
Conclusion
Needless to say, there
are hundreds of other subjects that can be included in such a list.
Off the top of my head, I can think of subjects like relationships,
family, children, personal development, investing, and saving for
retirement. Even comparatively trivial subjects like how to cook and
clean, and how to do simple household repairs might make a difference to
a school leaver who have never done such things.
I think our schools
are too focused on teaching the hard skills needed to make a living.
They do a great job of it but it would be great if some time can be set
aside for the skills needed to make a life. I mean, all the money in
the world is useless if you are alone, unhappy and does not live life
with a purpose.
