7 Life Changing Skills They Won’t Teach You at School

7 Life Changing Skills They Won’t Teach You at School

How much of what you learned at school do you use in your daily life? The truth is, not much I believe. The society we live in is programmed to teach us the academic aspect of life, not the real meaning of life and how to handle it. The standard narrative of society is geared towards specializing in a subject and then making a career out of it. The school we claim to have very good degrees in does not do the part which is to teach life changing skills to learn along your journey through life.

But then, the good part of this is that there is a life-changing skill to learn even though you are not in school or have no degree in any academic institution.

A lot of people have gone through a lot in life which has made them have a lot of experiences and life-changing skills to learn along the way in life. This article seeks to tell you life changing skills that you won’t learn in school.

7 Life Changing Skills You Won’t Be Taught in School

1. What to Do When You Fail

Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed.

Robert Kiyosaki

One life lesson the school won’t teach you is how to fail. Academic institutions are only programmed to teach what they know and make sure students pass. Most at times, people who fail or take a lower position in the class or the school, in general, are seen as failures and are stigmatized. Schools never teach kids to embrace failure and see it as a learning process.

You should see the process as more than a stroke of bad luck because, in the actual sense, it is not. Failure should be seen as:

It is part of a learning process

It can’t be avoided, so there is no point in trying to do so.

Don’t give up at the first hurdle, most people quit just before they’re about to succeed.

2. How to Manage Your Finances

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

Benjamin Franklin

The truth is, schools don’t teach students how to make money work for them, instead, they only teach how to work for money by getting a job in an organization.

Managing your expenses is another important life-changing skill that schools don’t teach but is very essential. Managing finances like saving, investing, and even making money as a whole is a must-know in the long run of your life.

This point entails things like paying yourself first (saving) and putting your money to work for you (investment). This way, you learn and gain more knowledge from this even though you were not thought in school.

There are so many platforms that you can save your money on or where you can make money for free.

3. How to Think Long-Term

Our struggles are the short-term lessons we learn to achieve long-term success.

Simon Sinek

The truth is that because of what we were thought in school, most of us don’t have an idea on how to plan ahead or even know how to save and live for the long run. Most people don’t even know what the long run is! This is an issue because not planning can jeopardize your future and everything you have ever worked for.

Another thing school won’t teach is planning for the long run. Since school won’t teach you this, it’s up to you to teach yourself. Planning for the long term has to do with setting goals each day that can lead to what you want to achieve later on in life. Also, it entails setting time limits for yourself and working towards those times set for you.

4.  Schools Won’t Teach You How to Start a Business

The biggest risk of all is not taking one.

Melody Hobson

Starting a business and being an entrepreneur are the same thing and this is a life-changing skill one has to know and learn more about. Many people don’t know what to do as a new business owner or how to use digital marketing in their business. Since schools don’t teach this life-changing skill, it should be noted that starting and owning a business has its ups and downs which most business people never really talk about.

Owning and starting a business entails budgeting, taking calculated risks, and seeing losses as a means to start again. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, to say the least, but in the long run, it is one thing that pays off only if you are consistent in what you are doing and keeping the business running.

5. Knowing Oneself

With the realization of one’s potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.

Dalai Lama

A lot of us are at this table, sadly. Because of the educational system which makes us only pass exams and take notes, most of us don’t know who we are and what we would love to venture into in the long run. Because of this, we do not know our purpose and also do not know our passion. This, therefore, leads us to low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.

If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will. That is the motto I have lived by ever since I learned this on my own. Having a purpose and knowing it is one of the greatest things in life because once you know this, your self-esteem and self-confidence are going to be top-notch.

To know your purpose in life, it’s good to try out new things until you find your niche in life.

6. How to Brand and Market Yourself

Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room.

Jeff Bezos

At school, you learn how to fit into the system and do what everyone else is doing. There is no space for individuality. This is another problem because a lot of people do not know what self-branding is.

Personal branding otherwise known as self-branding is marketing yourself to people in every environment you find yourself in.

7. How to Communicate and Negotiate Well

Communication as we know is the key to everything we need in life. It is the word “please” in a different light but sadly, it is another life-changing skill that school does not teach.

Communication and negotiations are the number one key things people look at when applying for a job, wanting to get married, or even just an observation as a whole.

Effective communication and negotiation should be skills worth learning because they encompass levels that school certificates and degrees can not teach.

Conclusion

There are so many life-changing skills to learn in life and these are just a few. As you venture into the world at an older age, you start to see life in another light, a lot different from what you were thought in school or even thought at home. And it is ok to see life in a different light, but something, we should take home with us is how we utilize what we have learned outside school and how we can use it in our daily lives as we go further in our lives.

I hope you find this article helpful. If you do, leave a comment for me in the comments section. You could also tell in the comments section other life-changing skills that schools don’t teach. Thank you for your time.

7 Books That Every Entrepreneur Should Read in 2021

7 Books That Every Entrepreneur Should Read in 2021

If there’s one thing that I’m sure of, it is that learning never stops and reading a book is one way to aid learning. Elon Musk is an avid reader. Barrack Obama makes it a habit to read every night while Mark Zuckerberg reads a book every two weeks. More so, Mark Cuban reads for more than three hours every day. Bill Gates on the other hand reads about 50 books per year. With that, I decided to come up with 7 books that every entrepreneur should read in 2021

All these successful self-made entrepreneurs have one thing in common- reading books. Entrepreneurs don’t have much time at hand but they are voracious readers.

Here, I picked 7 of my own top books that every entrepreneur should read in 2021.

1. Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? by Seth Godin

This mind-questioning book by this marketing superstar; Seth Godin explains the logic and thinking behind complaining about failure without actually doing anything remarkable.

It doesn’t exactly advise you on what to do but rather opens up your mind and lays a foundation on a mind refurbish. It probes and pushes one to think of inventing or starting something new, remarkable even.

Poke the box is the push that one needs to create and learn from change.

There is a phrase he made that has stuck with me- “Our economy is not static, but we act as if it is…”

Seth Godin advises entrepreneurs to stop waiting for a road map but rather draw one now.

2. Deep Work (Rules For Focused Success in A Distracted World) by Cal Newport

This is one of the 7 books that every entrepreneur should read in 2021. Focus is a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. There is so much noise outside your head as an entrepreneur, inside your head even. This noise causes distraction and it affects one’s focus as an entrepreneur.

Are you the kind of entrepreneur that gets pessimistic when you other entrepreneurs around you doing well? Or you are so insecure and distracted by your own and others’ voices?

The American non-fiction author and Computer Science professor wrote this book just for you.

Deep work expresses impact in a connective age like this. It states why focus is needed and goes on to provide four rules to make that happen for you as an entrepreneur.

3. The Power of Broke by Daymond John

Daymond takes one on a ride of how starting a business with a low budget can actually turn out to be an entrepreneur’s greatest competitive advantage. He started to sew t-shirts in his room and would go out to sell by the roadside.

The branding consultant shared with his own experience how the power of broke forces you to use your resources more efficiently. It forces you to connect with your customers more authentically, and market your ideas more imaginatively. It forces you to be true to yourself, stay laser-focused on your goals, and come up with those innovative solutions required to make a meaningful mark.

This is a book that every entrepreneur should read in 2021.

4. Start With Why by Simon Sinek

There are lots of thought-provoking fundamental questions in this masterpiece by Simon Sinek, one of which is, “Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others”

Start with why is wrapped in simplicity and interactive tone, you would almost guess that the author is a TED talker, and his talk starts with why is the third most popular TED Talk in the world.

It makes an entrepreneur question why are they are starting that business and re-strategizing. This is sure one of the 7 books that every entrepreneur should read in 2021.

5. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

If you are interested in wisdom-oriented books, this is a jackpot. The Chinese strategist made several noteworthy quotes in The Art of War but three stuck with me.

Ponder and deliberate before you make a move

There are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. In addition, he will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.

Times when you need a pat on the back or a light scold to get up and do something as an entrepreneur. During times when you need to strategize but you don’t have the muse or will, this is a book to read.

6. To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink

The New York Times business bestseller and author of Drive and A Whole New Mind explain how humans have the instinct to want to sell. Every day, more than fifteen million people earn their cash by persuading someone to buy what they are selling.

An entrepreneur is someone that knows how to persuade and get their products sold. Enhancing that persuasion spirit in you is made possible by to sell is human. The American author managed to make this book entertaining and informative. In my opinion, this book is specifically made for entrepreneurs.

7. Measure What Matters by John Doerr

Whether you are a seasoned CEO or a first-time entrepreneur, you’ll find valuable lessons, tools, and inspiration pages of measure what matters. I’m glad John invested his time to share this with the world.

Reid Hoffman

This review made me want to grab a copy of this piece so fast.

Measure what matters is a book for all levels of entrepreneur and it expresses explosive growth.

This book makes an entrepreneur a better entrepreneur, and an even better manager.

Conclusion

The growth as an entrepreneur is directly proportional to reading insightful books that every entrepreneur should read in 2021, like the ones I have listed above.

Decide today, to read one of them.