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Building your super-skills
We all know that university is about gaining knowledge, but it's also about building up skills.
I wrote some months ago about the changing world, and the skills that the World Economic Forum believes will be crucial in the near future (see here).
But are there such things as universal skills; transferable skills that will always be useful, regardless of the economy, AI and changes in the environment?
I think there are, and the closest thing I have found to it is a simple list of ten skills identified a couple of years ago in the careers section of indeed.com.
How (and why) to build slack into your life.
I read a LinkedIn post the other day about building ‘slack’ into our lives, by a growth and performance consultant called Dr Mark Thorley.
In his post he talks about how we, as a society, seem to be all consumed with doing more. We constantly strive to be our best selves whether at work or in our personal lives.
Work hard, play hard, do more, go on better holidays, get a bigger car, spend more, get a bigger house, a bigger mortgage, and a bigger debt on our credit cards.
And what this all really comes down to is that we constantly get stressed simply trying to meet the expectations of others.
And yet, those who seem to be the very most successful at surviving in times of uncertainty, and can thrive when things go wrong, are those who have managed to build a little ‘slack’ into their lives.
Resilience and Stoicism: what they are and why they matter
Last month, I wrote all about parental pressure and finding happiness in work.
I then received a lovely reply from another education consultant and adviser. He said that he would add, for the parents out there, that “aside from a decent paying job in an industry you care about, happiness across the lifespan is essentially a by-product of resilience” and that for this “stoic philosophy will do the job”.
He was so spot on with this comment that I just had to follow-up with a quick look at both resilience and stoicism, to further understand them, and why they are so important for your life ahead.
A growth mindset; and it’s nothing to do with just being smart.
I’ve recently been reading Mindset, by Dr Carol S Dweck.
The book is a full and frank discussion of two different types of mindset: a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset, and the consequences of being stuck with the former.
A person with a fixed mindset believes they are either dumb or smart; they can’t change it.
A person with a growth mindset believes that being dumb or smart isn’t the issue. They can learn, improve, and get better, whatever their starting point is.
Three tips to help you study smarter (not harder).
The Christmas holidays might be just around the corner (yay!), but for many of you this will mean that mock A-levels (or other exams) will follow pretty shortly after that (boo!).
And so, lots of you will have teachers and parents telling you that now is the time to work harder; now is the time to revise and make sure you know your stuff.
The conscientious amongst you will do exactly this, and will spend lots of time re-reading all your notes. The less conscientious won't, but will probably pretend to be working while actually doing something completely different.
But what if there were ways that you could use your study time more effectively and more efficiently?
Falling in love... with learning
It’s nearly November, and those of you in your final year at school will be right in the thick of it with your university application process. You might be super-organised, and have applied already. You might be finalising your Personal Statement and refining your final choices. Or you might just be taking the first baby steps towards working out what on earth you are going to apply for!
Whichever stage you are at, you are not alone; there are thousands of others in the same position.
All of you (except a few super-human students), will be going through the same doubts: Am I doing the right thing? Is university for me? Will I enjoy the course? Will it be worth it?
And so now is actually a really good time to ask the essential question of yourself: Why go to university? And in particular, why are you looking to apply to university?