21st Century Skills to upgrade your life exponentially!

Life changing skills that truly changed my life in no time and it can change yours too.

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

Let me give you a cut and paste formula taken after years of research from several successful people and from my experience practicing some skills for the last several years and upgrading my life exponentially. Use them and you can change your life forever.

You need to understand that you have to spend as much time working on your mindset as you do your skillset. Skillset raises your “I Can” while mindset raises your “I deserve”. Change in mindset can help you change your life in a positive way! Successful life is about 80% mindset and 20% skills.

What you will read below are “core skills” to change your life and not some random learning about social media or digital marketing etc which might soon become outdated in this Artificial Intelligence era.

This is very powerful. Read below :-

1. Learning to learn — You must develop a mindset of learning from every experience you have. Also learning new skills increases your motivation in due course of time, makes you more adaptable, relatable, interesting and helps you earn more money. In this digital era, learning anything new isn’t as hard as it used to be. Start today by understanding “how your mind truly works”. I have done an extensive research on this single topic and it has helped me tremendously to change my world view and take decisions.
2. Writing — Started writing 3 years back everyday for half an hour and the results have been immense. I suffered from anxiety for long (entrepreneurs generally face it) and writing along with Yoga helped me overcome anxiety. Like any skill, you learn by doing. So make a commitment to write publicly. You will learn better when people can actually see your work. It forces you to do your best. It gives you accountability. You get feedback from others and answers can be improved based on it.
3. Public Speaking — Nothing builds confidence more than doing a successful public speech. So seek opportunities to speak in front of groups. I make it a point to speak in front of my friends and family regularly about personal growth if not on public platforms.

• Start with people you’re comfortable with (friends and family)
• Talk about subjects you are passionate about
• Be aware of people’s reactions and interest levels and adapt accordingly. You’ll get better in time.

4. Meditating — I have been meditating for the last 2 years everyday for about 15–20 minutes in the morning. I did a deep research on this topic reading books and watching videos of Swami Vivekananda, Osho, Dr. Joe Dispenza etc. and the benefits are immense. Start with guided meditations. They teach you that it’s ok to have thoughts and guide you through clarity of mind. Commitment is the key . Do not try once and leave. The more hours you practice, the easier it gets. You will have more control over your emotions, body and mind and you’ll make better decisions in due course of time.

5. Forming good habits — First learn how good habits form and how they work, to better control what habits you set up and get rid of habits that are detrimental to you. Two books really helped me form powerful habits. First is “The Power of Habits” by Charles Duhigg and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Read these books and make positive habits to take control of your life.

6. Negotiating — It is tough world out there. If you can negotiate well you can win many battles. By practising this skill, you will

• Improve your confidence
• Better able to negotiate your salary and benefits and even work on more interesting projects.
• In your personal life too, you will handle conflicts better and may be have fewer of them too.

7. Mathematical thinking — I am not only talking about your algebra or doing calculations but by being mathematical you will be more productive simply by knowing how to better analyze your time. It will increase your analytical and reasoning skills and make better informed decisions. Best way to develop mathematical thinking is to solve “Guesstimates” (google it) everyday. These are generally asked in interviews of consultancy firms.

8. Coordination and Flexibility — Life is not easy and it will test you several times in several situations and several locations before really giving you whatever you want. So, being flexible is a skill that will make you less irritable as life pushes you hard and keeps you healthy. And without being healthy, it’s hard to even think about developing any other skill. Practise being flexible by putting yourself in tough situations deliberately and making yourself uncomfortable. Here are some ways I practice being uncomfortable and hence develop resilience and mental flexibility.

• Take the traffic filled route sometimes and get through that.
• Meeting with new people often and spending some time with them.
• Take on projects that require taking new initiatives.
• Be flexible with your results but not in your actions and strategy.
• Set small goals for mental stretching like speaking, running, yoga, writing.

Remember, your life is 80% mindset and 20% skill set. So focus on enhancing your mindset and upgrading your life exponentially.