Hard skills make you money but soft skills can help you progress in your career and life. They are the ones that don't necessarily come to mind when you think about what makes a successful professional.
Soft skills often left out of skill-building programs and career counseling, but the truth is that they can be just as important (if not more so) than technical or hard skills.
Here we'll explore five soft skills that will help you advance in your professional and personal life:
Communication
I think this is the most important soft skill which anyone should learn and master. If you are a great communicator, you can get your points across easily and understand the other person:
Understand the importance of communication.
Learn to listen.
Develop your speaking skills.
Develop your writing skills.
Practice these skills in every situation, whether it’s with family or co-workers or friends—on texts, in emails and on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter—all the time!
Discipline
Discipline is about setting goals, and achieving them by showing up everyday and working towards them. It's about self-motivation, consistency, and organization.
The first step to creating discipline is figuring out what you want to achieve. Is it a new skill? A promotion at work? Or maybe something personal like saving money or getting into shape? Once you've figured out what it is that you're hoping to achieve in your time at work or outside of it, ask yourself how long it will take you to reach this goal.
Once that's done, break down your goals into smaller chunks that are more manageable—for example: if one of your goals is "To be able to run around the block without stopping," break this down into several smaller steps—how far can I go without stopping? Then jog around the block once before stopping again...and so on until eventually reaching an entire lap around the block with no breaks!
Flexibility
Flexibility is a key skill to have, as it’s important for your career and personal life. Whether you want to move up the ladder at work or just be able to get along with your roommate better, flexibility is necessary.
If you learn to adapt to any situation, more people will choose to work with you over other people and you can find yourself thriving even in extreme situations.
Leadership
Leadership is about the ability to influence others. It’s a skill that can be learned and practiced, but leadership is also something that is deeply rooted in a person’s personality and character.
The keys to effective leadership are:
Engaging with people (not just telling them what you want)
Inspiring others to follow your example
Being a role model
Persuasion
Persuasion can be defined as the act of influencing others to do something by appealing to their emotions and/or logical reasoning.
To be persuasive, you need to understand what your listeners want and need. You also need to present your ideas in a way that will appeal to them. By learning how to influence others in this way, you can increase your chances of getting people who are important for your success on board with what you're trying to accomplish.
Summary
These five skills will help you be more successful
Communication skills: Your ability to communicate effectively with others will help you build better relationships, whether it's at work or at home.
Discipline: Without discipline, you won't be able to achieve your goals or become successful in your career.
Flexibility: Being flexible can open up new opportunities for growth and advancement as well as reduce stress in your day-to-day life.
Leadership: The ability to lead others is an important skill that will help you advance in your career and have a positive impact on those around you.
Persuasion: Being able to persuade others will allow you to build consensus among team members, get buy-in from stakeholders, and influence decisions that are made by management