Lifehack's 10 Skills

Over on Lifehack, there's an interesting post by Dustin Wax entitled "10 Skills You Need to Succeed at Almost Anything."

From a general skills point of view, the list is pretty good:

1. Public Speaking
2. Writing
3. Self-management
4. Networking
5. Critical thinking
6. Decision making
7. Math
8. Research
9. Relaxation
10. Basic accounting

He asked people to suggest any skills he may have missed. I gave the comments a glance, but the only ones I recall are having a foreign language and touch-typing.

Well, it's nice to have a foreign language. While I don't exactly have one, I can make myself understood in a couple. And I'm one of those nerds who, before I visit a "foreign country", takes it upon myself to learn the rudiments. Good morning. Good night. How much. Where. Left. Right. Toilet. No smoking. Yes. No. Please. Thank you. I lose the rudiments the second I've cleared a country's airspace, but retain little fragments. Thus I can say thank you in Polish (Dziekuje - ok, I had to look the spelling up on this one); red wine in Hungarian (voros bor); and apple pie in Irish (piog ull).

However, touch typing is an excellent addition to this skill list - and one which I don't know how anyone gets by without in this day and age. It should be mandatory in junior high school. I learned it in summer school between my freshman and sophomore years in high school. My high school didn't offer it - not academic enough - but my mother thought it was an essential skill for a girl, so it was off to my one and only post-kindergarten foray into the public school system.  My sisters both learned touch typing as well. My brothers didn't, and I well remember my mother typing their high school papers - a service not available to her daughters. Ah, those were the days.

I'd put touch typing on the list right up there with accounting - maybe even a bit before it. (And, just so you know, he's not talking about double-entry, debit-credit accounting. He's talking about being able to track and record income, expenses, and project time.)

The only other skills missing are the ability to take and give criticism - hard to do, but essential (especially if you're ever going to have to manage anyone).

So the skills are all good, but it got me thinking about the personal attributes, without which I don't think having an excellent set of skills matters much.

Here's my list of "10 Attributes You Need to Succeed in Life"

1. Empathy.
2. Listening ability.
3. Curiosity.
4. Flexibility.
5. Sense of humor.
6. Sense of proportion.
7. Willingness to look foolish.
8. Willingness to try something new.
9. Willingness to compromise.
10. Willingness to stick to your guns.