5 THINGS SCHOOL DOESN’T TEACH YOU

For the most part of it, school teaches you many of the basic things you need to know, and especially for your career path. You are taught the related subject courses, their applications and you are encouraged to learn them well as this will secure your future.

There are, unfortunately, many more essential life situations that being in a classroom fails to prepare you for; and it is likely you realise this when the reality is staring you right in the face, outside the classroom.

• Avoid Burnout: First of all, going to school pushes you to put in a lot of effort in order to achieve good grades, and that is great. You may not realise, however, when you’re already doing more than your best and you’re sacrificing your physical and mental health.

You must learn how to look beyond the unnecessary and unhealthy competition that often exists among peers, toxic relationships in school and work places and even your own personal perfectionism problems and learn to avoid burnout, by setting realistic goals and working smart.

You must intentionally learn to care for your mental health, set reasonable daily goals and build proper routines with good food, exercise and sleep habits, grow healthy relationships, ask for help, prioritise the right things, learn limits, say no when necessary and take more breaks.

• Manage Finances: One way or another, you will be left to figure out how finances work in the real world outside of your ‘profit and loss’ math classes. You will need to understand how to budget, save, invest and manage your personal finances once you start earning and spending your own money.

On the flip side, you will also learn to realise that money isn’t everything, that it can be toxic and it needs to be handled in a way that separates it from true happiness and fulfilment.

• Define Success: Society defines a lot of things for us and more often than not, we subconsciously adopt the ideas and standards that have been set for us.

At some point in your life, however, you will have to determine what you want for your life, and begin to make choices in that direction. You may begin to look at fame, social status and position differently and find yourself pursuing a more quiet life path.

Whatever your definition of success ends up being, you will learn that only intentional, consistent and dedicated steps will move you towards the prize.

• Acquire Soft Skills: Many people realise late into their career that other than career-specific abilities, they need to develop a different group of life skills.

This set of skills show your ability to work with others properly, do quality, satisfactory work independent of your professional proficiency and can even make a huge difference in building your career.

These include time management, work ethic, leadership, creativity, emotional intelligence, communication, flexibility, adaptability, empathy, problem-solving skills and so on.

• Grow: It may take quite some time to acknowledge where you’re at and where you wish to be in life. It also takes a lot of effort and practice to self-learn, make your own mistakes and learn lessons from the failures.

You must learn to be a critical thinker, differentiate what is essential from what is not and take wise and calculated risks. Learn not to be afraid to show up and confidently present your skills when necessary.

You will realise soon enough that these seemingly minor life skills, plus the art of negotiation, self-defence, balance, networking, organisation etc., will not only be of great advantage in your career path, but will also help you relate better with people around you.

This is another friendly reminder to start now. Don’t leave your growth to chance. Take online classes, ask questions, learn and relearn. Visualise what you want to see in your future, draw a road map and start putting in the effort today.