12 Lessons To Help Master Strong Social Skill

CommunicationRelationshipsDatingSelf-ImprovementChange

Oct 18

Our youngest daughter is graduating high school this year and is in the process of planning her future.

What do I want to be when I grow up?
What do I need to do to receive financial aid?
What university best suits me?
How do I complete a university application?
Do I even need to attend university?

These are the same questions that I thought I had to have answers to when I turned 18. Now I know that everyone is making best guesses with the information they currently have.

The difference between being a minor and an adult is one second — at 11:59 p.m., you’re a child, and at midnight, you’re magically a grownup.

Elementary and high school are said to teach you the “Three Rs” — reading, writing, and arithmetic. (Note: They apparently don’t teach you spelling — just because each word contains an R doesn’t make the term correct.)

I mastered the “Three Rs” and graduated at the top of my class. What I didn’t know at 18 was that none of what I learned over the previous 12 years mattered without the skills to communicate with humans. When you are overflowing with knowledge but lack social skills, adulting will be a real challenge.

This lesson is for my daughter and all of the other graduates of 2022.

Humans are your most important resource.

The more you help other humans get what they want, the more they will help you get what you want. Everyone is exceptional at something, and everyone needs help with other things in which they’re not so exceptional. Without strong social skills, you will not be effective at helping humans or influencing them to help you in return.

Below is a list of select articles I’ve written that I consider the primer for developing and mastering strong social skills. These skills are easy to learn, and I give you simple steps to build your confidence to use them. I wish I had the advice you’re about to consume when I was 18. It would have saved me many years of feeling that I’m not good enough, smart enough, or experienced enough to become the human I wanted to be — the human I am today.