10 Skills Not Taught In School You Should Learn ASAP

You thought success in school meant success in life. Until it doesn’t. 

We’ve all been there. 

The life skills should be taught in schools debate isn’t new. 

Until that happens. Here’s what you can do.

Own your education. 

Formal education has its place. But it’s not always enough to succeed at life. Especially for women.  

Women have made up a majority of college-educated adults for decades. Yet earn 82 cents for every dollar a man earns.

Meaning a degree alone just ain’t enough. If you’re ready to own your education, keep reading!

Here are 10 skills not taught in school that you should learn to succeed. 

10 Skills Not Taught In School

1. How to advocate for yourself

Self-advocacy is standing up for yourself and demanding your worth. It’s believing that you and your opinions matter.

Advocating for yourself matters because it helps you attract career and job opportunities. 

Self-advocating is especially important for women. Women hold only 31% of senior management roles globally as of 2021.

When you stand up for yourself, you help shift the narrative.

College doesn’t teach you this. So be sure to check out our post on 10 self-advocacy skills and how to master them. 

2. Managing your career like a business 

Learn to manage your career like a business if you wanna go far. It means learning to plan your career, launch a job search, and get ahead. 

It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re not where you want to be. Having a plan for your career can help with this.

Not every school has a career services department. So managing your career is your responsibility.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out this post on creating a professional development plan.  

3. Negotiating like you deserve it  

Negotiation skills help you boost your confidence and bank account. 

Being able to negotiate isn’t usually taught in the classroom. But it has the power to transform your career. 

The most important thing when it comes to negotiating is your mindset. You’ve got to be convinced that you deserve whatever you’re asking for.

If you’re not sold on you. No one else will be.

4. Showing up as a leader (even if you’re not one)

You don’t have to be a leader to show up like one. You can position yourself as a boss without the title.

Sadly, school doesn’t teach this. 

Showing up as a leader can happen in many ways.

You can take on visible projects. Become a subject matter expert in your field. And offer to share your expertise.

You don’t need the title to do this!

5. How to network 

Networking can open doors your degree alone can’t. Networking strategically is a skill you won’t learn in the classroom. 

There are levels to networking. And it starts with your mindset. The key is to think about it as building win-win relationships. And not what people can do for you.  

Love it or hate it. Studies show that your network can lead to more job and business opportunities. 

If you haven’t warmed up to it, check out this post on how to change your mindset about networking.  

6. How to choose the right friends 

They say you’re an average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Surrounding yourself with the right people is a key to success. 

The goal is to pick friends who look more like your future than your past. Friends with similar life goals. And friends that force you to level up.

How to pick friends is rarely taught in college.  If you wanna learn how to create a social circle with high-value people, head to this blog post.

7. Setting boundaries

Setting boundaries for yourself is a form of self-care. It sets the tone for every relationship in your life. And helps you avoid being taken advantage of. This goes for both your personal and professional life. 

You’ll need to teach people how to treat you. It starts with setting clear boundaries. And sticking to them. 

8. Managing your emotions 

Being able to manage your emotions is known as emotional intelligence or EQ. It’s a skill you’ll need to succeed in life.

Emotional intelligence means keeping your ego in check. Staying out of your feelings. Developing thick skin.  And not allowing your emotions to get the best of you.   

9. Self-awareness 

Self-awareness is the ability to understand your actions, thoughts, and emotions. It’s being in tune with your strengths and weaknesses.

Being self-aware means recognizing how others may see you in any given situation.

College won’t teach you self-awareness. You can learn this through regular self-reflection, asking for feedback, and hanging out with people who aren’t afraid to call you out. 

10. How to bounce back from failure 

School gives you a fear of failure. If you get bad grades, you’ll fail in school. And that’s final. 

But in life, failure isn’t final. You can bounce back from it. The further you go in life. The likelier you are to experience failure.

The bigger your goals, the greater your obstacles. If you can bounce back quickly, you’ll go far.

You’ve got this!

Own Your Education 

School should teach real-life skills. Until that happens. Own your education.

And keep learning outside of the classroom. To help you do that, check out our NetWerk Free Career Center!

It has dozens of guides and templates to help you learn professional skills needed to succeed.

Get instant access after joining our community!

Over to You

How are you owning your education? Go to our comments section on social @netwerkmovement and let us know. Share this with a future leader.