Top Skills for Teens in 2021
Learning new skills is the equivalent of upgrading your old television with a smart streaming device, as the old machine now becomes capable of performing a list of new DOPE functions. The job market is getting more competitive by the day and marks are no longer sufficient to differentiate you from the crowd. It is these skills that act like add-ons and make you more attractive as a prospective hire, or augment your abilities for an entrepreneurial journey.
Pick up the skills you think will help make your life easier, work on them, and who knows, what you create for yourself might as well be a revolutionary product. That’s how the story of Apple started.
Okay, enough talk. Here's our list of top skills teens should pick up in 2021:
1. Coding
Everything is being taken over by computers. In the not-so-distant future, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will control jobs and work side by side with humans. Wouldn’t you want to be able to communicate with AGI? Coding is a skill that emerged out of nowhere and became a very precious language with multiple dialects. It lets you communicate with machines and create programs and appliances designed to solve the issues you face.
2. Graphic design
You need to hone this skill simply because it helps you appreciate aesthetics better. Graphic designing can complement your communication skills and be used to persuade the masses. It summarises the essence of your idea and is capable of conveying it in minimal words. Graphic designing is one of the most elegant skills that can be used in every line of work.
3. Learn new languages
Learning a new language has way too many advantages for me to write them all down. To begin with, it opens up another 'mind palace'. When you use another language, you start thinking in a different dimension. Thus, the more languages you know, the more perspectives you develop (without even having a split personality disorder). When you can communicate using more than one language, you become more employable, as a new language unlocks opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible due to reasons you always could change.
4. Negotiation
“Everybody’s gotta learn sometime.” Even though Beck used those words to comment on heartbreak, they stand true for negotiation just as much. You won’t get everything you want and the people you collaborate with won’t always be considerate, thus, you must learn the art of negotiation. Be it with your parents regarding the curfew or your boss for your salary, if you know how to negotiate, you will end up with terms in your favour.
5. Entrepreneurial skills
You are off to a good start if you can type that word without auto-correct judging you.
Being an entrepreneur can’t be taught or written down in books. You must learn it first-hand by throwing yourself out of your comfort zone and starting a venture from the ground up. It is the most exciting thing you can do which will take you through way too many problems that you will have to deal with without there being a guide to refer to. What you learn as an entrepreneur can be applied almost everywhere in life. Don’t be afraid and just start something of your own. Get rid of your phones and invest time in yourself. Honing a skill makes you a smart streaming device amongst a crowd of black and white televisions.
6. Investing
Once your teens come to an end and you venture into the adult world, the most important game to win at in life is the game of wealth. With taxes, inflation, and mounting lifestyle expenses eating away at everything you make, the only true way to gain wealth is by investing. Start learning how to invest early, so you can avoid the common pitfalls that get in the way of true financial freedom. You might become a savvy investor nevertheless (we have faith in you 🙌), but understanding the nuances of investing and becoming a disciplined investor earlier in life allows more time for compounding to work its magic on your wealth.
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