9 essential qualities and skills that will be needed in the 21st century

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Start developing them now to stay successful in the future.

1. Hardness of character

This refers to the ability to persistently strive for a goal, maintaining interest in it despite setbacks, boredom and a temporary lack of progress. It is a combination of passion, resilience and self-discipline that propels us forward despite obstacles.

According to psychologist Angela Duckworth, author of the book "Toughness", such a quality is even more important for success than talent or intelligence. No matter how gifted you are, without a strong character you will achieve little. It is he who helps to strive for the goal over time.

2. Ability to adapt

We live in a world that is constantly changing, and this process is unlikely to slow down in the future. The skills, knowledge and connections that were important yesterday may well be worth nothing tomorrow. Therefore, the ability to change and adapt to new conditions is an extremely important skill. Most companies will need the people they have to stay relevant.

Darwin also said that it is not the strongest or the smartest who survives, but the one who adapts best to change. This ability to adapt, improvise and change strategy depending on the problem gives the person an advantage over the computer.

3. Acceptance of failure

Paradoxically, the first step to success is failure. Nothing is perfect and nothing can be perfect. Try it, fail and try again. At the same time, focus not on the results, but on the lessons learned: those who internalize them succeed in the future. Each failure brings you closer to your goal. If, of course, you learn from it. And we really "fail" only if we don't get back on our feet after the fall.

“A repetitive evolutionary algorithm of variability and selection seeks solutions in a world where problems are constantly changing, trying all possible options and doing whatever might work,” economist Tim Harford writes in Failure to Victory. Darwin's Laws in Life and Business”.

So if you fail, try to learn from it as soon as possible.

4. Flexibility in learning

As futurologist Alvin Toffler said, in the 21st century, illiterate will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. Real learning begins with your career. It requires you to constantly acquire new knowledge, and in the process you will have to repeatedly abandon outdated methods.

To succeed in the modern world, you need to be constantly ready to adapt: to forget the old rules and learn new ones. To do this, you need to question common beliefs, challenge old views, and retrain what is important to your job, industry, and life in general at any given moment.

5. Working with information

The ability to comprehend, analyze and apply information is an extremely important skill. After all, in order to make decisions and cope with problems, you need to collect reliable data, evaluate it and choose the most appropriate option for a specific situation.

Anyone who can look at a problem from different angles often comes up with an unexpectedly elegant solution, while simultaneously showing how narrowly others have looked at the issue.

This requires both critical and creative thinking. According to the philosopher Francis Bacon, critical thinking is the desire to seek and the patience to test. It presupposes a refusal to hasty in passing sentences and caution in their execution, as well as hatred of any kind of deception. Creative thinking, on the other hand, is based on ingenuity and the ability to find new ways to accomplish old tasks.

6. Emotional intelligence

People with high levels of emotional intelligence have well-developed sensitivity, empathy, and self-awareness. And they are also great at communicating: this skill helps to build relationships with others, understand their motives and predict their reactions.

All areas of work that require emotional intelligence that computers do not have will be very popular in the future. And if you are not a very sociable person, you still have time to develop communication skills in order to better understand others.

7. Personal branding

The impression you get is very important. It also helps build the trust of colleagues, clients and managers.

In many areas, being successful means being different. Think about what you are particularly good at. Highlight one or more skills around which you will build your personal brand.

Also consider what your social media profiles say about you. If you are inactive on the platforms that are relevant to your work, it's time to do it. Update your information to match your new look. Start with the basics: remove inappropriate photos and change the name in the mail to a more professional one.

8. Deep thinking

We are usually not taught to think - it is assumed that we already know how to do it. But having information is not the same as understanding. Deeper thinking leads to deeper life. And the superficial - on the contrary. So think about how deeply you think.

Challenge yourself next year by promising to delve deeper into the areas that matter to you. This will help you better understand them. Compare results, analyze, disassemble and apply different mental models.

It's like reading. If you read the book once, you will only have a superficial understanding of the subject. And if you read it several times, make extracts, formulate conclusions, then you will understand the topic much better.

9. Resourcefulness

This is primarily the ability to solve problems, although persistence and psychological endurance are still mixed with it. A resourceful person can look at the old system and figure out how to improve it. This often requires a good imagination and an optimistic attitude.

Most industries now require people who understand how to do more with less, solve problems, and help the company achieve its goals. According to the head of Amazon Jeff Bezos, resourcefulness is extremely important for anyone with a big dream, because they will inevitably face problems along the way.

“Many entrepreneurs know that the whole point of moving forward is facing adversity and setbacks,” says Bezos. - We have to back up and try again. Each meeting with an obstacle and a new attempt requires resourcefulness and independence. Every time you need to invent a way out of the usual framework."

Let us know in the comments what qualities and skills you consider the most important for the future.