The 35 Psychological Skills That You Should Enhance
Our current standard of living and the demands that the environment subjects us to every day force us to develop different types of capabilities in order to adapt to the environment. Both in the world of work and in everyday life, there are a series of skills that are very useful for this, both on a social, cultural, psychophysiological and psychological level.
Regarding the latter, which apply to almost all areas of life, we present a series of 35 psychological skills that should be enhanced for its high usefulness in various vital areas.
Being competent in something means having the ability to efficiently carry out the required action, whether we are talking about actions on a physical or mental level.
There are psychological competencies of very different types that we develop to a greater or lesser extent throughout our personal growth In this article we will see the main
35 psychological skills to reinforce
Detecting personal weaknesses and improving them through the enhancement of psychological skills is a good way to improve both our quality of life and our work performance simply introducing some habits into our daily lives Choose the ones that you think best suit your case.
1. Empathy
Being competent in putting yourself in the other person’s shoes is essential when establishing an effective coexistence. This allows us take into account how they see the world others and be able to act taking that perception into account.
2. Analysis capacity
Understanding different events and phenomena is the first step to being able to establish different strategies and ways of responding to them. For this it is very useful to be able to decompose each problem into the different elements that make it up especially when it comes to complex problems.
3. Synthesis capacity
Once each component of a problem is analyzed, it is essential to be able to reintegrate all the information available on a topic It is about the ability to link related ideas together.
4. Ability to self-motivate
Human psychological functioning is greatly influenced by the ability to stay activated and interested in what we do That is why it is very useful to enhance the ability to self-motivate and establish goals and objectives that excite us.
5. Emotional awareness
Emotions are an integral part of the human being that is of great importance in explaining their behavior and greatly influences their well-being. The ability to identify what we feel and what causes it It allows us to better understand ourselves and adjust our behavior and attitudes regarding reality.
6. Self-management or emotional regulation
Being able to manage them, put them in perspective or adapt them to the context in which we find ourselves is a great advantage.
7. Emotional autonomy
It is understood as the ability to feel and take into account one’s own and others’ emotions for oneself, without depending on external influences The subject is responsible for his own emotions.
8. Teamwork
We live in society. Practically at any time we are in some way in contact with someone directly or indirectly, and each of our actions can affect different people. Be able to join forces with others It can allow us to achieve different objectives more easily, by taking advantage of the personal resources and competencies of each individual.
9. Stress management and psychological resistance
We are in a time characterized by a stressful lifestyle full of commitments and competitiveness. Being able to manage situations in which we are under strong pressure It is something highly required at the work level, at the same time it helps us to be able to overcome the various circumstances we experience and react in an adaptive way.
10. Mental flexibility
A psychological competence of great importance for our correct adaptation is the ability to have a certain level of mental flexibility. This means being able to capture other points of view, thoughts and ways of doing things, and accept them as valid. It’s about being able to value other perspectives outside of our own and to be able to introduce changes in our way of seeing the world without locking ourselves into our original ideas.
11. Communication capacity
We can know many things, but in a social entity like the human being it can be very important to be able to express oneself. This way other people can be aware of what we are trying to convey and act accordingly Training these types of skills also means improving our social skills.
12. Creativity and lateral thinking
Establishing new ways of acting when faced with specific problems, without depending on pre-established options, implies the possibility of obtaining new results while allowing us to develop as individuals and even as a species. Develop creativity and be competent in creating novel strategies It is therefore very useful.
13. Decision-making capacity
In life we must make decisions and prevent doubt from blocking us While we must try to take into account different perspectives and options, in the end we must act. Decision-making capacity is an essential element in our daily lives, although for some people it can be complex. But like all the skills before and after, it can be trained and optimized with practice.
14. Planning capacity and vision of the future
Every act has its consequences, and being able to visualize the effects of both our behaviors and environmental phenomena will allow us to start developing preventive action strategies
15. Improvisation capacity
Although in the previous competition mentioned we talked about the importance of being able to prevent different aspects of reality, we cannot always be prepared for what is going to happen to us. For this reason, it is necessary to be able to quickly develop a course of action in the face of unexpected events, improvising in order to emerge safely from surprising or novel phenomena.
16. Ability to select information
Nowadays we have practically any type of information within reach of a single click. We can access numerous sources of knowledge, some of which are not completely reliable or even offer information that may be contradictory. It is because of that Being able to select information is very useful
17. Assertiveness
When certain things happen to us or conflicts break out between people, it is possible to react in different ways. A conformist passivity or an imposition of one’s own will may not only not solve the current problem but may exacerbate it or even generate others in the future. One of the attitudes that will help us the most on most occasions is assertiveness, which allows us to defend our rights and opinions in a clear and efficient manner without violating the rights or integrity of others.
18. Reflection capacity
Our impulses are part of us and it is advisable to avoid total repression of them. However, this does not mean letting yourself be continually carried away by them. We must be able to find a middle ground and act in a way that allows coexistence with other human beings while seeking the best possible alternative behavior to achieve adaptation. Training this quality does not imply the repression of instinct, but rather that we are able to act rationally.
19. Discipline
Discipline is understood as the establishment of a code of behavior and conduct that allows us to maintain order and act in an organized and systematic manner. Being able to maintain discipline will make us trustworthy people. and that we can achieve more complex objectives
20. Critical thinking
Each of us has our own agenda, intentions and desires. What others communicate to us or the things we see can be biased by different aspects. Being able to analyze the reasoning that leads to a certain statement allows us to doubt the information we receive and form our own idea regarding reality in a more objective way.
21. Willpower and persistence
Although it is necessary to be flexible and take into account different perspectives on the same topic, it is important that if we are clear about our objectives we can be able to achieve them. Discipline and self-motivation are aspects that derive from willpower. Be competent in setting and persistently pursue our goals It will help us meet our goals and feel more satisfied with ourselves and our lives.
22. Sense of self-efficacy
Believing in one’s own possibilities is necessary in such a competitive world. Expectations about one’s own performance should motivate us to continue moving forward. Perceiving ourselves as ineffective can cause frustration and suffering, in addition to reducing our motivation and performance. In fact, a Pygmalion effect can be generated that causes us to end up having the performance we expected to have.
23. Spontaneity
Although being reflective is very useful in many aspects, sometimes it can lead us to be excessively rigid and leave aside our authentic nature. It is necessary to be competent in being ourselves, doing things that we want despite the fear of possible consequences.
24. Mental agility
Having agile thinking is essential today. Think and observe the different parts of a problem with a certain speed It facilitates our immediate reactions to environmental stimuli in an adaptive way.
25. Inference capacity
The data we obtain from the environment can be analyzed and synthesized with great efficiency, but there is a very important aspect linked to observation that entails a certain level of subjectivity and that allows us make predictions based on data It is the ability to infer, to link the data and information obtained and synthesized with other aspects of reality with which they are related.
26. Responsibility
Being able to take responsibility for one’s own actions is a basic competency for proper functioning. Take into account the effects of our actions and take responsibility for the damage they may cause, repair and resolve them. And responsibility does not refer only to this aspect, but also to know what is expected of us based on our role and act accordingly. It also means being able to recognize one’s own merits.
27. Persuasive and influential capacity
Convincing others of one’s own vision and causing changes in their habitual behavior is a type of key competence in certain aspects of life. Highly sought after in different market niches Being competent in persuading others also helps us defend our rights and positions in the face of any type of external abuse.
28. Leadership
Linked to persuasion, leadership skills involve the ability to take the lead and direct one’s own and others’ behavior towards a common goal. It is not only about influencing but also about being able to organize, establish objectives and methods of achieving them, motivate others and help resolve doubts that may arise.
29. Setting realistic goals
People need to motivate ourselves in order to give meaning to the emission of behaviors. To do this we set goals or objectives. However, many people have problems when establishing what goals to set, demanding too much or too little, so that either they cannot achieve them or they do not require much effort and they lose their motivational capacity. It is because of that We must train ourselves to set goals adjusted to our possibilities that present us with an achievable challenge and that can be structured and subdivided into small steps that allow their achievement.
30. Context evaluation
Apart from managing the different information that surrounds us, we have to take into account that it is located in a specific context. What happens has a different meaning depending on the place, time and the people who experience it. That is why we must train ourselves in contextualize any information and situation
31. Application of knowledge
Although theoretical knowledge is important, it is just as important to be able to put this information into practice or apply it in real life. Train this competition involves putting theory into practice discovering or analyzing concrete ways in which the same or other knowledge is transformed into different behaviors and actions.
32. Resource management
When solving problems we need to take into account what we have for it. We must be able to recognize and be able to take advantage of all the elements that are available, improving the chances of success of our company or project
33. Delegate
We have to be responsible for our own actions, but also We must be aware of our limitations In many cases we will have to trust and delegate to other people. Knowing who and what specific aspects can be beneficial for another person to take charge of so that the task is carried out successfully can also be trained with practice.
34. Capacity for attention and focus
Another key competence is the one that has to do with the ability to focus on a specific aspect This allows us to clearly recognize what our objective is and the means we have to achieve it, ignoring other elements that have no effect on it.
35. Proactivity
Have initiative and set new goals and paths for improvement It’s very important. Linked to creativity and innovation, it helps to stay motivated and enjoy new experiences, always starting from the basis of responsibility for one’s own behavior and having supplied the basics.
