The following is a practical guide to learning the most essential soft skills that everyone should have. Many of the topics listed are incredibly complex, but have been condensed into a relatively quick and easy to understand read. The breadth of topics is meant to provide value to as many people as possible regardless of their current level of soft skill understanding.

Persuasion

Your ability to change another person’s opinion.

Negotiation

Your ability to find an acceptable middle ground between two parties in disagreement.

Assertiveness

Your ability to communicate authentically and respectfully.

Phrasing

Allows you to maximize the authenticity of what you say while minimizing the negative impact of saying it.

Simplification

Allows you to explain any concept to anyone at any level of understanding.

Brevity

Your ability to communicate with as few words as possible.

Patience

Your ability to delay taking action until the optimal time.

Tolerance

Your ability to limit the emotional impact of people who upset you.

Affability

Your ability to be someone other people want to be around.

Reframing

Allows you to shift your perspective of a situation to be whatever you want it to be.

Openness

Allows you to listen to opinions you don’t like and still consider their validity.

Focus

Your ability to ignore distractions and concentrate on a single task for long periods.

Drive

Your ability to set goals for yourself and pursue them.

Discipline

Allows you to do what has to be done when you don’t want to do it.

Pacing

Your ability to adjust your level of productivity to something you can maintain indefinitely.

Dependability

Your ability to show up and deliver work on time.

Resiliency

Your ability to recover from failure.

Adaptability

Allows you to embrace change.

Upskilling

Your ability to increase your skill level.

Reskilling

Your ability to learn new skills.