From Cradle to Career, Here’s What Determines Human Potential

How Human Intellectual Potential is shaped in childhood

Early from childhood, our live and our circumstances determine our inherent human potential. For us to become productive and contributing members of society, there are three key factors that should work in our favor.

Belong: As children we have a primary need to matter and belong. Once we experience this feeling of belonging, we try harder to reach the expectations set by caring adults in our life.

Believe: As children, we need to be made aware of our unlimited potential to do great things. When we understand that, we are not afraid of challenges on the road to our goals.

Become: As a result of belonging and believing in ourselves, we begin to strive to become what we aspire to be!

Hard Skills

Human potential is a combination of Hard and Soft Skills. Technologies in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, UX (User experience) design are rapidly evolving. In fact, they are evolving at an exponential rate. As a workforce, if we want to stay relevant, we need to be constantly upskilling and reskilling ourselves.

60% of executives expect that half the workforce will need retraining or replacing within five years. More than one-third said their organizations are unprepared to address the skill gaps – More so in #Bigdata and #AI. – Source: McKinsey Quarterly, Jan 2019

As far as hard skills are concerned, from Cradle to Career, to stay relevant with the times, we must always:

1. Train
2. Upskill
3. Reskill

Soft Skills

Top 5 Soft Skills companies need most in 2019:

1. Creativity
2. Persuasion
3. Collaboration
4. Adaptability
5. Time management
Source: LinkedIn, 2019

Once you learn how to become confident, understand all the things that can sabotage your goals and purpose, there’s no relearning concepts like communication and collaboration! And, no new versions to upskill yourself to! From Cradle to Career and beyond, here are the advantages of learning soft skills.

1. They never go out style!
2. No reskilling need!
3. Always relevant!

Chance-For-Success Index

Whether, its hard skills or soft skills, the chance for success index for children is determined by these factors.

1. Social and Education Conditions
2. Family Resources
3. Sustainable Goal Setting
4. Social, Emotional and Character Education
5. Positive Mentorship

Lessons for our Changing Landscape

Only one thing in the digital age we live in is certain. We’re surrounded by constant, rapid and unpredictable change.
Then, how do we then make sure we’re ready to face uncertainty in career and real life? By learning skills like adaptability, problem solving and resilience, we can meet challenges with easy when they arise. And the rise of AI, the most important soft skill is the ability and agility to deal with uncertainty. Because, Robots haven’t learnt how to automate this skill yet.

Self efficacy is the feeling of adequacy you feel with yourself. It is simply giving yourself a few pats on the back that you’re skillful enough, good enough and that you can get stuff done. Why must one learn self efficacy? To feel confident, positive and powerful. It frees you up from the negative thoughts that worry you and allows for failure and missteps. Moreover, if you develop self efficacy you can learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and try harder next time.

Our Collective Responsibility

It is the responsibility of parents, educators and our society to teach our children how to cope with “real life” by showing them how to create their own definitions for success and happiness. Children strive to live meaningful lives once they understand the value in communication, collaboration and contribution. This is more important, especially now in our digital age, where we are more connected than ever before and far more disconnected from each other in real life.

That’s why we, FutureSTRONG Academy, are a parent advocate run organization that brings social, emotional and character development to homes, schools and communities. More importantly, we feel like educators are already overwhelmed with their day to day curriculum. Because of which we can’t wait for them to teach our children essential life skills like decision making, problem solving and sustainable goal setting.

Conclusion

Finally, here are a few questions. How much of our attitude, mindset and the quality of our hardwork determines our personal peak? Who will teach our children essential life skills like decision making, problem solving and sustainable goal setting? Besides, who will teach them how to live intentionally each day instead of sleep walking through life? And how will they learn the values of integrity, self respect and compassion? Above all, why should we leave our human intellectual potential to chance, environment and self motivation?

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