Social Skills? The Most Important Skill In The Next 10 Years
Social Skills? The Most Important Skill In The Next 10 Years
99: Long social skills.
Welcome reader! ETH is officially approved, and we want to congratulate those who believe in it. A solid 20% in the last 30 days for such a minimal-risk "asset" is a solid ROI. Today’s topic is quite different. If you have been following us on Twitter, you already know what we are long on. Creativity and social skills. Creativity is not something you can force or work on (to an extent). It’s more about discovering what works for you and sparks your imagination - something we covered briefly in our How Not to Waste Your 20s article. What about social skills? One of the most important skills you will be able to possess in the future.
Social Skills - Next 10 Years
The future: As mentioned in the earlier articles, such as your next three years run. We are in for the change. The graph below is a good example of accelerating technological advancement. Consider that this graph is four years old and we all know what has happened in the last four years. The graph is semi-irrelevant since we cannot access a more detailed view. But still, it should be obvious. You can’t stop the technological development, neither can you stop the "compounding effect" of it. Your best bet? Adapt to it. Considering how the average teen spends their day, most are not ready to adapt. With this tempo, we will soon have an entire army of those not ready to articulate three sentences together to form something longer. Creating a space for those with good social skills to shine. Future when it comes to social skills? We would argue things look even worse. There is already a whole wave of those convinced they deserve everything. We have never had less productive individuals - who are entitled. Mix that approach to life and bad social skills… There is a wake-up call - sooner or later.
Graph thanks to a random Quora post.
Importance: In a professional setting, you always have a card to pull that you would instead focus on the technical part. Internal self believes that you are good enough and that good enough will get you where you want to be. What every engineer we ever met used as an excuse - still very common in entry-level tech roles. Now that the field is leveling up… Things will be different. We have already noticed the patterns, and minimal research around Reddit or other social media will tell you that juniors are having wake-up calls. The current economic situation is not helping either. We are entering an interesting area where everyone can be a jack of all trades with minimal effort - what used to take you years to become decent at can be done with a few clicks. Not talking about any magical solutions here. We are talking about basic tools everyone has access to. For example, look into the studies done on college students and the percentage of them who use tools such as ChatGPT to do their homework. You don’t even have to guess what statistics look like. Considering that not many things are left you cannot replace - imagine how things will look in three to four years. The example most will understand? You have two engineers with similar portfolios and backgrounds, but you like the one more than the other. Why? Because he left a better mark on you during the interview. Guess which one you are picking. This applies to all areas of your life and in 80% of all social situations. Humans favor those who leave a good impression on them. We can all try to push it, but at the end of the day, we are social creatures - those who adapt better in social settings are the ones who get more out of life. For those who have friends in sales (or are in sales themselves), you already know how it works. After spending so much time working with people, it comes naturally. They always know someone or have access to something they usually could not afford. They talk their way into the great connections and leave a good impression on those who matter. Career, social groups, networking. They are all under the same umbrella. Operating on your ability to adapt and bring value to others - where does that leave us? Understand the current situation. Understand things won’t change. Understand technology will not stop developing. Focus on social skills - there are zero reasons you will regret it. Don’t believe us? Listen to geniuses such as Peter Thiel.
You can listen to Thiel's take on Twitter.
Social Circle: Friendships. Groups you hang around with. You get what we are aiming at. Those who surround you and with whom you spend your free time. If you have been reading us for a long time, you already know our take on bad friendships and those who are not working on improving their lives. They are not worth being around. Sounds brutal. But that is the only way you will be moving forward. You don’t need a lot of friends in your life - you need quality ones. The people you surround yourself with are the ultimate reason you become what you become. If they are all losers, you will become one. It’s a guarantee - vice versa. Your circle is doing great, and everyone is putting in the effort. Chances are you are going to follow the same pattern. How about entering an already higher-status group? You will have to leave a good impression on them. Again, it comes down to what has been mentioned in the basics. Others perceive you based on your value. Our advice to young people in their 20s is to be as brutal as possible when disqualifying those not worth spending time with. We are not saying you should be kicking everyone out of your life. But if you find yourself in a group of friends constantly complaining and not doing something about it. It’s a clear sign you are in the wrong company.
Get away from people who will bring you down. Get them out of your life, and no situation in life will seem inescapable. - Mike Cernovich
Career: Networks. Work colleagues. You already know what we think about work colleagues and how you should position yourself. They have an important role in your social life, yet you will realize our take on them sooner or later. Similar principles as with your "free time groups". They are either helping you get up, or you are not associating with them. The difference is that you must pull it off differently regarding work colleagues. One of the stupidest things you could do in your work environment is to create enemies from the people you need. Your goal inside your work environment should be to maximize the leverage. This often reflects in various areas of perks and your work life - fancy business trips, promotions, and networks you can count on down the road. You know your social skills are working when you start doing less but, in the end, have more.
Life Quality: Social skills correlate with the quality of your life. If you have to take any lessons from this article. That is the most important. The social aspect is present in every major area of your life. Giving you leverage, connections, power, and the ability to get into a position others won’t find themselves in - if you play your cards right. It is crucial to realize the opportunity presented. It’s a big one.
Getting Better At Social Game
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