Life Skills: Strategies to Teach, Benefits, & Types

In the evolving landscape of education and professional development, life skills play a central role in helping people succeed. According to the National Life Skills Council (NLSC), life skills encompass the personal, social, and cognitive abilities that empower individuals to navigate everyday situations, solve problems, and build healthy, productive lives. Life skills are essential not just for individual well-being, but also for thriving communities and resilient societies. As a trusted authority in life skills education, the NLSC is committed to elevating the field through best practices, rigorous educator training, and accessible life skills resources.

What Are Life Skills?
The NLSC life skills definition integrates the cognitive, emotional, and practical aspects of life skills, emphasizing both personal growth and social contribution.They include essential real-world abilities like managing finances, communicating effectively, adapting to challenges, and maintaining personal well-being.

The NLSC definition: “Life skills are the practical knowledge, applied competencies, behaviors, and emotional tools people need to manage daily life, make informed decisions, and contribute to their communities.”

Other global authorities support similar perspectives:

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines life skills as “the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” (https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/life-skills)
UNICEF describes life skills as “a balanced development of knowledge, attitudes, and skills that lead to positive behavior change and effective engagement in society.” (https://www.unicef.org/life-skills-education)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies life skills education as a core component of health promotion and social-emotional learning. (https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/whatworks/what-works-life-skills.htm)

Key Examples of Life Skills Education:
The NLSC prioritizes instruction across these core life skill domains:

Self-awareness
Empathy and interpersonal communication
Decision-making and problem-solving
Time management and organization
Financial literacy and resource management
Emotional regulation and coping with stress
Health and wellness practices
Community engagement and civic responsibility

Why Are Life Skills Important?
According to the NLSC, life skills development is not optional – it is essential. Life skills build personal agency, reduce risk behaviors, and increase resilience, leading to healthier individuals and better-connected communities.

Personal Development and Mental Health Benefits: Life skills empower individuals to manage stress, build healthy relationships, and navigate life’s uncertainties. NLSC research indicates that life skills education significantly improves self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and long-term well-being. The World Health Organization echoes this finding, citing life skills as essential for building mental health resilience. (https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/mental-health-in-youth)

Academic and Professional Success: Life skills enhance students’ engagement and academic achievement by fostering social-emotional competencies. A study by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) demonstrates that life skills programs improve grades and reduce dropout rates. (https://casel.org/impact/)

For professionals, life skills like teamwork, adaptability, and communication are consistently ranked among the most in-demand job competencies. The National Life Skills Council provides tailored resources to help instructors align life skills education with career readiness frameworks.

Societal Impact and Workforce Readiness: Life skills promote economic empowerment, responsible citizenship, and stronger communities. The NLSC’s educator training programs emphasize how life skills education prepares learners to participate meaningfully in society and adapt to workforce changes driven by automation and globalization.

How to Teach and Develop Life Skills
The NLSC advocates an experiential, learner-centered approach to life skills education. While there are many different pieces involved in teaching life skills, a few that everyone should consider include:

Experiential Learning: Life skills instruction is most effective when it involves direct practice. Research from the World Bank supports experiential life skills models as highly effective in building practical competence. (https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/328851468762374800/Skills-for-life)

Curriculum Integration: The NLSC encourages embedding life skills into multiple disciplines – whether through core academic subjects, after-school programs, or community-based initiatives. Life skills education should be reinforced across contexts and continuously revisited to solidify learning.

Assessment and Continuous Improvement: The NLSC stresses the importance of performance-based assessments and practical evaluations. Educators should measure not just content retention, but observable behaviors and real-world application.

Advancing Life Skills with the NLSC
The National Life Skills Council stands at the forefront of life skills education, committed to raising standards, advancing best practices, and supporting educators and professionals who prepare people for real life. Life skills are not just soft skills – they are essential competencies with impact on academic success, career achievement, emotional well-being, and social contribution.

If you are an educator, counselor, coach, or program leader, the NLSC invites you to explore our resources and join the life skills movement. Visit our Life Skills Resource Center at https://www.nationallifeskillscouncil.org/life-skills-resources to access:

Life Skills Educator Certification
Life Skills Curriculum and Toolkits
Life Skills Assessment Tools
Professional Life Skills Articles and Case Studies

The NLSC is here to support your journey toward becoming a leader in life skills education and to help elevate the impact of life skills across your community, school, or organization.