Important Skills They Don't Teach in School [Top 10] - Ed Escoto

[Average read time: 2 minutes]

Most of my education happened long after I graduated high school and college. School teaches you many facts and formulas, and if you’re lucky, it begins to teach you how to learn.

But some of the best lessons can only be learned by doing.

Do more. Fail more. Learn more.

10 Important Skills They Don’t Teach in School

1. Networking

I’m beginning to learn how important this is. Hopefully it’s not too late.

2. How to sell

Whether it’s yourself in an interview, your product, or company, it’s important.

3. Negotiation

Finding the win-win is the goal.

4. The 1% Rule

Every day I try to be 1% better. 1% compounds over time.

5. Idea Sex

Find things you’re good at. Get better at them. Combine them and be the master of that thing. I’m not the best financial analyst. I’m not the best writer. I’m not the best dad. I’m not the best ex-husband. But I am the best divorced dad who is a financial analyst and has a side hustle writing about business and creating children’s books.

6. Reinvent Yourself

For 10 years I was a Financial Analyst. Two years ago I began writing. I’ve created six books since. The future is a blank canvas and I’m going to paint the shit out of it.

7. Find the Trend

There’s too much information to digest. Find the trend in the noise and use that as a barometer.

8. Themes over goals

Goals are not practical. Sure, they make us feel like we accomplished something. But themes are more important to me. My theme is I’m a writer that occasionally publishes a book. The goals may change but the theme doesn’t.

I wasn’t planning on self-publishing a single book this year. I published two. This wasn’t a goal – it was a consequence of doing what I enjoy.

9. Creativity

Write down ideas every day. Ideas for your life, for business, for other businesses. The key is to get great at generating ideas. You will become an idea machine.

10. Generosity

Give constantly and generously. Most importantly, give with no expectation of reciprocity. Give your ideas, your connections, your time. Your network will grow linearly as you meet more people, but will grow exponentially when you help others.

If I was creating a college, these skills would be required courses. But what do I know, I’m just a guy on the internet with an opinion.

This is what I do know:

These skills are not taught in school.

These skills are necessary for real-life success.

These skills can be learned by actually doing things, online courses, reading.

Or by finding a…

PLUS: Mentors you can learn from. This can be in person or virtual. I consider many authors, entrepreneurs, and many others mentors even though we’ve never met. Maybe one day we will.

EQUAL: Someone on your level to challenge and support you.

MINUS: Someone you can teach or mentor. Teaching is a great way to really master a subject.