16 Skills Every Man Should Know: Do you find yourself wishing you had learned some of the basic skills to get you through everyday life that you missed out on? It is the smaller and seemingly unimportant things in life around us which are of utmost importance if we think about it.
Our focus is always on the larger picture, getting a good education, a highly paid job, our own home, and settling down with families.
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Great education, great jobs, and all the perks that come with a good quality of life. Men and women all over the world work hard to achieve their goals and dreams.
But is that all? Does this make us self-sufficient?
It does, yes, to a great deal, financially and money does buy all the comforts this world has to offer.
You can plan a fantastic jungle safari with your friends and spend money on making your and your loved one’s lives comfortable and fun.
But imagine, somewhere in the middle of the forest, surrounded by nature and the natural inhabitants of the forest, you find yourself stuck. The expensive automobile you brought with hard-earned money has decided to let you down again.
There you are, stranded in the middle of nowhere, with a flat tire! You cannot wait for someone to come and help you out in the middle of the forest. How about that spare tire in the trunk? Don’t you think you should be able to swap the spare one with the flat tire?
This isn’t an unlikely situation if you like to go on long road-trips often. So, getting schooled in these so-called smaller and unimportant things in life will save you from more major inconveniences. So, get ready, roll up your sleeves and change the tire, unless you prefer walking all the way back home.
A man would like to be competent enough to handle every situation he faces. For the primitive man, skills that he needed were relatively simple, which involved mainly hunting, cooking, building his hut, etc.
As time passed and the world developed, life did not remain as simple as before. Today, a man is required to be so much more than just the breadwinner. The breadth of skills he should have is broader now with changing times. He needs hard skills to compete with the people at work and out in the world.
To be self-sufficient and independent is what every functional individual should strive for. So, let’s start getting down to some schooling for all those who want to add some real value to their way of life and contribute to the world by being self-reliant.
Here are some skills which should be acquired and some which should be kept in your back pocket, just in case.
Table of Content
Cook a Decent Meal
If you know how to make a decent meal for yourself, without really cooking up a storm, you are a Godsend for your significant other or children or just for yourself, whatever your situation in life maybe.
A good breakfast, prepared without waiting for someone to do it for you, becomes the fuel for the entire day.
It takes you through your day without a grumbling stomach and a grumbling mood.
Grow Your Own Food
This is a skill which every man must learn and acquire, especially with the way the world is changing.
Our backyard kitchen gardens are soon going to hold the pride of place in our homes.
We do not have a choice anymore; we need to grow our own food in our backyards.
And a man who knows how to bring homegrown fresh food on the table is helping bring up healthier and tougher children in the world, ready to take on challenges.
Ride a Bike
Riding a bike is a skill. Riding requires a great deal of concentration and quick thinking.
You cannot be riding a motorcycle and checking your phone or daydreaming.
You always need to be focused, alert, and aware of the drivers around you, especially the careless ones.
One wrong move and you might end up terminally injured or worse.
Every man must experience the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle but with utmost care.
It helps and trains you to be alert while enjoying the passing winds at the same time.
Learn Carpentry
It is always a good feeling to be useful around the house and carpentry is one skill every man must-have.
This is one of the oldest skills which men have acquired and is very handy. In the olden days, men could construct their own homes with minimum tools.
You are not required to do that in today’s world but you should definitely be able to handle some power tools to fix things around the house, put the broken furniture back together or even put up a shelf for toys in your child’s room.
You will be quite indispensable around the house!
You may want to look into some crafting tools to get you started.
Fix a Leaking Faucet
You must know how to fix a leak.
Knowing a little bit about the drainage system around your house and plumbing techniques might come in handy in a lot of trying situations.
A leak in the faucet should not require you to call for a plumber, you need to learn how to put it right yourself.
Learn the use of the First Aid
Minor accidents should not fluster you, be prepared to deal properly with them as you cannot avoid them.
A slip and fall, a cut, a burn, a scratch can all be managed at home with the help of your first aid kit and a bit of knowledge.
So, acquire that knowledge and comfort the people around you in case of minor accidents.
You should be able to clean and dress a wound, these are lifesaving skills. Knowing your first aid also means that you know your boundaries.
You should know when first aid is easy to apply and when things are out of hand.
Do not take the doctor’s job in your own hands. First aid means aid given until the doctor arrives unless you are a doctor yourself, then it is a different ball game!
Build a Campfire
This is a skill every man must know whether he is out camping with the family or he is stuck in a situation for survival. Lighting a campfire is not as easy as it seems.
But, it’s still a must-have skill for a man.
You do not just toss the paper on a stack of logs and throw a lighted match in.
You should know that oxygen is the main fuel for lighting a fire, and there should be no rush. You give it oxygen and the proper wood and wait for it to gradually come to life.
So, patience is the key here. Coax the fire into action and watch the flames light up the night. Your kids will be lighting their own campfires when they are your age, as they have seen dad doing it.
Buy a Suit
Yes, Suit Up!
A wedding or a special meeting coming up?
This is a skill you most definitely need to know, buying a suit for a formal occasion. Buying yourself a suit is not as easy as it seems, it is not as easy as buying casual wear.
Firstly, you must have time on your hands when you enter the shop with the intention of buying yourself a new suit.
It requires attention as you must check for a good fitting. You don’t want to end up with a torn patch at a funeral, trust me.
Do not go for exciting deals as they tend to be rip-offs. You need to be sure of your size, which most times, requires to be tailored, so the suit you choose can be trimmed to your size if required. You must be sure of what exactly you need, a suit for evenings or work. Yes, they are different, the material is different to suit the purpose and time.
Learn CPR
People learn CPR and then tend to forget it in a couple of years. This is because they do not get many chances to use this skill, which is truly fortunate. This is one of the most important skills you must learn and know because life can be so unpredictable. This is being one step ahead of your first aid skills.
Here it is really a matter of life and death. Panicking will only make matters worse, use this skill to perfection. Once you have learned CPR, you should learn to do CPR on infants, children, old people, etc.
Learn how to Dance
Most of us guys are shy of dancing. Mostly if we have a lone wolf personality.
Do not sit there perspiring and feeling embarrassed. Go out on the floor and dance your heart out. Dance but do not embarrass your friends and family. Life asks you, once in a while to let your guard down and dance in tune with its changing music.
Learn this skill and you will not regret it, be it family weddings or a dancing date with your girl.
She would not like you to be stepping on her toes throughout her favorite song. You stand no chance with her then. Just do not stand there bobbing your head or jumping up and down, learn at least one partner dance moves and feel your inhibitions being shed without you knowing it.
Heimlich Maneuver
This is something everybody should know, a skill which goes notches above your first aid and CPR. A situation wherein a person chokes as there is an obstruction in the windpipe.
This skill is required during grave emergencies and you do not have much time for a person cannot survive without oxygen for long and the panic only worsens the situation.
With your Heimlich maneuver skills, you need to get into immediate action and not wait for the paramedics to arrive, that could be too late.
Try to dislodge the obstruction in the windpipe by applying strong quick pressure to the abdomen, just above the navel and below the rib cage.
This pressure unclogs the obstruction in the person’s airwaves, and you could end up saving a life. What could be better than that?
Ironing Clothes
Imagine two men, wearing the same suit, one wrinkled and the other well ironed, which one scores the points here?
Never underestimate the effect your well-ironed and spruced up clothes have on your boss. This is important for your overall impression, nothing will get you a good first impression like a well-ironed suit
If you do not know how to do it, then learn this skill as it is not difficult. It is an important part of your well-groomed look.
Play an Instrument
There is a deep connection between music and happiness. Music is said to elevate your mood, put you on a positive track in life, and fall in love.
Anything that can give you happiness and takes you away from your troubles for a while, is beautiful and should be welcomed.
Music is said to strengthen the mind and change your perspective towards life. The world around appears more beautiful so pick up an instrument that pleases you and learn the strings.
Hammering rudely on drums or string instruments will have your neighbors calling the cops, so learn this skill and make yourself and people around you happy.
Swimming
There is extraordinarily little chance that you will find yourself drowning, waiting for rescue unless you are the daredevil who takes chances.
If you know how to swim then this situation is just a small inconvenience, your friends are coming to rescue you anyway, you just need to stay afloat.
Swimming is also an incredibly good form of full-body exercise and you need exercise after a tough day of sitting in your office.
Swimming is a skill you should learn to keep fit, it can also come handy when you are trying to stay afloat and alive. You can always jump in without hesitation to save a drowning soul.
Throw A Punch
You never really know when you will be needing this skill. Finding yourself in a situation where you need to throw a punch for self-defense, it would be better if you knew exactly how to do it. Do not want to be caught, punching the thin air, do you?
Learning how to throw a punch when it is necessary for your self-defense, is not being violent, it’s just being wise and ready for any situation.
If you do not know how and end up throwing bad punches at your opponent, chances are that you will end up hurting yourself, rather than him. Do yourself a favor and learn this skill.
Tell A Story
Every man must have stories to tell, stories which he has lived and experienced. You might feel the need to tell a story, for a presentation or a paper that you are preparing. You could just be hanging out with your buddies and you all end up sharing your stories. Telling the story isn’t the skill, telling the right one is.
It could be bedtime, tucking your children into bed, and giving in to their demands. Whatever the situation or type of story, you should have this skill of being able to communicate with your audience.
A good storyteller captivates the audience, takes them away from the now into a different time and scenario.
To be able to tell good interesting stories, you must live your life fully, you should gather experiences and incidents and use them as anecdotes.
Pass on your stories to your children with such skill that it becomes their story and they relive it every time they narrate it.
Conclusion
After going through some of the skills mentioned above, how many do you already have?
Are you willing to learn new skills?
It makes life interesting and challenging. So, go ahead and learn some new skills, starting from today.
