Three important skills to succeed in life

As a young parent, I always believe in giving the best for my children. In this regard, my wife and I have been sending my daughter for enrichment classes with the view of developing her thinking, speaking and writing skills. These are the three skills one should possess in order to succeed in life, so we hope to give her a good start.

Contrary to what many people thought, being academically good does not mean you are well-equipped to achieve great things when you enter the workforce. I have seen many scholars who can think and write well but cannot speak confidently in public. Like-wise I have many ‘A’ list friends who can think fast and speak confidently but lack substance in their writing. Henceforth, my view is that it is important to lay a strong foundation for these three skills, starting from a young age. At the end of the day, even if my children did not achieve great things, at least I hope to mold resilient characters in them so that they can overcome obstacles in life.

Thinking Skill

I have been sending my daughter to attend lessons at Clay Works Singapore in East Point Shopping Mall. The idea is to encourage her to think creatively and also to let her experience the fun of learning. In future, she would realize that studying for exams in Singapore is highly stressful and dull. So I want to sustain her interest in learning and instill in her that learning can be fun. The structured curriculum helps to develop her problem solving skill and unleash creative potential. More importantly, I want to boost her self confidence and self esteem upon seeing her own craft.

As a wealth builder, it is also important to think critically and not follow the herd mentality when it comes to investing. Unfortunately, one can only develop the right thinking skill through reading (e.g finance blogs in Singapore) and life experiences, which may take years or even a life-long effort.

Speaking Skill

My daughter loves bedtime stories. So every two to three weeks, we will make a trip to the library and borrow many of her favorite fairy tale books. Reading to her provides the best opportunity to improve her speaking ability because as a child, she soaks up whatever me or my wife say. So we are quite careful on the way we read during bedtime stories. Nevertheless, we noticed that she has some problems addressing my brother-in-law and sister in Chinese. So we are considering sending her to phonics lessons to improve her speaking skill.

To be able to speak confidently and present well are important because if you cannot get your message across to your audience, then half the battle will be lost. The best salesmen in the company are those who can speak and get the buy-in from customers. The best customer service officers are those who can remain calm and speak tactfully in the face of irate customers. Political leaders must know how to do public speaking in order get the mandate from the electorate.

Writing Skill

The old proverb ‘pen is mightier than a sword’ means that you can solve problem through communication with words than by violence. Indeed, a ‘blog influencer’ with good writing skill can be a powerful person because of his/her ability to influence others’ mind. Knowing how to express yourself well on paper is certainly important in Singapore education as written examinations is still the most common mode of assessing student’s ability to understand topics being taught. My daughter is currently only three and still not able to hold a pen but I hope she will take after me and develop the interest to read and write in future.

Magically yours,

SG Wealth Builder