According to an article in Forbes.com, the most important life skill could surprise you. I always take online reports, surveys, and the like with a grain of salt, but because this article was written based on someone’s opinion, I decided to take a peek. I was actually quite surprised by the answer to the question posed in the title, and for this reason wanted to share.

According to Maryling Yu, the most important skill in life is mastering your emotions. Or as Yu puts it, “getting happy and staying happy.” I guess in many aspects this is true, and there are two good points in the article. One is about choosing to be happy despite the circumstances. The other point is about not letting others “own” your emotions, for example when you say that someone else made you mad.

But in business it’s difficult for me to pinpoint just one skill that could be the most “important” skill. In business, no matter what career path one could take, there are so many important skills that are necessary for success such as good relationship building skills, technological know-how, etc. But in Yu’s article she makes a clever point about your emotions being at the base of all of these other skills. That when you’re happy, it’s easier to do all the things effortlessly, which are required for success.

Did the answer to this question surprise you? What would your own answer be to the question, “What could be the most important skill in life?”

Read the entire article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sungardas/2013/12/19/the-most-important-skill-in-life-its-not-what-you-think/

Posted by Corey Curwick Dutton