1. What are life skills? These are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to effectively deal effectively with the demands and challenges of every day life Qualities needed by an individual in order to operate effectively in the society in an active and effective way Personal and social skills required for people to function confidently and competently with themselves,with other people and with the wider society

2. skills of making effective decisions Creative thinking. Being able to come up with new ways and ideas of doing things or dealing with different situations. Critical thinking. Ability to think through situations so as to take appropriate decisions concerning people or one’s environment. Decision making. Being able to look at options and choosing healthy and positive alternatives. Problem solving. Solving problems in a way that provides acceptable healthy and positive out comes for all involved. Aims of teaching life skills. Enabling people to make informed decisions about their lives and behaviour. Enabling people recognize and avoid risky health situations and behaviours. Enabling people to make health changes in their lives.

3. Categories of life skills Skill of knowing and living with oneself 1.Self awareness. Knowing ones strength, weaknesses, emotional potential and position in life and being able to accept who you are. We need to have a clear sense of our own identity. 2.Self esteem: accepting oneself and being proud of what one is and feeling self confident. It refers to awareness of the good in oneself, it refers to how individuals feel about such personal aspects as appearance, abilities and behaviour. 3. Cooping with emotions. The ability to manage emotions positively in response to an internal or external stimuli. Emotions include fear, love, shyness, anger, desire to be accepted. 4. Cooping with stress. Ability to deal with problems such as lack of family, broken relationships. Stress is a condition of increased body activity beyond which one cannot handle. It involves recognising the sources of stress, how it affects us and how to control the levels of stress. 5.Assertiveness. Knowing what one wants and feels and how to communicate it effectively without being aggressive. 6.Interpersonal relationships. These skills help us to relate in a positive way with the people we interact with

4. Skill of knowing and living with others 1.Friendship formation. Being able to relate with people who will mutually be beneficial in a positive way. 2.Empathy. Putting oneself in some other person’s position, walk a mile in them and then leave them to proceed.to have successful relationships, we need to care about other peoples needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine how life is for another person 3.non-violent conflict resolution. Consider options which yield best possible results without using violence. 4. Peer resistance. Resisting negative peer pressure without necessarily loosing your friend. 5.Negotiation. Ability to bargain, get others on your side without them feeling that you have infringed on their rights. 6.Effective communication. Being able to transmit the message you would like to convey in the way that the receiver understands it.

5. JOHARIS WINDOW KNOWN SELF Things we know about ourselves and others know about us HIDDEN SELF Things we know about ourselves and others don’t know BLIND SELF Things others know about us but we don’t know UNKNOWNSELF Things neither we nor others know about us