How to be a grown-up: 10 skills you should learn to feel more like an adult –
Introduction 👋
No matter what age you are, growing up is scary. 😬
One minute you’re having fun in school..
..the next you’re expected to understand everything from tax and mortgages, to health care and politics! 😭
There’s so much to learn, it makes it difficult to feel like an adult.
Here are our top 10 skills you should learn to feel more like an adult!
1. How to look after your money 💸
How to look after money is often listed as people’s number one thing that they wished they learned in school.
When you become an adult, you become responsible for managing money in lots of different ways, such as:
- paying bills 🧾
- getting a bank account 🏦
- saving money 🐖
- earning money 💸
- paying tax 🏛️
- renting/buying a home 🏠
- taking out loans 💳
Learning how to look after your money can help you to cope with all of these new responsibilities as an adult.
But not only this, learning how to look after your money can also help you to:
- Reduce stress 🧘♀️
- Pay for things that make you happy☀️
- Reach your money goals 🏆
- Give you more choices 🤔
- Feel safe and secure 🔒
- Improve your relationships 🤝
So it’s really important to learn how to look after money, to feel more like an adult!
This could include learning about things like:
- How to save money (200+ ideas to save money 💰)
- Understand bank accounts (How to choose which bank account to get 🏛️)
- How to make more money (15 quick and easy ways to make extra money 🫰)
- Understand how banks work (How do banks work? 🏦)
- Learn about investing
- Understand how tax works (What is tax? 💸)
Check out The Grown-Up School’s money section here, to learn how to look after your money!
2. Taking care of your career 💼
Becoming an adult brings the challenge of learning how to make money and start a career. This in itself can feel overwhelming, with so many new things to learn like:
- how to apply for jobs ✍️
- how to interview for jobs 👩💼
- deciding what job to get 🤷♀️
Learning how to develop your career can help you to feel more in control of your future as a grown-up.
This could include learning about things like:
- How to get a job (How do I get a job? 💼)
- Finding your dream job (How to find your dream job 🦸♀️)
- Preparing for interviews (How to prepare for an interview 💼)
- Writing a CV (How to write an amazing CV/resume (with template!) 📜)
- Asking for pay rises (How to ask for a pay rise 💸)
- Deciding where to work (Where should I work? – Getting a job vs self-employment 🤷♀️)
- Finding good employers (10 red flags to look for in a job interview 🚩)
Check out The Grown-Up School’s career section here, to learn how to look after your career!
3. Caring for your wellbeing 🧠
Life as an adult can be very stressful, so it’s important to know how to look after your wellbeing.
According to the National Health Service, 1 in 4 people struggle with their mental health, making it more important than ever to learn how to look after your wellbeing.
This could include learning about things like:
- Self-care (73 self-care ideas 🛀)
- Looking after your wellbeing on social media (How to use social media without hurting your mental health 🩹)
- Developing a growth mindset (How to develop a growth mindset 🪴)
- Not being too hard on yourself (10 ways to be less hard on yourself 💖)
- How to avoid getting scammed (35 ways to protect yourself from scammers 🦹)
- How to build confidence (How to build confidence 😎)
Check out The Grown-Up School’s wellbeing section here, to learn how to look after your wellbeing!
4. Building great relationships 🤝
The quality of our relationships can have a huge impact on our wellbeing, which makes building relationships a really important skill to learn as a grown-up.
This could include learning about things like:
- How to handle arguments (19 ways to stop arguments from exploding 💣)
- How to make others feel special (133 ways to make someone feel special 💖)
- Being a good listener
- Managing money in your relationships (14 money-related red flags to look for in relationships 🚩)
- How to make new friends (How to make new friends 🥰)
Check out The Grown-Up School’s relationships section here, to learn how to look after your relationships!
5. Home care 🏡
As a grown-up you gain more responsibility for looking after your home – which makes learning about home care really important.
This could include learning about things like:
- How to keep on top of your chores (The ultimate chore checklist – 100+ chores to do (and when!)🧼)
- How to rent a home (How to rent a home: a step-by-step guide 🔑)
- Buying a home
- DIY skills
- Understanding plumbing, heating, and air conditioning systems in houses and how to look after them
- Deciding where to live (How to decide where to live: 10 things to check 🗺️)
Check out The Grown-Up School’s home care section here, to learn how to look after your home!
6. How to cope with student life 👩🏫
As you start to get older, you take on more responsibilities at school like:
- Picking which qualifications to get
- Deciding your plans after school
- School exams
- Writing essays
- Completing coursework
- Dedicating a lot of time to studying e.g. going to university
Getting the right qualifications can make a huge difference to your career, which makes it really important to learn how to manage student life successfully.
This could include learning about things like:
- How to study for exams (How to study for exams 🤓)
- Being organised
- Coping with school stress
- How to get teachers on your side (How to be persuasive 😏)
- Learning how to handle failure, and why it’s a good thing
- Deciding whether to do a degree or not
Check out The Grown-Up School’s student life section here, to learn how to look after your student life!
7. Car care 🚗
One of the biggest signs that you’re a grown-up is if you’ve got a car – BUT, do you know how to look after a car properly?
Learning car maintenance can make you feel more like a grown-up, but it can also save you a lot of money.
This could include learning about things like:
- Passing your driving test
- Changing a tyre
- How to pick a car
- Understanding car finance
- Topping up oil in your car
- Putting washer fluid in your car
- Understanding what to look for in an MOT test
- Packing an emergency car kit
- Learning how a car works
8. Pet care 🐕
One of the best parts of being a grown-up, is being able to get your own pets (with nobody to tell you that you can’t!)
BUT – pet care actually takes a lot more skill and responsibility than a lot of people realise.
Caring for animals properly takes a lot of love, time, patience, knowledge, and (sometimes) money!
Learning how to be an amazing pet owner can make you feel more like a grown-up.
This could include learning about things like:
- Learning how much pets cost
- Understanding pet insurance (What is insurance? 🚑)
- Knowing what to do when your pet is sick
- Learning how to meet all of your pet’s needs
9. Preparing for later life 🧓
No matter how hard we try, everyone gets older at some point, and with old age comes lots of new challenges.
Feeling prepared for challenges as an older person can help you to feel more like a grown-up!
This could include learning about things like:
- Preparing your finances for when you’re old (Why you should save for retirement when you’re really young 🧓)
- Learning about inheritance rules
- Setting up care plans for when you or your family are older
- Understanding funeral planning
- Writing a will
10. Parenting 👶
Another huge sign that you’re a grown-up is if you know how to look after children!
Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction guide, but learning how to parent can make you feel more prepared for grown-up life, and the possibility of becoming a parent.
This could include learning about things like:
- How to start a family
- Deciding if you’re ready to become a parent
- How to look after children of different ages
- How to prepare to become a parent
- Coping with parenting stress
- Being part of a good parenting team
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
To feel more like a grown-up, you should learn how to:
- Look after your money💸
- Take care of your career💼
- Care for your wellbeing🧠
- Build great relationships🤝
- Look after a home🏡
- Cope with student life👩🏫
- Look after a car🚗
- Care for a pet🐕
- Prepare for later life🧓
- Parent a child👶
Hopefully you’re feeling more confident about feeling more like a grown-up.
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning how to become a grown-up, share this post with them!
Finally, don’t forget to check out our similar articles below!
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