Life skills include psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills that help people
make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate
effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with managing
their lives in a healthy and productive manner. Essentially, there are two kinds of skills -
those related to thinking termed as "thinking skills"; and skills related to dealing with
others termed as "social skills". While thinking skills relate to reflection at a personal
level, social skills include interpersonal skills and do not necessarily depend on logical
thinking. It is the combination of these two types of skills that are needed for achieving
assertive behaviour and negotiating effectively. “Emotional” can be perceived as a skill
not only in making rational decisions but also in being able to make others agree to one's
point of view. To do that, coming to terms first with oneself is important. Thus, selfmanagement
is an important skill including managing/coping with feelings, emotions,
stress and resisting peer and family pressure. Young people as advocates need both
thinking and social skills for consensus building and advocacy on issues of concern.