Forever Skills

What skills will matter most for work, business and life in the future? Where should you focus your energy and effort when the world is changing at an extraordinary rate? How can you future proof yourself, your organisation and your kids? In this ground-breaking book Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory have interviewed hundreds of successful business people, educators, futurists, economists and historians to uncover the key skills that will always be critical to success in business and in life. Where most futurists increase your sense of panic and anxiety with dystopian images of the not-too-distant future characterised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking our jobs, algorithms hacking our most private moments and Austrian-accented cyborgs raising our children, Kieran and Dan remind us that we need to look beyond the things changing around us and focus on the things that won’t change within us. Identify the skills you have that will always be relevant Gain insight from business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, sport leaders and more Learn why each skill matters, and how to make it stronger Discover the things that won’t change as we inch toward the future These 12 FOREVER SKILLS are designed to set you up for whatever the future may throw at you plus help you get more success in your work and life, today.

What skills will matter most for work, business and life in the future? Where should you focus your energy and effort when the world is changing at an extraordinary rate? How can you future proof yourself, your organisation and your kids? In this ground-breaking book Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory have interviewed hundreds of successful business people, educators, futurists, economists and historians to uncover the key skills that will always be critical to success in business and in life. Where most futurists increase your sense of panic and anxiety with dystopian images of the not-too-distant future characterised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking our jobs, algorithms hacking our most private moments and Austrian-accented cyborgs raising our children, Kieran and Dan remind us that we need to look beyond the things changing around us and focus on the things that won’t change within us. Identify the skills you have that will always be relevant Gain insight from business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, sport leaders and more Learn why each skill matters, and how to make it stronger Discover the things that won’t change as we inch toward the future These 12 FOREVER SKILLS are designed to set you up for whatever the future may throw at you plus help you get more success in your work and life, today.

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to learn a foreign language, this is the method that will finally make the words stick. “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

‘I love this book – clever ideas we can all do ourselves’ Kate Watson-Smyth Our homes have always been our castles, but today they need to be so much more than simply a roof over our heads. Home offices, workout studios, entertaining spaces, mental health sanctuaries and centres for self-care… the demands on our four walls are unprecedented. At the same time, more of us are privately renting than at any time since the mid-1970s – but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our homes into aesthetically-conscious living environments that reflect our unique sense of style and bring joy to our everyday lives. In Your Not Forever Home, Katherine Ormerod has curated a range of projects for every room in a rented house or flat, guiding you through techniques and invaluable insights that will help create spaces tailored to your taste. Katherine addresses why many of us are renting now for much longer, and provides reassuring guidance on how to approach alterations with your landlord – and, if you are new to DIY, Your Not Forever Home offers projects for a range of skillsets, from entry-level to the more proficient, with Katherine sharing her own experiences along the way. From how to hang temporary wallpaper to painting furniture or sewing French bistro curtains, you can embrace the potential of your rental space with Your Not Forever Home – an indispensable companion on your journey towards transforming your home into a haven of tasteful sophistication, without the high-end budget.

"This book was prepared for any adult interested in better understanding the topic of creativity, becoming a more creative person, or teaching others to think more creatively. ... More specifically, this book will help you better grasp the relationship of creativity to our self-actualization - becoming what we are capable of becoming. It will present and help clarify: blocks and barriers to creative thinking; theories and definitions of creativity; mental processes in creative thinking; deliberate idea-finding techniques in creative problem solving; testing for creative potential; the pivotal role of creativity in gifted education; activities for creative dramatics; strategies for strengthening creative attitudes and abilities [and] generally what to teach when you "teach creativity" ... The book also addresses some needs of the business person interested in developing his or her own creative thinking potential or helping others become more creative problem solvers."--Preface.