As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, the landscape of personal and professional life is undergoing significant transformation. Rapid technological advancements (including artificial intelligence), the pervasive influence of social media, and the urgent need for sustainability are reshaping the skills and aptitudes required for individuals—particularly young people—to thrive and succeed. And these skills and aptitudes will be required across their entire lifetimes. This article outlines the 10 essential competencies that today’s youth must cultivate to ensure their survival and prosperity in an increasingly intricate world. Topics will include technological proficiency, social and emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, metacognition, mindfulness, and an understanding of human behavior. I will also suggest the interconnectedness of individual well-being and societal sustainability. Preparing for the future is a multi-faceted endeavour. You can read the article below, or watch the video on YouTube.
Become a Master Learner
Your ability to learn continuously is essential. The rapid evolution of technology and of change in general necessitates a commitment to what I call pervasive learning – your ability to learn readily across formal and informal contexts – and across multiple domains of life – not just career, but: relationships, physical and mental well-being, finances, technologies and more. The World Economic Forum (2025) has listed “Curiosity and Lifelong Learning” at number 6 in its 10 fastest growing skills by 2030. But I believe this skill is the most important of all, and you may note that the way I am describing this skillset differs somewhat from the WEF’s, because pervasive learning transcends work contexts. Your entire life is now heavily dependent on your ability to learn.
Young people, and all of us, must develop metacognitive skills—that means, learning how to learn. The World Economic Forum (2025) emphasizes that the future job market will favor individuals who can quickly acquire new skills, making adaptability crucial as industries transform and new roles emerge. You can’t assume that you will be an attractive employee or consultant just because you have a degree or certificate hanging on your wall. You are going to have to be really smart, and become a master learner, and not just in the classroom. Because your school can’t possibly equip you with more than a fraction of the skills and aptitudes you are going to need to acquire work, and to live well. Your professor can’t really teach you people skills, enhance your mental health, or boost your financial smarts. So, more than ever, you must learn how to teach yourself!
We must therefore develop an understanding of the very nature of learning, and continually challenge ourselves to acquire new knowledge and new skills throughout life. There are many distinctions I could go into here, but the truth is that you have to take a good look at yourself, and identify how you learn best, and why you fail to learn in other situations. A very common attitudinal error is to assume, “I’m stupid, or I’m not good at that.” Every learning situation requires an identification of the problem, and the development of a smart strategy to overcome the problem; and you have to develop the self-belief that you can learn what is required.
Deliberate practice is another concept you should explore, where we develop carefully planned learning experiences tailored to help us learn efficiently. Think of that as developing your own classes, and being your own teacher. And nowadays, with generative AI as your tutor, that has never been easier.
Let me share a story. In my second year of university back in the 1980s, I took a French class, and found myself disinterested and struggling. After the first quiz when I did really poorly, the professor came up to me and she said “Some people just aren’t very good at languages.” She suggested that I take a different subject. Now, because of my low self-belief, instead of trying to think through the problem and solve it, I believed her and immediately dropped French. That idea – that I sucked at language learning – stayed with me for several years. But in my mid to late 20s I began to deliberately challenge my innate belief about my lack of language-learning acuity, and that I was basically just dumb – a legacy of earlier classroom messaging from teachers, and certain sibling messaging, including being given the nickname “Dope” by my older brother. And so, by the time I went to Taiwan at the age 33, I deliberately set out to learn Chinese, considered to be one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers. It took a while, but today my Chinese is quite good (not perfect), but I think I can say that I am conversationally fluent. I just kept at it, and developed strategies which allowed me to continuously improve, such as standing in my apartment and pretending to have conversations with imagined others, including gesturing and speaking out loud – which I now know taps into a learning process called interactivity – embodied learning. This was metacognition in action – me learning how to learn. Embracing the philosophy and attitude of pervasive learning can encourage you to remain curious and open to new experiences, allowing you to learn, grow and thrive in diverse contexts across your entire lifespan, and in multiple personal and professional contexts.
Adaptive Learning in a Technological Landscape
This one will be obvious to you. In the 21st century, proficiency in technology has become a fundamental requirement rather than an optional skill. Young people – and older folks like me – must not only be competent in using existing technologies, but also possess the mindset to adapt to technologies not yet realised. The WEF (2025) lists two related skills – AI and Big Data proficiency and Technological Proficiency at numbers 1 and 3 respectively on their 2025 report. The citizen of today – that means you – must therefore possess the ability to continuously adapt to rapidly changing tools and platforms. This includes utilizing generative (AI) for creative purposes, a skill that is increasingly relevant across various professional fields. Companies like OpenAI and Google are revolutionizing industries through AI applications, underscoring the critical importance of tech-savvy individuals who can leverage such innovations creatively. And just recently we have DeepSense R1, threatening a potential AI open-source revolution. So, if you are dragging your feet because you feel overwhelmed by all the new apps and AI tools don’t stop. Just keep moving forward. One of the prime aptitudes we all need today is the ability to tolerate confusion. Not knowing. You are not incompetent. You are merely NON-competent, and non-competence always precedes competence. You have to be crap at something before you get good.
Build Your Personal Brand in the Gig Economy
As traditional employment structures evolve, personal branding will play a crucial role in personal success. The gig economy—characterized by short-term contracts and freelance work requires you to market yourself effectively. According to the Pew Research Center (2020), today, 36 percent of American workers have engaged in gig work at some point, highlighting the necessity for people to develop a personal brand that reflects their skills and abilities. Communicating your value effectively through digital platforms – and offline too – is therefore essential in navigating this competitive landscape. Indeed, the Word Economic Forum lists Social Influence at number 7 on its skills list, juxtaposing it with Leadership. But a personal brand is useless if there is no clear value added by whatever service you are selling, or knowledge you are communicating. So, more than ever, you have know who you are, and what you stand for. And… make sure you do not let anyone else distract you from that, especially BigTech organizations and social media influencers.
You have got to lead the algorithm, don’t let the algorithm lead you. If you let them, the algorithms will destroy your curiosity by channelling your innate enthusiasm for learning into repeated exposure to the same people, same ideas, same situations, and the same subject matters. Remember, the prime directive of the algorithms is not to help you to learn or grow. It’s to keep your attention focused on the screen such that you can be exploited to optimise profits for BigTech and their advertisers.
Which brings us to number four.
Focus, Commit, Follow Through
Let me share another brief story. I go to a local gym here in in Zhuhai, China. And being rather observant, I have noticed what other people in the gym do there. And what might that be? If you guessed they are also working out, you’d be only half right. Because, I estimate that about 50% of the time, the other people in the gym are playing with their phones. Now, if they’re doing this in the gym, it’s reasonable to assume they’re doing the same during the rest of their free time, if not more so. My point is this: if you cannot direct your attention to focus on what you believe is important and necessary in your life, you have little hope—perhaps no hope—of becoming a highly successful person. Nor understanding yourself or the world that you live in.
Think about all the creative energy, ideas, and inspiration that are wasted in the minds and souls of those people spending excessive time every day scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, or other platforms. I seriously doubt that much of what they are viewing is in any way educational or beneficial to them. The truth is, many are simply addicted to the internet. Captured by the machine. My advice to you is to clearly decide who you are and what you want to achieve, work out a strategy for how to be that person and achieve your goals, and then take regular, small steps to get there. So, put your phone down, because if you can’t do that, you’re not even on the first step of the journey of ten thousand steps, to speak metaphorically.
Almost everything that is worth doing or achieving takes discipline and deliberate practice. Focused attention. Don’t let anybody else steal your attention from you – because that means they have stolen… your mind. There are a number of simple habits and tools that you can easily apply here. But here I will share just one very simple but powerful practice you can begin with right now. When you wake up in the morning, set a specific screen-free time for yourself, even if it’s only 30 minutes. No devices during that period. It is vital that you don’t turn on your phone first thing and start scrolling media and social media, because you will be wiring your mind according to someone else’s agenda. Living someone else’s story. Don’t be that person.
Manage Your Mental Well-Being
The bombardment of information from media and social media now necessitates the need for mindfulness and self-awareness. Learning to manage your focus and attention, as I just mentioned, can enhance your mental well-being, allowing you to remain present and attentive in an often chaotic world. Research indicates that mindfulness practices can lead to improvements in emotional regulation, stress reduction, and overall mental health (Anthony, 2023). By fostering mindfulness – the ability to bring your mind into the present moment, uncluttered by unnecessary distractions – you can cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself and others, enabling you to better navigate the complexities of modern life.
Practices such as meditation and mindful breathing can also help you develop resilience to stress and anxiety, allowing you to face challenges with a calm and focused mindset. And perhaps their greatest gift, is that they permit an opportunity for you to experience yourself and consciousness in a space beyond your mind and its beliefs and stories.
The good news is that many mindfulness techniques are incredibly simple and easy to master. For example, while you are working at your computer, every few minutes you can look up, look around and breathe deeply a few times. Just allow your mind to become empty for 10 or 20 seconds. This triggers the relaxation response – while activating your peripheral vision is also good for your eyes, and studies suggest it helps us to learn better.
Develop Your Social and Emotional Intelligence
Despite the digital age’s emphasis on technology, interpersonal communication remains a crucial skill. That necessitates developing people skills, and yes, that means putting the damn phone down and talking to people. Studies indicate that GenZ often struggles with face-to-face interactions due to their reliance on digital communication. Therefore, fostering strong social skills through authentic interactions and collaborations is essential – and not just for youngsters. Engaging in team projects, participating in community activities, and developing empathy will enable you to build meaningful relationships and navigate various social contexts. This is something I realized as a socially awkward young man. When I left university at the age of 22 with an honours degree in Modern History, my first job, which I did for seven months, was selling vacuum cleaners door to door
Develop Resilience and Courage in the Face of Failure & Rejection
About 25 years ago I volunteered to be an instructor on Michael Wall’s Discovery program in rural New Zealand, just outside of Wellington. This is where we put about 100 teenagers together in a really big room, on a farm for a weekend, and poked and prodded them to try to get them to become better people. Now, in between annoying them, we gave them some self-development activities. One included the teenagers having to write down their greatest fears with a marker pen on the back of a plank of wood. About this big. Then they had to put the chunk of wood in between two big bricks and karate chop the wood, with their written fears on the underside, I guess so nobody else knew their personal anxieties. Later, after the session was over, at about 10pm, I left the dorm room I was staying in on the farm, and went outside for a short walk. And as I was strolling around outside the main building, I came across all the blocks of wood which had been karate chopped in half by the kids. So, I flipped through them just to see what the teenagers had written on them. Can you guess what the two greatest fears were, because there were two words that I saw repeated again and again and again? They were: failure and rejection. It’s now decades later, but all of us still have to deal with these two fears. Fear of failure and rejection are not going away.
Therefore, mental resilience is another critical aptitude that you must develop today as you face challenges in an increasingly uncertain world. The World Economic Forum (2025) lists “Resilience, Flexibility and Agility” as the fifth most essential skill required for workers today. But there is something that has changed since I attended that Discovery programme in New Zealand all those years ago. Drawing on extensive research taken from countries all over the world, American psychologist Jonathan Haidt (2024) notes that today’s youth are experiencing increasingly high levels of anxiety and depression. He cites two prime causes. The first is overprotective parenting. And the other is excessive exposure to social media at a young age, which he argues damages developing brains. So, parents and teachers should be encouraging young individuals to confront failure and rejection as opportunities for growth, in order to foster resilience and emotional intelligence. Author Angela Duckworth highlights that grit—defined as perseverance and passion—plays a key role in success, reinforcing the importance of embracing setbacks as learning opportunities. But don’t wait for your seniors to grant you opportunities for failure and success. Get out there and do stuff. You have to take concrete steps towards your goals, including doing deliberate practice to develop the skills you need to thrive in the 21st century – or you will never reach those goals.
Failure will not kill you, and nor will disappointment. If you learn mental resilience, and develop strong self-belief. In my 40s, after I completed my doctorate, I went almost ten years and 16 job interviews before I was finally offered an actual full-time university position. I faced failure and rejection on a massive scale. That was very difficult at times, but I kept moving forward: researching, writing, speaking at conferences, applying for more positions. All at my own expense. I developed, persistence, courage deeper self-awareness, and the skill of learning from failure while not taking it personally. But most of all, I developed resilience.
Learn to Navigate the Creative Economy
In an era where automation is replacing many mundane tasks, creativity and innovation become invaluable traits. According to the World Economic Forum (2025), a capacity for creative thinking is the fourth fastest growing skillset required today. Young people in particular must therefore not only develop a proficiency for using generative AI, but also an ability to synthesize divergent streams of information, think outside the box, and propose novel questions and solutions. This innovative mindset will be increasingly sought after by employers as they navigate a competitive market shaped by technological advancements. And yes, you can use the machines to help you. That’s what they’re here for.
For example, innovative companies like Apple, Tesla and OpenAI have thrived by fostering a culture of creativity, encouraging employees to think beyond conventional limits. The ability to generate unique ideas and apply them practically will differentiate individuals in a job market where routine tasks are increasingly automated.
Understanding Human Behavior: Bias and Perception
In an increasingly interconnected world, understanding human behavior and cultural dynamics has become paramount. This awareness can enhance your critical thinking and decision-making skills, and improve your relationships. For example, it’s important to be able to recognize cognitive biases that influence our perceptions and decision-making processes. Three good examples include: cognitive dissonance – when we ignore data that contradicts our beliefs; negativity bias – our tendency to notice threats and bad news more than good news; and the availability heuristic – where information and examples which are more readily accessed seem more important than those we are not so exposed to. All these biases can dramatically damage your ability to interpret the world and other people in a balanced and rational way. Which brings me onto my final crucial skill for thriving in the 21st century.
Digital Wisdom and Critical Thinking
All of us today need to be equipped with media and social media literacy skills to critically assess information, recognize manipulation, and make informed choices about the content we consume. As social media platforms continue to shape public discourse, understanding the creative and technological mechanisms behind our platforms is vital. By fostering critical thinking, media and digital literacy, we can become informed consumers of information and more effective communicators in our personal and professional lives.
A useful concept here is Shoshana Zuboff’s (2019) concept of “surveillance capitalism,” which highlights the importance of understanding how personal data is exploited by big tech companies. Zuboff also emphases the need for critical thinking and media literacy in navigating the complex digital landscape. In an age where misinformation can spread rapidly, the ability to discern credible sources from unreliable ones is essential for informed citizenship.
However, I believe that the concept of digital literacy needs updating. Digital literacy is hampered by its focus on technological savvy. This is why I developed the framework of Digital Wisdom, which emphasizes the need for competence in three domains. Besides technology, there is also a requirement to understand human biology and cultures, as well as develop deeper self-awareness. I believe that the cultivation of all three domains of Digital Wisdom will serve netizens of the twenty-first century as we navigate the foggy highways of the future.
Finally...
The future will demand a comprehensive set of skills and aptitudes for us to thrive personally and professionally. We must become well-rounded human beings, not merely techno-centric geeks. The skills you will need include: technological proficiency, strong social and emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, metacognition, mindfulness, and an understanding of human behavior. These will empower us and future generations to navigate the challenges of an uncertain world and future. Furthermore, the wellbeing of the individual is intrinsically tied to the health and well-being of society at large. By cultivating these future aptitudes, we can empower ourselves and contribute meaningfully to a thriving, sustainable human future.
There is a common theme running through many of these ten future aptitudes: the importance of self-awareness. Inner wisdom is more important than ever. Do not make the mistake of assuming that human futures must be primarily techno-centric – about the machines. In truth, it will be conscious relationship with technology that will be amongst the most important of all realms of knowledge and learning. Therefore, I predict that a mindfulness-centered spirituality will become ever-more important as the digital age morphs into The Age of Artificial Intelligence. This will represent a reversal of the spiritual vacuum that emerged after the scientific enlightenment, beginning in the 1600s. The current existential and meaning crises we all now face, will continue to evolve into a deeper, broader societal revolution: Deep Futures.
