36 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do

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1. Tell your partner exactly what you like in the bedroom without feeling ashamed, embarrassed or guilty.

2. Stand up for yourself in relationships/work/family settings, especially if you’re being picked on or abused in some way.

3. Ask your employer for a raise — given, of course, that you really deserve one.

4. Know how to tell someone you have a huge crush on them. Learn how to accept it and move on feelings-wise if they don’t feel the same way.

5. Change the subject, especially if you’re talking to somebody lame and the convo seems to be going nowhere.

6. Speaking of which, you also should know the proper way to get OUT of conversations. We have all been in a situation where there’s a group convo going on and you’re just not feeling it anymore and you want to excuse yourself without being rude. Doing this is an art form.

7. Popping into a work function, saying your hello’s and slipping out before anybody notices. They will remember that you were there, not that you left early.

8. How to listen to ask a question after a lecture. Even when you’re an academic and your profession is asking people questions, it is still frightening to ask a question in a room of strangers.

9. Give someone an awesome gift. Not just some dumb trinket you picked up at a dollar bin, but a gift that really speaks to the person you’re giving it to. Those are the best.

10. How to kiss — or at least, how to adopt your style of kissing to somebody else’s.

11. Take a good selfie. Come on, we are in the era of the selfie. I selfie therefore I am.

12. Be able to go to the club and dance to at least a little bit. People get so worked up about going out and start to feel insecure about their bodies in front of a mass of strangers. Here’s a tip: find the person dancing the stupidest and try hard not to look like that guy!

13. Keep a budget.

14. End a relationship when you both quietly know it is past its sell-by date.

15. Be okay being alone. It’s never a good idea to jump into a relationship or latch onto somebody just because you feel lonely.

16. And speaking of which, you should know how to love yourself. We all have bad days. Sometimes we wake up and our face is puffy, our weave is just not laying correctly and we are #overit. But you have to love yourself just as much on your bad days as on the days when you’re feeling flawless and fabulous.

17. Give somebody a massage.

18. Know what to do if you are choking. Sounds morbid, but actually DO you know how to react if you are alone and start choking on something?

19. Leave a proper tip. Remember that that money is going to go a long way for them.

20. Speed read. This is something they try to teach you in high school but it’s a skill you really master in graduate school. Reading as an undergraduate is scary because you may not know just what will be on the test. But if you go to graduate school in the humanities, there are no tests and you learn how to read to “get the gist.”

21. Throw a party — any kind of party you want. A listening party, a dance party, a house party, a dinner party. Having awesome social skills is cool and will make you loved by everyone.

22. Pick out an outfit for yourself and WORK it.

23. Have a creative outlet. Maybe you’ll discover you have whole new talents.

24. How to not get jealous of other people’s success. No matter how many accolades they accumulate, they also have a shit ton of problems, too. Believe me.

25. Read another person’s body language. Everything we want to tell each other is right there.

26. Learn how to deal with annoying customer service.

27. Say “No” and mean it when you say it.

28. BACK UP YOUR FILES BACK UP YOUR FILES BACK UP YOUR FILES.

29. Learn how to cook for yourself. It really isn’t all that difficult. Experiment!

30. Figure out ways to promote yourself without being annoying and slimy about it, especially if you work in a creative field.

31. Flirt with somebody to get something you want. People love being flirted with — it’s social currency.

32. Wake up when your alarm goes off without snoozing for 5 hours, especially if you have roommates.

33. Give someone your honest opinion without fear. Hope that they will learn something from the criticism. But also, you should know how to take criticism yourself.

34. Know how to introduce yourself to someone. First impressions count!

35. Figure out what your drink is.

36. Overcome your fears. That thing scares you to death, I get it. But sometimes, the only thing holding you back is you.

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