Ultimate Skill?

[SimonJ]

What do you guys think about "the ultimate skill" to learn pertaining to ERE/self reliance life style?

Is there even such a thing?

Maybe there are a few key skills?

Just something I was thinking about and thought I would post it here to see what you guys had to say.

[chenda]

Sex ?

I would say keeping healthy, fostering good relationships and having a purpose in life are the three most important things.

Financial skills maybe a forth but it's more a means to an end.

[7Wannabe5]

chenda said: Sex ?

I think the ultimate skill is the ability to do it AGAIN as often as necessary. Whatever it happens to be. After the locusts land and the market crashes and the relationship fails and the bone splinters and the lawsuit ruins and the foundation crumbles and the loved one dies and the house burns right down to the ground. Inclusive of the suggestion above. -lol

[SimonJ]

I think the ultimate skill is the ability to do it AGAIN as often as necessary. Whatever it happens to be. After the locusts land and the market crashes and the relationship fails and the bone splinters and the lawsuit ruins and the foundation crumbles and the loved one dies and the house burns right down to the ground. Inclusive of the suggestion above. -lol

This is an interesting thought. To be able to get back up after being knocked down and get back to it. It is true that a lot of people will not 'get back to it' after being knocked down for whatever reason.

Something to think about.

[Kriegsspiel]

I think the ultimate skill is the ability to do it AGAIN as often as necessary. Whatever it happens to be. After the locusts land and the market crashes and the relationship fails and the bone splinters and the lawsuit ruins and the foundation crumbles and the loved one dies and the house burns right down to the ground. Inclusive of the suggestion above. -lol

This is an interesting thought. To be able to get back up after being knocked down and get back to it. It is true that a lot of people will not 'get back to it' after being knocked down for whatever reason.

Something to think about.

Some people like it like that, actually.

Wait, were we still talking about sex?

[IlliniDave]

It sort of depends on the environment. If you're talking off the grid self reliance then I'd say a well-round skill at procuring food would be near the top. If you're operating within the grid but without working for wages, then it's harder to identify one. I don't know if this is a skill, but the ability to say, "no", to yourself regarding nonessential spending of money would rank high.

[7Wannabe5]

Actually, the worst thing that can happen to you in life, the one that is hardest to get back up again after is any circumstance in which you take authority over and responsibility for others and build something forward and then you f*ck up and other people suffer. That's when you better hope you have some resilient muscles round your guts that will move your legs forward through life absent you for a while. Of course, some people get lucky and some people never take on responsibility and authority over others and some people never f*ck up.

Anyways, I don't know why people (including myself sometimes) are even afraid of things like becoming a bag lady or going down any flavor of dark alley by themselves because that's a bad thing that only happens to you and you can always be as tough as you need to be just for you.

So, I guess I would say that actually the ultimate skill is the ability to forgive yourself. Redemption?

[jacob]

Applied critical thinking, that is, the rare combination of all three.

[JasonR]

o

[SimonJ]

After reading these and thinking about it; might it all boil down to self discipline?

[Dragline]

I suppose it depends on how you define "ultimate"? Does it mean highest difficulty or most efficacious?

Choosing the latter, I would go with the skills most likely to be used every day that give the most "bang for the effort" and/or buck. That makes "cooking" or "food preparation" number one. Being able to ride a bike would be up there, too.

I would distinguish "skills" from "character traits", though, even though both are worthy of development.

A good list basic skills/knowlege is encompassed in the merit badges required to become an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts:

First Aid
Citizenship in the Community
Citizenship in the Nation
Citizenship in the World
Communication (includes public speaking)
Personal Fitness
Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving
Environmental Science OR Sustainability
Personal Management (includes financial)
Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling
Camping
Cooking , and
Family Life

[JohnnyH]

Most important for ERE:
1) basic math
2) ability to be critical and honest with yourself.
3) system/routine building.

I think 3 is more important than willpower or discipline; design your life/habits right and willpower is only needed when you make the decisions and maintain them.

[Ego]

Among those who believe ERE is possible and can envision a path to it, success is not a function of action but of exercising self-control. Temptation management.

[SimonJ]

Most important for ERE:
1) basic math
2) ability to be critical and honest with yourself.
3) system/routine building.

I think 3 is more important than willpower or discipline; design your life/habits right and willpower is only needed when you make the decisions and maintain them.

I would say willpower and discipline are necessary to build systems and routines. The right decisions need to be made for building routines/systems.

[jennypenny]

I'm not sure if I'd say self-control/willpower/discipline. Those terms imply limits and lead to people decrying the 'sacrifices' necessary with ERE. I know I'm a language harpy, but I'd define it in a more positive light. I'd say the ability to be content with almost nothing. If you can wake up every day and just be happy that you did indeed wake up, and have food and shelter and reasonably good health, then ERE is a way of adding to that contentment instead of being a limitation.


I'd add getting over the fear of being physically or socially uncomfortable to the list.

[Tyler9000]

Expanding upon Jacob's "applied critical thinking", I think the most valuable skill I learned in engineering school was the ability to solve complex problems with unknown solutions without fear.

Specifically, I learned to isolate variables and break down large problems into smaller chunks, identify a few tools in my arsenal that may apply (actual tools, equations, or techniques), recognize gaps in my own skills and seek out new ones, experiment, measure, optimize, and (perhaps most importantly) appreciate "good enough" and stop tinkering.

Problem solving takes practice. But it has applied to so many things over the years. Of course, it made me a good engineer and provided a nice income. But the same techniques helped me optimize spending vs. happiness, helped me communicate effectively with different types of people, made me comfortable with my investments, allowed me to fix my own stuff, and give me confidence today that I'll be able to tackle any future challenges that arise.

[JamesR]

Ultimate skill.. to go meta. Essentially, to observe yourself. To observe your thoughts, your patterns, your habits. To see what you lack and what you need to gain. To think like an xNTP.

[7Wannabe5]

JamesR said: Ultimate skill.. to go meta. Essentially, to observe yourself. To observe your thoughts, your patterns, your habits. To see what you lack and what you need to gain. To think like an xNTP.

Interesting. I am an xNTP (51% E)and I didn't even realize that I had that super-power. However, it is true that Category 10 of My Ideal Life development system is "Meta-Planning and Organizational Activities." Also, I tend to think more in terms of ideal practices rather than ultimate skills.

Jacob said: Applied critical thinking, that is, the rare combination of all three.

Definitive. For independent functioning this is all that you would need. Also true for social functioning at the meta-level. For instance, if you are choosing to be in the follow, the two ideal practices are:

1) Follow ONLY literal instructions (seems simple but extremely difficult in practice.)
2) Express preferences or reveal emotions but do not instruct/act.

... but when you are choosing who/what to follow you must first apply critical thinking before allowing yourself to relax. Which reminds me (duh, take back what I said above) that even for independent functioning you need to know how to suspend applied critical thinking in relationship to the universe in order to relax. That is why a lot of people drink too much etc.

[JamesR]

I guess I forgot to follow up with the "apply what you learned from observing yourself", *act* like an xNTJ .. otherwise it's all for naught!

[Devil's Advocate]

have some resilient muscles round your guts

+1 !

Applied critical thinking

+1 !

the ability to be content with almost nothing

+1!

Ultimate skill.. to go meta. Essentially, to observe yourself. To observe your thoughts, your patterns, your habits. To see what you lack and what you need to gain. To think like an xNTP.

+1!


(Love saying “+1”! Picked that up here, this very place, and love using it given half a chance!)


Those four do cover the all of the essence of ERE, in that order : self-awareness ; critical thinking ; the ability to drop unnecessary wants ; and resilience.

Wait, I think I’ll add a fifth leg there, to get the support and balance just right : the ability to keep learning. That skill probably doesn’t directly follow from the other four, and is probably independent of them.


So : (1) Self-awareness ; (2) Critical thinking ; (3) The ability to drop unnecessary wants ; (4) The ability to keep learning ; and (5) Resilience.

Leave even one out, and it won’t work. And if you have these five in place, then the rest is probably only a matter of details.