Intrapersonal skills

Intrapersonal skills describe skills that enable humans to lead different processes within human mind. Intrapersonal skills are talents or abilities that reside within the individual and aid him or her in problem solving.
The term intrapersonal - ‘intra’ meaning inside - separates our inner functions and processes from the physiological functions of the body. The intrapersonal domain includes competencies that occur within the individual’s mind or self, such as self-regulation, self-efficacy, goal setting, and perseverance.
Donald J. Trump and Robert T. Kiyosaki bring out that while interpersonal intelligence is your ability to communicate with others, intrapersonal intelligence is your ability to communicate with yourself. Their approach is relaying in Howard Gardner who was one of the first to mention intrapersonal intelligence - a person with detailed, accurate self-knowledge has such intelligence. Gardner sees intrapersonal intelligence as one of seven different intelligences and describes it as access to one's own feelings and the ability to discriminate among them and draw upon them to guide behavior; knowledge of one's own strengths, weaknesses, desires, and intelligences.
Intrapersonal skills are widened to all processes that take place within our mind and explored in depth by psychiatrist Helena Lass in the scientific paper Developing Intra-Personal Skills as a Proactive Way to Personal Sustainability - The Preventative Side of the Mental Health Equation. In this paper Dr. Lass states that in reality all humans possess an internal realm and experience intrapersonal events on a daily basis such as feeling emotions, learning, thinking, planning, focusing and leading our attention, having an ability to investigate, gaining an insight etc. Intrapersonal skills are described by Dr. Lass as a pathway to mental wellness. Mental wellness in its rightful context would mean a certain ease in directing those internal processes. This becomes possible if we are able to differentiate between specific intra-personal functions and understand their patterns and combinations.
Intrapersonal are also explained as skills that focus on self-insight by Kate McEntee. Distinct from interpersonal skills, which are the basis of social interactions, these personal skills include the capacity to be empathic with oneself and the internal drive to be curious; a willingness to be challenged and an agility to overcome obstacles; knowing when to take ownership and when to be humble. These mindsets are as much about personal resilience as they are self-awareness.
Intrapersonal functions and why people need to learn intrapersonal skills
Intrapersonal functions and events emerge in parallel with brain neurodynamics and coordinate the functioning of each other through instant feedback loops
Intra-personal wellbeing should not be considered only as a goal in itself, but also as a sign of fluency in basic life-skills. Learning intrapersonal skills refers to an enhanced ability in managing and directing the three types of internal meta-functions, in this regard universal skills, very similar to learning to read. Once a person learns to read, the ability itself turns into a basic skill that enables the development of further skills through reading. In this sense, intrapersonal skills form the foundation of any successful career, yet are lacking in workplaces and the wider business world because of their absence in current educational curricula. It is the intrapersonal intelligence that gives entrepreneurs the advantage in the world of business. Intrapersonal intelligence empowers entrepreneurs to do what most people are afraid of doing, or do not want to do.
The article School Counselor’s Role in Facilitating the Development of Students’ Soft Skills: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Attributes to Promote Career Readiness by Allison C. Paolini addresses the instrumental role that soft skills and specific character traits such as a growth mindset play in students’ future work place achievements. By acquiring the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, including leadership, effective communication, listening, resilience, self-management, self-regulation, work ethic, perseverance, integrity, accountability, time management, stress management, creativity, zest, gratitude, and optimism, students will have distinct advantages in their career journey and ultimate workplace accomplishments. According to employers, soft skills even more so than technical ‘hard’ skills, have been shown to have a profound impact on employee workplace performance. Through fostering and promoting student soft skills, school counselors are in the unique position to recognize student attributes, encourage them to build upon their strengths, identify skills and traits that need to be enhanced, and implement interventions to help students augment these skills, so that they have the opportunity to reach their potential and thrive in a globally competitive society after high school graduation or their post-secondary education.

 
< Prev   Next >