This business book is great for leaders, middle managers, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in:

• PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
• SOFT SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE
• RESILIENCE & ADAPTABILITY

"Although we are born with these seven skills,  it is never too late to improve the way we use them in life and work. Everyone should buy this book and keep it by their bedside for reference. This way each of us can continually increase our happiness, success and well-being.” - Mark Swindell, Founder and CEO of Rock Rail

"It has been a delight to work with Emma- Sue she has so much passion for what she does. Her workshop and book are excellent and particularly fit well with our core company values, definitely 7 key skills we need for our future!" – Tanya Zuchowski Learning & Development Manager at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP.“A great CV might open a door but these 7 skills will determine your future success and happiness - this gem of a book will help you to develop these essential work and life skills.” Dr Lisa Day, Director of Studies Online MBA, University of Liverpool“Life is too important to live without some guidance – this book is THE guidance all of us need to flourish in work and beyond.” University Professor Dr Sarah Mercer, Professor of Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria
Feeling in control over your life is crucial to success and wellbeing.

Our world is changing - so fast, so furiously, so ferociously - that to stand out you need to tap into your own resources and competences. Doing so puts you firmly back into the driving seat of your own life, enabling you to be happier, find and do work you love and have a true sense of purpose. But what are the key competences that you need?

7 Skills for the Future sets the scene for seven new soft skills that will propel you forward. Through a combination of scientific research, no-nonsense advice, practical exercises and case studies, this book shows you how to understand, develop and use:

• Adaptability - respond better to opportunities and change by being flexible and agile
• Critical thinking - think smarter, more resourcefully, creatively and collaboratively
• Empathy - nurture all your relationships by learning how to listen and be present
• Integrity - trust, values and honesty are the name of the game now as is authenticity
• Optimism - be the most positive person you know
• Being Proactive - respond rather than react and learn to reinvent yourself
• Resilience - make mistakes, bounce back, learn from experience and move on to the next challenge

By learning how to tap into these essential skills, and understanding how to put them into practice each day of our lives, we can be happier, more effective and abler to cope with change in an uncertain and exciting future.

For anyone who suffers more anxiety or sadness than is justified by healthy concern or normal grieving Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me is an adage we teach our children to insulate them from the cruel remarks of others. As adults, however, it's often the words that arise spontaneously from within-the self-disparagements, disturbing recollections, and ominous forecasts-that cause us emotional pain and prevent us from living our fullest and most productive lives. The human brain has provided us with the technologies that allow us to dominate our planet, but it is also the source of much unnecessary emotional distress. Even when we have no good reason to be upset, our brains can spontaneously flood our minds with disturbing thoughts of past trauma or future disaster. Much of our unnecessary emotional distress occurs because our attention is involuntarily drawn to whatever most angers or frightens us, even when no immediate action is required and the risk is minimal. Our mood tends to be harmed much more by each negative thought than it is improved by each positive one. These two findings constitute what researchers call the negativity bias, and it's one of the reasons we often struggle to attain peace of mind: that mental equilibrium in which we accept both ourselves and our circumstances, without experiencing distress about something from the past or that might happen in the future. By becoming more mindful of our thoughts, we can learn to recognize those that distress and impede us unnecessarily. We can then respond by identifying, and focusing on, more functional alternatives. Reviewing, discussing, rehearsing, and roleplaying functional self-talk can strengthen our ability to reshape both our mood and our self-image. This focused positivity can serve as the foundation of our efforts to become more assertive, more relaxed, healthier, and more connected to the world around us. Focused Positivity presents a comprehensive and accessible approach to positive thinking, one that is independent of belief system and consistent with what science has discovered about negativity bias, automatic behavior, the impact of self-talk on mood and behavior, habit change, and even the competition that occurs between the two hemispheres of our brains. Focused Positivity can provide us with an accessible strategy that can enhance both success and peace of mind.