Life Skills

This domain focuses on the skills, knowledge and abilities required for managing life. This can include personal health practices, healthy lifestyle choices, risk-taking behaviour, financial management, household management, job seeking, career management, as well as coping with stress and adapting to change.

The journey from the military to post-military life is a major transition. During service, many aspects of life are taken care of for serving members such as:

• Employment;
• Income;
• Housing; and
• Health care.

As members transition to civilian life, they will face different needs in new environments. Being prepared will enable members to successfully navigate this shift in personal identity and the changes and challenges of post-military life.

Coping skills are also important in supporting healthy lifestyles. Effective coping skills refer to those actions by which individuals can prevent illness , cope with challenges, develop self-reliance, solve problems, and make choices that enhance health.

Some coping skills acquired during service can serve you well during transition: resilience training for dealing with stress, organized and disciplined management of personal clothing and equipment, establishing daily routines, and problem-solving.

Every member is unique, but what every member shares is the experience that comes from the journey to life after service. It is important that each member has access to supports and services that help to adapt, expertise and well manage post-service life. The most important aspect of this domain of well-being is to be able to adapt, manage and cope within civilian life.

Some things to consider

• Do have difficulty taking care of chores at home (housework, exterior maintenance, shopping, cooking, and cleaning)?
• Do you have friends and family who can help you make decisions and deal with problems during your transition from the military to civilian life?
• Do you have the personal health practices, coping skills, and support that you might need to address any physical, mental or emotional health challenges?
• Did you develop techniques to increase your resilience and ability to cope with stressful situations?