Let's find ways to excel. We need that, especially now. No matter how insignificant, tell us all about it. Anything can be a conversation starter.
Bumps
Drew Barrymore Goosebumps GIF by CBSGiphy"I can control my goosebumps. Science says I shouldn't be able to control an autonomic response. But here I am, killing it."
I recognize...
"I can recall and recognize to this day people that I was in preschool with or have seen very briefly. When I was dating my ex I would see someone that I recognized and would walk up to them and do the whole "aren't you so and so from blank?" It gave them (my partner) extreme anxiety because strangers and what if I was wrong but I am always right, every time."
Top Marks
"I was the top Latin student in my high school and always got top marks on the national Latin exam. Too bad I had no interest in studying classics, but I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to time travel to Ancient Rome before I die."
- anderjp1
"Chances are you wouldn't be understandable anyway since it would be hard to know how any commoners spoke."
CLICK
"I can click my tongue REALLY loudly."
"My friend's daughter is like this! It was a natural talent practically from birth (she's only 7 now). I chuckled that it feels like it has to be genetic because she was adopted as an infant but is ethnically Xhosa, which is one of the languages that uses clicks."
- arcinva
Make a Wish
Happy Birthday GIFGiphy"Remembering birthdays. I remember people's birthdays even if I haven't talked to them in over 5 years."
So far, I'm intrigued. I would love to control my goosebumps. And remembering birthdays is a gift. I've given up on trying. Tell me more...
I See You
Watching You Tina Fey GIF by Unbreakable Kimmy SchmidtGiphy"Being able to perfectly recreate facial expressions of other people from memory that they do, that no one else really recognizes until I do an impersonation of them. It's a great party trick that gets lots of laughs especially if a few people know that person."
Tongues Out
"Touching my tongue to my nose, however this has gotten me a free drink at a bar."
"You know that game where you catch a stack of quarters off your elbow with the same hand? Apparently my dad used to go to bars with NO MONEY whatsoever and get his whole bar tab paid by doing this lol. Turns out it doesn't have to be so useless."
People Share Which Social Norms Absolutely Baffle Them | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Do You Hear?
"Vibrating my eardrums."
"HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!! I have tried to explain this to other people my ENTIRE LIFE and no one understands what the hell I'm talking about. And now I find out that not only do other know about this, but there's a name for the body part responsible for it. I freaking love you beautiful reddit people!"
LETTERS
"Word searches."
"I used to be a word search demon in elementary school, especially if prizes were involved. Especially if they have those word searches that give you backwards diagonal words, you know it's going to be a banger."
Memory Loss
Will Smith Memory GIF by STARZGiphy"I am amazing at keeping secrets because I forget them immediately."
Hidden Talent
"I am fantastic at folding a standard piece of paper into thirds, brochure style."
"Maybe you could do a Twitch channel (asmr category). Maybe spa music and pleasant paper folding. If it is profitable, think of deducting the paper as a business expense and potentially launching a cute brochure template on Etsy."
I Know Them
"So I have photographic memory with actors in films. It's like a photographic recalling of what film they were in and what role they played. Even if I saw the film years and years ago. I remember their voice and body language; it's usually a particular line they say which I try to use as an anchor for placing them. It's odd because I'd say I'm very tuned in to people's body language and general mood which may have something to do with it."
northern ireland football GIFThe Notes
"Memorizing songs after just listen to them once."
"Ah that's what I was gonna say, my boyfriend will show me a song for the first time and I can sing along to the second chorus. The only way this would be useful is if we were in theatre or something?"
- mellb00
"I hate this. I listen to songs a few times, I remember everything, and then I sing them in my head for the whole day, then that song becomes boring, and i start hating that song. it's completely useless and it's just taking space in my head, but i can't stop it from happening."
9 to 5
"I thrive at looking busy at work while doing absolutely nothing."
- Jjay_11
"I would argue this is not a useless skill especially since most jobs I have had in my life I am given 10-20 hours of work to do in a week and I am expected to be there for 40. This is why I am loving working from home."
Info Wars
"Retaining loads of absolutely useless information. It's my true talent but a waste of brainpower."
- gooqie
"You must be my long lost sibling, I too, am full of useless information. Information that I drop on unsuspecting people every chance I get."
Look Close
Cat Staring Contest GIFGiphy"I can win a staring contest against anyone. I consecutively beat 6 people without a break. I've held my eyes open for about 10 minutes without blinking, I've made people uncomfortable in every sense of the word."
Classic Moves
"Remembering useless and obscure information from video games I've played over twenty years ago."
"I was playing Zelda II on an emulator when I was 18 or so, so like 2004. My dad walks by, looks over my shoulder, and says "move five blocks right and one up." And there's the secret hut! We hadn't had the NES even set up in MANY years."
"This ability for me at least has also migrated to TV Shows and films. Haven't seen a TV show in a few years, catch literally a few seconds of the show and I instantly know what series and episode it is."
Face Off
"Facial recognition. Some profs from the UK developed a test to study it. I'm in the top 0.1% apparently. I've recognized people i stood in line at a Starbucks beside years later while they were zipping by in a car. I have not found a use for this. Greenwich University is where the study was done."
Virtuoso
Season 2 Dancing GIF by The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirGiphy"Learning something fast, but not good enough to excel in it. I've learned basic guitar, piano, cooking, drawing, basketball, shooting, video games on my own. I never get really good at it, but I can do it. Except maybe dancing. I just look bad when I dance."
Be great at all the things you can be, no matter what. Even if your skills won't change the world. You never know if ten quarters on an elbow could entertain the Queen. There is a game changer.
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It's fun and who wants t spend $500 on a dress when you can find it for $80, it's like a game. It's a weird skill but handy nonetheless. Whatever the case may be for you we want to hear what hidden skills you've got.
Redditor Sacrificial-Toenail asked the Reddit community:
“What's something you're good at but don't get to brag about much?"
The responses went from school band to some interesting natural talents.
Deserved a raise...
“Worked fedex ground for a few months a couple years ago. Was the youngest, and they had me loading 3 trucks (one of them was a semi literally fully loaded every single day). Sometimes I would have a 2nd guy helping me on that truck only. Sometimes.”
“Consistently #1 every week, and never had a mistake on any of my trucks, to the point that my drivers would tip me or buy me breakfast almost everyday. They kept me at 11.75 3am-9am the entire time and never once talked about any kind of raise. Had me in the best shape of my life, but f**k fedex lol.” xXregularShmegluarXx
No one wants to sound pretentious...
“I have a very well-developed musical ear. I can point out just about any detail you can ask about if I hear it, and I can replicate most songs I hear on the piano. Can't really brag about it since I feel like it just comes out sounding pretentious.” mysterioso7
They left her a raving review...
“Cleaning. I'm so good, I started my own home cleaning business (I'm a one man show) and in almost five years, have never needed to advertise. All of my clients have come to me by word of mouth.”
“I'm currently off due to a hand injury that is looking like it'll need surgery to fix and today, actually, one of my clients texted me to let me know she hired a different cleaning company temporarily while I'm out.” BustAMove_13
“"I can play the Tuba and Euphonium...”
“I can play the Tuba and Euphonium, and pretty well at that. I don't really get to play much since graduating from HS, but it's still a relatively rare ability, especially in this country where school bands are not as common as they seem to be in the USA.” NyanNyanNo
Moms everywhere would hire you.
“I'm really really good at soothing babies. Getting them to calm down. Most of my friends don't have kids. But my wife remarks on it any time I get the chance. Bit of a baby whisperer.” WhiteTshirtDad
All around the world...
Bill Nye Spinning GIF by NikeGiphy“I've vomited (from sickness) in 5 out of the 7 continents. It's my proudest achievement. Im not sure if that makes my life uneventful or my accomplishment is amazing... Probably the former.” Cute-Explorer-1653
wobbly-wobbly timely-wimey stuff...
“I never have a watch on me and don't really look at my phone much… but I can always tell the exact time of day within about five minutes every single time.”
“In all my years of people asking what time it is not even my close friends have noticed that I can do it without looking at a phone/clock/watch, I just know it in my head. Other than that i'm helplessly stupid.” Qav
Faking they can see...
“I am blind, and I've gotten really good at faking like I can see. My eyes don't look blind, and I can make eye contact and have great spacial orientation. Can't brag about it, because a lot of people think I'm faking. I am able to access read it on my phone by using voiceover, a built-in screen reading software on every iPhone.”
“You can find it by going to your settings > accessibility > voiceover. You can also tell Siri to turn on voiceover. Turn it off by doing the same thing. Also, I know I am making eye contact with people because I am always asked if I'm really blind because I don't look blind.” Dapper-Angle8778
People Share The Scariest Thing They've Ever Experienced While Home Alone | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
A little extra flexible.
“Im an over 400 pound man that can do a split.” MarquisDeSarc
“...to my surprise the muscle memory is pretty much still there.”
“In high-school I did Colorgaurd and Wintergaurd, which is essentially dance mixed with equipment work. It's quite a bit of fun and, though I'm no dancer, I was always pretty good with the flag and rifle in particular. I recently acquired a rifle again, and to my surprise the muscle memory is pretty much still there. I'm no professional, but I can still do some pretty impressive tosses.” Skyaboo-
Indulge in the skills and hobbies that make you happy and often you will find that you are good at them
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Car Basics....
Work Reaction GIF by EnBWGiphyChanging the oil on a car. Changing a tire. Most of your basic car maintenance stuff that once learned will save you some money, and that you can fix in less time than it'd take to bring your car to a mechanic.
Blade
Knife sharpening, it'll stop you from cutting yourself to the bone by stopping your knife from slipping. Then use the other half of the hour to learn proper knife skills.
It's really amazing how much safer a sharp knife is. It "bites" whatever you're cutting immediately and stays on course almost like it has a mind of its own. As long as your fingers aren't in its path when you begin the slice, you're basically more likely to die of a brain aneurysm than cut yourself.
Picker
Lockpicking simple 3 pin locks.
Yes. It's freaking hilarious that people on here can't figure this out on their own.
Think about leaving your bike out with a lock on it vs without. Much more likely to come back to no bike if you don't put a lock.
The Rescue
cat save GIFGiphyCPR, easy to learn and you could save a life someday ! (just don't do it like Michael and Dwight please).
Man Down
I learnt how to fall in my first judo class. It is really a life saver. My teacher grandpa was a judo 8-dan master, and while he was an 87 year old dude, he fell during a walk. I know it won't be a big deal to you, but at that age, falling is a real threat. He managed to do a Zempo Kaiten Ukemi, which is kind of landing on your shoulder first and rolling through your back and getting up striking the floor to use momentum to stand up, its purpose its to soften and dissipate the fall damage. He got up like nothing happened, but all the bystanders were losing it to an old man doing a front roll in the street. He was unharmed thanks to judo. Learning how to fall can save your life.
by the book....
Read the Boy Scout handbook.
It includes a humongous amount of incredibly useful information, including (but not limited to):
- Changing a car tire (depending on the edition)
- Useful knots such as the Bowline and Tautline Hitch
- How to sharpen a knife
- How to properly use the toilet when you're outdoors
- First-aid and triage
- How to tie a necktie
- How to set up and take down a tent, along with (most importantly!) where to set it up. It's ridiculous how many times I've been the only person on a campout whose tent wasn't flooded because I paid attention to this section.
- How to properly clean your dishes when you're outdoors so that you don't get dysentery.
- How to navigate using a map, compass, landmarks, and the stars
- How to stay safe when hiking
- Several different ways to start a fire
- How to repair gear
- How to detect, prepare for, and survive inclement weather
- How to identify various dangerous plants
- Etc. Etc. ad infinitum. The-Daleks
Keyboard Clips
Some keyboard shortcuts never hurt. Here's the ones I use the most
CTRL + W (Google chrome) = Immediately closes your current tab
CTRL + BACKSPACE = Deletes the last whole word rather than deleting one letter at a time
Click on a hyperlink with the mouse wheel button = Opens the link in another tab
CTRL + SHFT + ESC = Opens up task manager without having to go through the CTRL + ALT + DEL menu
K (YouTube) = pauses YouTube videos
, and . (YouTube) = cycles through frames of a YouTube video when paused
CTRL + N (Google Chrome) = Opens up a new tab immediately
CTRL + SHIFT + N (Google Chrome) = Opens up an incognito tab instantly.
Tom Hanks Reaction GIFGrandma Knows
The basics of crochet/knitting. It's quite handy if you want to something original. In the end, the basics are quite simple. With those basics you can make anything. Pillows, stuffed animals/dolls, clothes, wash cloths, pot holders, gloves, hats, scarfs, and more. It can be as quick or slow as you like and as easy or challenging as you like.
Plus it's very mindful, kind if like meditation, and really calming and rewarding as you see your work grow and take form.
Crafts...
Sewing. Just learning how to straight stitch, whipstitch and ladderstitch can save A LOT of clothing, furniture, toys, etc and it's so easy that you likely will never forget how to do it.
Basics...
Basic excel or google sheets - it's shocking how many people with office jobs can't use this critical tool.
Or a copier. Especially if its jammed. Most modern copiers have screens that will tell you where the jam is and how to fix it step by step. Some won't go to the next step unless you for sure fixed what needed to be fixed.
just do it spikes GIF by NikeCoding
Regular expressions are a neat skill and they come in handy if you work with computers, especially if you're a programmer or just work with a lot of text. While there are many programmers, not all of them learn it, and they should. Often programmers who don't know it take time writing needless code that can replace with much shorter code.
To Cut An Onion
How to cut an onion all fancy like, and pretty much a lot of knife technique. Takes practice after the initial 'learning' but they're not terribly tricky to remember.
I've been working on this one. Doing it right is taking me much longer than it did doing it wrong! :)
But I figure that it's like learning to type. At first it takes longer to do it the correct way. But once you get it down, you can go SO much faster than you ever could pecking it out with your pointer fingers. 2 months in and I'm still waiting to get faster with the onion.... but I'm sure it will happen. :) (I only chop an onion like once a week).
Cubed
rubiks cube what GIF by DiggGiphyYou can learn to solve a Rubik's cube in an hour, or maybe two; it's just a matter of memorizing a few short series of turns and when to apply them. The rest is just training your muscle memory.
Save A Life
How bout the Heimlich Maneuver? When you're choking bc of food everybody just hits your back, which may or not help or in some cases worsen things, but the Heimlich Maneuver just gets it done perfectly.
Self taught
Self taught myself how to use editing programs like filmora and Adobe. I'm no where near an expert at them (not dissing on people with the trust skills gained from school or using them on a professional level) but it does allow me to make videos for teaching as well as worksheets for the class.
The Good Hole
I teach my students how to cut a hole in a standard piece of paper big enough to walk through. Not very useful, but my students end betting students outside my class that they can walk through a hole in paper. Easier to share a link then describe without photos, but here ya go!
https://allfortheboys.com/quick-trick-walk-through-a-sheet-of-paper/
It's magic...
notorious ryan guzman GIF by The Paley Center for MediaGiphySimple magic tricks. There are a bunch you can learn that shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes each.
Use them to make friends and meet people. CPR and fire-making are more important, because they could save you or someone else in an emergency... But you will use magic far more often in every day life.
In the Oven...
Cooking one home cooked meal. I had no idea how easy some meals are to cook, until my dad started to teach me. We prepared a meatloaf AND potatoes in 10 minutes when my dad was on a 15 minute break from work (he works from home). All I had to do after was just put it in the oven.
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I went dressed in my casual speakeasy attire topped with a boater hat and a bow tie around my neck that I proudly tied myself.
No other fellas I spotted at the party sported a clip-on, not that anyone would razz me for wearing one if I did.
Most party guests were either too busy doing the Charleston in front of the orchestra or on a toot and getting zozzled from their glasses of giggle water by noon.
Anyway, the event was the bee's knees, and knowing that I had taken the time to learn how to tie on a bow tie made me feel like the cat's whiskers and well-suited for the convivial affair.
In order for us to prevent lamenting, "coulda, shoulda, woulda," Redditor askgamblers-official suggested that there is no time like the present to educate ourselves about anything useful that could come in handy someday.
The Original Poster (OP) asked:
"What can we learn/know right now in 10 minutes that will be useful for the rest of our life?"Remember, you can learn how to do anything, thanks to the magic of YouTube.
For Survival
"If you ever fall through the ice and are trapped underwater, aim for a dark spot. A hole in the ice will look dark."
"And if someone tries to abduct you fight like hell even if they have weapon. Your situation will not improve if they get you to a more private location."
For Saving A Life
"How to spot someone choking and how to help them."
"Takes 10 minutes to learn and could save a life."
"If you yourself are choking, a lot of people have heard the use a chair to heimlich yourself trick. To me the better and easier method is to get into a position on the ground face down arms up like your going to do a push-up. Then drop yourself to the ground to force pressure through the diaphragm."
"And if YOU are choking at a restaurant, don't run into the restroom out of embarrassment where you might die alone and unseen."
For Rescuing
"Also, how to spot someone legit drowning. It looks nothing like the movies. Head will be barely above water, with mouth bobbing slightly in and out of the water, opening and closing like a fish would. Probably won't see their hands (because they'll be moving wildly underwater), they won't be making much sound, if at all, they'll have glassy eyes with a faraway stare."
"All this adds up to a very non-Hollywood look that we're all used to. This person looks 'calm' in the water because their amygdala has taken over and they are on auto-pilot to simply stay alive. This is one of the reasons why they don't speak...speech isn't important at this point, so their brain shuts it down."
"This is also why it's extremely dangerous to personally engage a drowning person. They will drown you to save themselves and probably have no recollection of doing it. Always use a long pole, rope, flotation device, or something else onto which they can grab."
– pgymjp
For Calculating
"Percentage is interchangable. 8% of 25 is hard to do in your head but 25% of 8 is easy, and they both equal the same. works every time."
"If you think of 8% as a fraction (8/100) the reason for this is more clear. (8/100)x25 = (8x25)/100 = 8x(25/100)"
For Further Explanation
"Think of percentages in a different way. 8% is just 8/100. So 8% of 25 is 8/100 × 25. Multiplication and division are commutative, which is a fancy way of saying you can swap the order freely. So you can do 8×25/100 or 8/100×25 and it'll come out to the same thing."
– Lost-Tea
Head Explode GIF by memecandyGiphyFor Flexibility
"How to properly stretch your hands and forearms. Stretch arms straight out forward, point fingers up, then without moving arms ball a fist downward. Repeat as fast as possible.. taught indirectly from Bruce Lee"
For Silencing
"If you're somewhere quiet and your stomach is growling loudly DON'T tense up your tummy muscles, push your stomach out instead and it will make the growl quieter."
For Organizing
"How to use the sort and filter functions on Excel. These functions can help prevent a lot of future pain."
For Expectations
"Grasp the idea that everyone you meet knows something you do not."
"A wise man and a fool have a long conversation. The fool has the most to learn, but the wise man learns the most. (Sorry for not being gender neutral.)"
For Cleaning Bodily Fluids
"It's easier to clean up cum with cold water than with hot water."
"Same goes for blood on clothes or other material!"
"Meant to help out the ladies with this one... not someone plotting their next murder..."
For Picking Locks
"How to bypass a lock. It's actually very easy to get through most locked doors. Any kind of card (license, credit card, whatever) can open a regular latch. If the door opens away from you just slide it in between the door jam and door handle. The card will slide in between the mechanism and open it. If the door opens towards you it doesn't always work but you can slide the card in and down at an angle to get behind the latch and open it that way."
"Most pad locks take less than 10 seconds to get into as well but I don't know how to describe the technique with words."
– Ghriszly
For Life
"I mean, they're skills and not really wisdom but..."
"Warning signs of a stroke."
"How to use a fire extinguisher."
"Rolling your clothes after folding gives you more room in a drawer/suitcase. It's life changing."
"Righty tighty, lefty loosey."
"How to change a tire, check your oil and jump a car."
"Also changing headlights without using your fingers because the oils will damage the bulbs."
"How to start a campfire and put it out."
"The Heimlich maneuver."
"How to tie a knot more than one way."
"How to sew a basic stitch."
"The basics of emergency first aid."
"How to spot a rip tide and how to escape."
"How to shut off and turn on a circuit breaker and where they're located."
"What to do in an earthquake, tornado, tsunami and hurricane."
For CPR
"Push hard, push fast."
"Ribs WILL break if you're doing it properly on an adult (it is the most bizarre creepy thing). Kids are very bendy and you may not get that sensation if you need to do CPR on them)"
"If you need to do CPR, the person you are doing it to is dead. You can't make them more dead. You might be able to bring them back to life if you try. Do not feel bad if you can't. If you fail, you didn't kill them. They were already dead."
"If you don't have a one way valve to administer rescue breaths, STILL GIVE CHEST COMPRESSIONS. Chest compressions alone are better than nothing- you're still pumping oxygen to the areas that need it and it will suffice until EMS/help arrives."
"Giving CPR is stressful as hell. If you need to do CPR, it's likely going to be on someone you know. Sometimes gallows humour is necessary for your brain not to freak out. Chest compressions to 'Another One Bites The Dust' is the right rhythm and might get you smirking long enough to make you smirk/laugh (to yourself!) to take your mind off of what's actually happening."
"Even if a cardiac arrest happens IN hospital, their odds of survival are only about 10%- so much less so if it's outside a hospital. I say this not to make you think 'why bother' but so you know that if you are unable to resuscitate the person, it's OK and was nothing you did wrong- by even trying CPR, you gave them their best chance at life."
