You’ve probably heard people say things are “just like riding a bike”, meaning once you figure it out, you just know it forever. But what would be the OPPOSITE of that?
People online are talking about skills you DON’T just acquire once, like riding a bike. So things that are more “use it or lose it.” Here are the highlights:
1. Foreign languages. This is probably the #1 answer.
2. (Similarly) Coding. If you don’t do it regularly, it’s no longer second nature. Especially different programming “languages.”
3. (Similarly) Morse code.
4. Flexibility. A former gymnast said, “Strength is easier to keep around and less obvious as it leaves, but flexibility needs to be actively practiced.”
5. Flying a plane. Which is kind of terrifying. Someone said, “After a month away, your landings are going to feel pretty rough. After a year off, you need at least a few flights with an instructor before it’s safe to be flying again.”
6. Performing cardiovascular surgery. (???) I guess you can get “rusty.”
7. Spreadsheets.
8. Math, particularly complex math, or specific functions.
9. Social skills.
10. Chess . . . “You don’t fully lose it but you definitely regress massively.”
11. Playing golf.
12. Playing a musical instrument at a good level.
13. Remembering passwords.
14. Burping the alphabet. “If you don’t guzzle a soft drink every morning and practice, it just slips away.”
15. Ironically, riding a bike. Someone said, “I went 20 years without riding one and it was ROUGH.”
