I’m usu­ally quite scep­ti­cal about sim­i­lar lists, but The Inde­pen­dent’s 20 Things Every­one Needs to Know struck me as actu­ally use­ful as each list item is authored by a pro­fes­sional who works in that field.

And when you’ve got an arti­cle co-authored by the likes of Don­ald Trump, Jen­nifer Capriati and Larry King, how can you pos­si­bly resist?

  1. How to change a tyre
  2. How to sleep
  3. How to build a fire
  4. How to shine shoes
  5. How to make a Martini
  6. How to apply lipstick
  7. How to negotiate
  8. How to scram­ble eggs
  9. How to hang a picture
  10. How to ask for a rise or promotion
  11. How to use chopsticks
  12. How to iron a shirt
  13. How to shave
  14. How to hit a ten­nis ball
  15. How to listen
  16. How to ask some­one out
  17. How to learn a for­eign language
  18. How to shake hands
  19. How to buy a diamond
  20. How to con­duct a back­ground investigation