Every other individual has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. If you have strengths, you ought to have weaknesses and vice versa. Every person has this mutualistic combination. They may look polar opposite but it helps to know oneself better.
In today’s generation, weakness is seen as a flaw or something to look down on. This leads to waves of insecurities crashing in the minds of the people. Why are they insecure? The reason is, they fail to identify their strengths. They do not realize what they are capable of. Neither weakness is an awful term nor it makes someone weak. Rather it brings out the strengths.
This is a two-way process. If you dwell on your weakness all the time, there will be a time when you will part away from your strong points. On the other hand, if you keep focusing on your strengths all the time, you gradually ignore your weakness which can be a threat through the long haul. Equal attention must be given to both aspects. Nobody knows you better than yourself. Just focus a bit, ask yourself certain questions which can help you to discover what are your strong and weak points. It is only possible through self-awareness.
6 simple ways to discover your strengths and weaknesses.
- Trying out things: If you laze around not trying enough things, neither there is experience nor you get exposed to certain things. When you start doing a thing, you will learn to self-evaluate yourself. You will see what can be done by you and what not. To figure out your abilities and lacuna, you need to try out those things. Rate how much pleasure you get and to what extent you are good at the activities you do.
- Constant lists: List out the things you are good and poor at only after performing. Then analyze what you can do more to improve on your end. Celebrate your small wins to keep your spirits up.
- Feedback: Take feedback from the people you trust at regular intervals. Ask for an honest opinion, may it be from your parents, teachers, peers, colleagues, etc. Feedback from others can help you to gain clarity.
- Meditation: When will you be aware of yourself? It is when your mind is still and peaceful. The ideal way to be mindful is through meditation. Make it a ritualistic routine. When your mind is blank and free of negative thoughts you can think clearly. You can ask yourself a set of questions during these meditations.
- Write it down: Jot down your principles and core values. Make a note of what you are capable of, what are your priorities, what are your plans and goals for the future, and how are you going to achieve them. You cannot save everything in your brain itself, so make it a habit to write.
- Tests: You can take different psychometric tests to discover your strengths and weaknesses. You can go for SWOT analysis, EQ-i 2.0 Emotional Intelligence Assessment, Wiley’s DiSC Product. These are some best tests that can give you an idea about your strong and weak points.
Anywhere you go there will be constant questions thrown at your face, that is, “what are you good at?” It’s not the end because the next I which gradually follows after it is, “what are you not good at?” Do you know what’s best? It is when you work hard on your weakness and convert it to your strength. Discovering and working on your strengths and weaknesses is a skill. Learn and try to work on it because they are the inevitable part of one’s life which can help you to blossom in many ways.
