How to Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Appreciate your effort. Because you are willing to take a good look at where you are already strong and where you could stand some improvement, you are a strong person already. It takes guts to sit down and do this work. Give your awesome self a pat on the back and remember that you are an amazing person.

Write down what you do. In order to identify your strengths and weaknesses, think about the activities you either participate in the most or get the most pleasure out of. Spend a week or so writing down all of the activities you do throughout the a given day, rating them from one to five, depending upon how much you enjoy doing or participating in them.

·         Studies have found journaling to be a great method for becoming more self-aware and reflective towards one’s personal strengths and desires. This can be as simple as listing all of the most memorable moments of a given day to writing detailed narratives about your deepest thoughts and desires. The more you come to know yourself, the easier it will be for you to identify your personal strengths.

Reflect on your values. Sometimes, it can be difficult to identify our strengths and weaknesses because we haven't taken the time to clarify our core values. These are the beliefs that shape how you think about yourself, others, and the world around you. They are fundamental to your way of approaching life. Taking some time to identify your values will help you decide whether aspects of your life are strengths or weaknesses to you, regardless of what others may feel about them.

·         Think about a few people you respect. What do you admire about them? What traits do they possess that you value? How do you see these in your own life?

·         Imagine you could change one thing about your community. What would it be? Why? What do you think that shows about what's most important to you?

·         Remember a moment in your life where you felt very satisfied or fulfilled. What was that moment? What happened? Who were you with? Why did you feel that way?

·         Imagine that your house is on fire (but all pets and people are safe) and you can save just 3 objects. What would you save, and why?

Examine your responses for themes and patterns. Once you've reflected on your values, examine the responses for things that may repeat. For example, perhaps you admire Bill Gates and Richard Branson for their entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. This suggests that you may value Ambition, Competition, and Ingenuity. Perhaps you would change the poverty in your community so everyone has a home and food. This suggests you may value Community, Helping Society, or Making a Difference. You can have several core values.

·         You can find lists of value words online, if you need help putting your own into words.

Determine whether your life aligns with your values. Sometimes, we may feel like we have a weakness in a particular area when our lives don't align with our core values, for whatever reason. Living a life aligned with your values is called "value-congruent" living, and it can lead to greater feelings of satisfaction and success.

·         For example, perhaps you value Ambition and Competition, but you feel stuck at a dead-end job where you're never challenged or given an opportunity to prove yourself. You might feel that you have a weakness in this area because your life isn't currently aligned with what's very important to you.

·         Or perhaps you are a new mother who really wants to go back to your job as a teacher because you value Intellectual Status. You might feel that "being a good mom" is a weakness because your value (of achieving Intellectual Status) appears to conflict with another value (Family-Orientedness). In this case, you can figure out how to balance your values so that you honor both. Wanting to go back to your job doesn't mean you don't also want to enjoy your new child.

Consider situational meanings. Think about what constitute strengths or weaknesses relative to the social conventions or customs within your local context. Social conventions are a set of rules governing interpersonal interaction which have been established as functional within a certain geological area or culture, hopefully so as to help maintain healthy social boundaries. Knowing how these differ depending on where you live can help you determine what might be seen as a strength or weakness in that particular geographic location.

·         For example, if you live in a rural area where everyone works with their hands, the members of this community will likely value attributes related to physical labor and working long hours during the day. If you happen to live in a large city, however, these attributes might not appear as important, unless you happen to work some other manual labor job.

·         Consider whether or not the environment you live in is conducive to your own strengths and personal attributes. If they aren’t, think about how you can either change the situation or move to an environment within which your personal strengths might be more highly valued.