How To Increase Your Self-Awareness

In this topic, we will learn to identify and express our strengths, interests, and areas of improvement. We will also learn how we can use our strengths to contribute to the organization’s goal.

We often look at others around us and compare ourselves to them… Sometimes, we feel that we are better than them, while at other times, it seems that they are better than us!

This is how we first begin to be “Self-Aware.” Self-awareness means paying attention to and identifying your own characteristics. These characteristics include feelings, reactions, habits, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. It allows you to understand not just yourself but also how other people perceive you.

Identify and Express Your Strengths

If you want to succeed in life, it’s a good idea to ask yourself what you want to do. Another good question to ask is whether you have the required skills to achieve your goal or not.

Start by writing down all your positive traits or the things you are good at; these are your strengths. For example, you could be excellent at making conversation with people you meet for the first time. Maybe you are excellent at solving math problems? Are you more of a creative type of person? And so on…

Basically, all the things that can be regarded as positive such as working hard, being organized, and so on.

Identify and Improve Your Weaknesses

Now, write down your weaknesses… Refer to the traits you lack or the ones you need to improve!

These are the things that hold you back from achieving success. But they can be improved on if you want and even turned into strength!

Your weakness can be anything, from professional to personal. For example, you may lack important computer skills, could be unorganized, or find it difficult to make decisions. Maybe you are shy around new people or are not punctual? Do you procrastinate a lot and leave things for the last minute?

All of these are weaknesses, and once you have identified them, the next step is to improve them!

Use Your Strengths to Contribute to the Organization

Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses is especially important if you are looking at potential career options. Knowing what you are good at can help you decide which jobs are suitable for you. This makes sure that you will be very good at your job and will enjoy working too.

For example: if you have the ability to convince other people, you will do well at a sales job. Your strengths and weaknesses are one of the most important things that interviewers like to check! This tells them if you would do well at a job or not.

Let’s look at a situation and see how two candidates, Ryan and Rita, describe their strengths and weaknesses during an interview for the position of Customer Service Representative.

First up is Ryan; when asked, “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” he says:

“I don’t have any weaknesses, maybe I could be faster with my work. My strength is probably my ability to deal with people. I think I am quite easy going and comfortable talking to new people.”

The problem with Ryan’s answer is that he starts with a negative response! No one is perfect, and to say that you do not have any weakness is something that others will not believe. He also uses vague words like: “maybe, probably, think,” which shows that he is unsure about himself.

Now it’s Rita’s turn; when asked the same question, she confidently replies:

“I am not very comfortable working on PowerPoint, but I am trying to learn through an online course i have enrolled in. My strength is that I stay calm even in tense situations, this trait helps me deal with angry and upset customers and solve their problems without getting angry.”

Rita answered the question honestly and also explained what she was doing to overcome her weakness. Further, she mentioned a strength that was related to her job and how that would help her become a valuable employee for the company. Remember, the best way to handle this question in an interview is to focus on your strengths instead of focusing too much on your weaknesses.

How to Do Good at Job Interviews

In an interview, always avoid mentioning personal weaknesses like you are lazy. Instead, focus on your professional weaknesses but the ones that are non-critical to the job.

You must also supplement your weakness with a solution to overcome it. For example: if you say that you are a bit disorganized, you can say that you have started to list all your tasks every day, so you can complete them all on time.

You can mention your strengths as being dedicated, reliable, and good at solving problems, patient, and so on. However, always make sure that you’re being honest! Before appearing for an interview, always make sure to think about how your strengths have helped you in the past.

Finally, remember there are many great things you can achieve if you know your true potential and the things you are capable of doing.

Leave in the comments section below your vulnerable weakness and how you plan to overcome it. Maybe you can find someone who already had the same weakness and got a strategy to fix it.