How to Identify and Address Your Weaknesses
Dealing with weaknesses is a challenging task for most of us. We instinctively don’t want to think about our weaknesses or deal with them. It feels easier to just accept that we’re not good at something and then avoid it. This isn’t a very fulfilling way to live. You leave too much on the table with this strategy and limit your life severely.
Try these techniques to gain mastery over yourself and the world by dealing with your weaknesses.
Identifying Your Weaknesses
Follow this process:
- 1. Make a list of the weaknesses you know. Let’s face it: You can already list several weaknesses right off the top of your head. That’s a good place to start. So, start that list.
- However, you also have weaknesses you’re not aware of. Those can be the most insidious. It’s the things that you don’t know that sometimes cause the greatest challenges.
- 2. Ask a trusted friend and a family member. A good friend will know you well. A family member will have known you for a long time. You can get some great insight from asking these people about your weaknesses. You’re bound to hear something you never considered.
- 3. Ask your boss. Some weaknesses are only weaknesses in the workplace. Ask your boss to identify your weaknesses. This information can be invaluable. It also shows your boss that you’re a thoughtful employee.
- 4. Give it some serious thought. With all of that information, sit down and think about it all. Take it all in and decide which weakness is most important to rectify. Also, consider how challenging each will be to address. Between those two criteria, it will be clear where you need to start.
Addressing Your Weaknesses
Now that you’re aware of your weaknesses, it’s time to actually do something about them. Understand that your weaknesses are often things that you don’t have a lot of natural ability for. This means it might be challenging to make a significant amount of progress.
Patience is key! Even a small amount of progress is worthy of celebration.
Let’s suppose your most significant weakness is interacting with strangers. Meeting new people makes you uncomfortable and awkward. This has been limiting your social life, career, and ability to enjoy your life.
Try these strategies:
- 1. Learn. Find three reputable sources of information on how to deal with this issue. Include at least two types of media. It might be a video course, a book, and an audio program. With our example, these programs might cover social skills, social anxiety, and how to make friends.
- Three different sources provide three different perspectives. You can surround your challenge with different types of information. This is a well-rounded approach.
- 2. Develop a plan. You know your weakness and you know a lot about how to address it. Create a step-by-step plan to eliminate your weakness. Your plan might start with something as simple as making better eye contact with strangers and end with asking a stranger out on a date.
- 3. Re-evaluate. Once you’ve completed your plan, take a look at yourself and evaluate your current situation. Is it time to move on to another weakness? Or is it necessary to create a new plan?
Few people are willing to address their weaknesses. Most of us avoid our weaknesses at all costs. It’s much better to improve your skills than it is to spend your energy creating a little world for yourself that avoids your weaknesses. It’s exhausting to build a life around your weaknesses.
Identify your weaknesses, educate yourself, create a plan, and execute it. This can make your life simpler and more enjoyable.
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