Your Personal SWOT Analysis (Part I)
Today and tomorrow, we’ll discuss your personal SWOT analysis.
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In case you’re not familiar with it, SWOT is an acronym for …
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
SWOT analysis has been used for years by companies as part of their strategic planning process. More recently, individuals have seen the value for using it to plan their own lives, as well.
This blog is a follow-up to these prior posts:
We asked you, “If neither time nor money was an issue, how would you spend your time and your money?” This is all about discovering your passion … your dream.
We followed that series of shows up by talking about core values. What’s important to you?
So now we’re ready to go to the next level. Now we’re going to bring back the constraints – time and money. Back to reality!
Today, we’ll tackle the first two parts of SWOT analysis – strengths and weaknesses.
But first, a little tidbit …
Did you know that …
… part of Albert Einstein’s brain was abnormally large?
… another part of his brain was unusually small?
Which part was larger than normal, you ask? That area used for math and spatial intelligence. You probably could have guessed that, right? Can you guess the part that was quite small? It was the area used for linguistics.
Most children start talking between the ages of one and two. Einstein, who is generally regarded as one of the smartest people ever, didn’t start talking until he was three!
He failed a language exam when he was 16. He was known to be a terrible lecturer. He was not a cunning linguist! So what’s the moral of the story?
Be thankful for your weaknesses because
they may be the source of your strengths!
How do you uncover your strengths? Answer this question:
What do you find easy to do that others find difficult?
If you find that question difficult to answer, you know that answering questions isn’t one of your strengths! Just kidding! Seriously, we often overlook those things that come easy to us. We take them for granted.
Ask your friends and family what they think your strengths are. Tell them you’re looking for an objective opinion to help you understand yourself better. You’ll find their answers quite interesting.
To discover your weaknesses, answer the question in reverse:
What do you find difficult that seems to come easily to others?
Once again, if you’re having difficulty answering this question, ask people you trust for their opinion. Assure them that you truly appreciate their counsel because you’re discovering how to improve yourself.
On the show, Mary-Lynn and George shared their strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
Mary-Lynn said that “audio production” is something she’s always found easy to do.
George said he’s always been relatively comfortable with “money and finance.”
Weaknesses
Mary-Lynn acknowledged that “numbers” are not her bag. That’s why she pursued a career that tapped her creativity.
George confessed that “orderliness” is his biggest weakness. It’s nice to know that Ben Franklin confessed to the same shortcoming! He said it was the hardest of his thirteen virtues to get right! Read our recent article about that here.
Our Bigg Quote today comes from the author and poet Joyce C. Lock, who simply said:
“Build upon strengths, and weaknesses will gradually take care of themselves.”
Only the strong survive, but if you know your weaknesses, and utilize your strengths, you’ll not only survive … you’ll thrive!
Next time, we’ll continue on this thread – we’ll talk about the second half of SWOT –
Opportunities and Threats.
We’ll also discuss how to put all the pieces, including your passion and purpose, together.
In the meantime, Mary-Lynn is off to balance her checkbook. And George is cleaning up his desk! Until next time, here’s to your BIGG success!
Direct link to The BIGG Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00041-010708.mp3
