Sometimes work feels difficult, stressful, boring, overwhelming, hard, or maybe we are just ready for a change. It sometimes feels like you are putting in immense effort and getting mediocre results. This is like swimming upstream, against the current. You swim hard but make very little progress. The harder you swim; it seems the less progress you make. However, when you work with your natural strengths and talent it feels different. This is like turning around in the river and swimming with the current behind you. You are swimming quite relaxed but making twice as much progress. You feel more in control and swim with style and panache. The results you are getting are much better than before and you have space and time to reflect and think about what you are doing. So, how do we identify our natural intelligence and natural talent. It starts with knowing yourself.
This is done all too often in classrooms and career development. Yes, it is SWOT. BUT I question how authentic this is carried out in most cases.
So, analyse your strengths and weaknesses. What do you believe are your true strengths? Take a piece of A4 paper and fold it over. Now fold it again. When you unfold this, you will have four quadrants to act as your SWOT template. At the top of each quadrant, write, strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Now, you need to relax and get your feet up somewhere comfortable. Maybe put on some quiet music and start to think about things in your life when you have overcome adversity, solved a problem, helped someone out, proud of a specific achievement. What skills were you using that enabled you to win through? These are your strengths, so keep thinking and make a list.
Weaknesses are things we may not like doing and find ourselves not too good at them. It may be worth making a list of things we are not comfortable doing and things we dislike doing. Do not dwell on this! This could be things in the past where we lack understanding, lack clarity, get confused, fumble, feel nervous etc, you get the idea. Complete the list of allowed weaknesses. This is fine; we all have them. It is best to acknowledge them and find ways to reduce them in your life. However, there is a caveat here. Sometimes, our mind plays tricks on us, and it could work out in some strange way that a perceived weakness, if studied, practiced, and worked at could become a strength. So, if you are torn about a specific perceived weakness, just reflect on whether you believe somewhere deep down that it could be developed into a strength. Why? Well, you know, most skills and competences can be developed!
Now look to consider your opportunities and threats. This is a chance to daydream about what is possible for you. If you were serious and really put your mind to it, what opportunities could you create? Have you had a dream of doing a particular job, but dismissed this only seconds later? Write down all opportunities no matter how far out of reach they might feel right now.
Weaknesses are things we may not like doing and find ourselves not too good at them. It may be worth making a list of things we are not comfortable doing and things we dislike doing. Do not dwell on this! This could be things in the past where we lack understanding, lack clarity, get confused, fumble, feel nervous etc, you get the idea. Complete the list of allowed weaknesses. This is fine; we all have them. It is best to acknowledge them and find ways to reduce them in your life. However, there is a caveat here. Sometimes, our mind plays tricks on us, and it could work out in some strange way that a perceived weakness, if studied, practiced, and worked at could become a strength. So, if you are torn about a specific perceived weakness, just reflect on whether you believe somewhere deep down that it could be developed into a strength. Why? Well, you know, most skills and competences can be developed!
Now look to consider your opportunities and threats. This is a chance to daydream about what is possible for you. If you were serious and really put your mind to it, what opportunities could you create? Have you had a dream of doing a particular job, but dismissed this only seconds later? Write down all opportunities no matter how far out of reach they might feel right now.
In summary, Relax and write down your real
- Strengths
- Allowable Weaknesses.
- Opportunities and possibilities
- Threats that could stop you
If you want to learn more about true blockers that prevent us getting what we want, you can always look out for other blogs at
The quality of your thinking really is key to the quality of your future!
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