How actively do you assess yourself? In the era of knowledge workers and economy, knowing yourself is key to succeed in any sphere of life. We are so busy managing others, managing businesses that we entirely forget this important aspect of assessing our own knowledge, skills, interests and limitations. We have all heard in some form or the other on SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats) analysis but have never thought of actively maintaining one for ourselves.
There is no doubt that our working environment is changing fast with technology everywhere and our past skills may not be as relevant now or in the future. The core question is... how do you stay relevant in the present and in the future throughout your working life?
- Maintain a personal log or a diary. It does not matter if it’s a book or a word document. All that matters is that you review this log periodically.
- Sustaining the practice of self-assessment. I remember at the beginning of a new school year, we used to get a diary which had just about everything ranging from general information to school related information. I would sign it with my best handwriting, dated with all details filled in and that’s it. Don’t overburden of doing this activity very frequently. Rather set some time to ensure its sustained and a value driven exercise.
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses. It is your strengths that spearhead you further but it’s equally important to be aware of your weaknesses at the same time. I remember someone telling me to address weakness as a developmental area. Weakness seemed to be a harsh word. An open question to you...can you make a weakness into a strength? I would prefer investing time and effort on making your strength into a core competency.
- Seek feedback. Get to understand how others feel about you directly or indirectly. Feedback loops are necessary to give you an insight about yourself. Ask your colleagues, managers, friends, coaches on one strength and one weakness they see based on recent interaction.
- Assess the work environment. This is not only for people in jobs but true for entrepreneurs too. With the business environment changing, you need to keep assessing your gaps and plan to cover them. Remember not is old and nothing is a waste. In this new era of Artificial Intelligence, your past skills are very important but new skills and adaptation is required.
- Plan for Action. It’s great to gather all information and maintain it but has no meaning if no action is taken. Identify the areas to work on. They could be communication skills or dealing with people or technical skills. Act...work on them and most importantly demonstrate the ability to use them in real life.
Recalling Buddha's quote... “The past is already gone; the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment”
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