I have a business degree from the Fox School of Business, Temple University. I am super proud of this accomplishment. Its a good thing too because I have no desire to go back to school for any other degrees. I never want to do homework or have exams again. The one thing I did not mind about school was the actual learning. I love learning new things. I love seeing things like a good Venn Diagram put into practice. I’m kinda nerdy like that.
One of the tools I learned in business school was SWOT Analysis. SWOT analysis is used to critique companies, business strategies, etc… SWOT stands or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The nerdy girl in me enjoys this tool so much that I thought why not do a SWOT analysis on myself. After all, blogging can be an introspective activity. Especially, for me since I blog about ways to have more happiness in my life. So, here goes:
- Strengths – Smart, Kind, Independent, Good Writer, Honest, Loyal, Pride, Good Cook, Generous, Attractive, Good Listener, Like Seeing Other’s Happy, Supportive, Encouraging, Like Helping Others, Non-Judgmental
- Weaknesses – Trouble Asking For Help, Non-Confrontational, Bad Housekeeper, Procrastinator, Disorganized, Lack Confidence, Afraid To Take Risks
- Opportunities – Leadership, Make A Good Wife, Philanthropy, Teaching/Coaching
- Threats – Not Pursing My Own Goals, Finding Fulfillment Through Others Accomplishments Instead Of My Own, Not Having My Own Support System, Being Too Trusting
So here is really how it works when it comes to SWOT analysis. The Strengths are the easiest to identify, followed by the Weaknesses. The tricky part is the Opportunities and Threats. What you want to do is look at your Strengths and Weaknesses and see how they can be translated into Opportunities and most importantly what kinds of Threats do they put you at risk for.
Being a generous, supportive person who likes to help others and has good listening skills are great strengths that make it likely that I’d be a good wife and good at leadership opportunities related to teaching and coaching others. However the these same strengths combined with my weaknesses of being afraid to take risks and sometimes lacking confidence creates a foundation for the threat of me spending more time helping others reach their dreams than me working towards my own and then convincing myself to find fulfillment through others accomplishments instead of my own. The big threat of that is growing resentful of the people I started out helping.
Dong a SWOT analysis helps you to figure out what areas you want to work on. Some people believe in focusing in on the weaknesses and trying to get rid of them. Others believe that is a waste of time and that it is better to focus on making the strengths even stronger. Kind of like aiming to get a bigger bang for your buck. I think doing both is important. I want to spend most of my time improving upon my strengths while keeping my weaknesses and more importantly my threats in the front of my mind. Using my my threats and weaknesses to ask myself important questions when making decision. For example:
Could I do a better job at this if I ask someone for help?
Am I turning down this opportunity because I really don’t want it or because I am afraid of taking the risk?
Would I do XYZ or not do XYZ if I were feeling more confident right now?
Am I helping this person to accomplish a task when I should really be working on my own goals?
This is my first time doing a SWOT analysis on myself. The threat that is the most alarming and surprising is that I could find fulfillment through others accomplishments instead of my own and grow resentful. This is a big eye opener for me.
Have you ever done a SWOT analysis on yourself? If so were you surprised by any of your Opprtunities or Threats? If you have never done one I recommend you give it a try. If you share your SWOT analysis on your blog leave a link in the comments
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