How well do I know myself? After more than 50 years on planet earth, I am confident to say that I know myself much better now than when I was a 21-year-old. The best measure of this would be the recognition of your strengths and weaknesses.
One self-improvement course I attended many moons ago had suggested that after identifying your strengths, maximize them while you de-emphasize your weaknesses. I don’t necessarily agree with that approach on weaknesses.
One needs to come to understand your weaknesses, admit them and perhaps try to turn a weakness into a strength instead. That is the path to one’s acceptance of who we are and how to make yourself a better person in the process. Life is a long learning journey, one never should stop learning, else the hunger for life will diminish accordingly.
One of my major weakness is that I am not good at thinking on my feet. I tend not to be able to reply back quickly with snappy answers when faced with a tense situation. I am the type that likes to mull over the issue at hand, sometimes for days, before I come up with a quality answer that I think I am satisfied with. I used to have a boss that demands quick responses and being in a Treasury environment, I have been trained over the years to be decisive and to respond immediately. I believe that there are some situations that require this approach. But for major decision making, thinking over it will definitely provide for a better quality result. Hence I try to differentiate the problems at hand nowadays and then make a call on the approach to take. Those that require more time, I will write it down to remind myself and let it stew in my mind for a while. During my long running sessions on Sundays, I might run over these again with a clear mind. I believe that by doing so, I have turned my weakness into a strength.
Knowing my strengths is also as important. I think I am good at strategic business planning, having had successes in the corporate world with a proven track record. I am able to see opportunities where the incumbents only see brick walls in front of them. My marketing experience comes in handy to get buy-in from others to share with them my vision on how we should move forward. Being optimistic is also a strength, as pessimism is a poison that we should all get rid of from our system.
The more I get to know myself, the better my quality of life. I am better focused on what I want and it helps me plan strategically to create a concrete roadmap on how I want to get there. Execution of the plan is then the next key step to achieving it. Life has greater meaning as a result. It also encourages me to strive for new knowledge all the time, to better myself, and I become more hungry with a zest for life. Meanwhile, one should always also learn to stay happy and healthy all the time!
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