Do you ever feel like you are simply treading water or not rising to your full potential? Perhaps you are unsatisfied with your life, financial situation or employment and want something to change?
This is a common feeling, but it can be incredibly difficult to break through and transform your life and habits. A simple technique that is underrated and rarely used is the process of self-assessment.
In this article, we look at the underrated talent of self-assessment, what it is and how you can use it to better yourself and make life changes.
Self-assessment – A basic introduction
First, what is self-assessment? There are two meanings really – the first is self-assessment taxes if you are self-employed but that’s a completely different subject.
What we mean is looking at your strengths and weaknesses and assessing your character, actions and abilities. The aim is to determine what you are good at and where you can make personal improvements. The ultimate goal is for self-betterment.
How self-assessment can benefit you
There are some fantastic self-assessment tools and quizzes you can use to assess your skills and knowledge. This doesn’t just have to be applied to your personality and characteristics either.
You can use self-assessment for specific things like investment. There is even a trading quiz that helps pinpoint which types of trading could be better suited to your personality. The other benefits are more generic, and we have listed them below.
1. To allow you to improve your weaknesses
We all have weaknesses even if we don’t like to admit it. These could be personality traits, decision-making or even specific things like poor risk management for investments or bad sleeping habits.
By using self-assessment, you can see exactly what areas you fall down in. Perhaps you are over-confident and don’t think things through. Maybe you are too reserved and never take risks. Whatever it is, self-assessment lets you see areas of your personality, skills and knowledge that you could potentially improve.
2. To see what you excel at and capitalise on it
If we flip this on its head, self-assessment also lets you see what you are really good at. You can assess your skillset, knowledge and personality to see what you excel at. Maybe you are an excellent critical thinker or perhaps you have a creative mind.
By understanding what you are good at, you can capitalize on these things to achieve greater success. You may even find some previously unknown talent that you have that you could turn into a new career path or business venture.
3. To know your limits
Lastly, self-assessment lets us know our limits. How many times have you put yourself in a bad situation because you haven’t thought properly about your comfort zone or what you are truly capable of?
It’s fine to try and push your limits, but there is a time and a place for that, and self-assessment lets you make more informed choices and focus on areas that you are more likely to succeed in.
Putting self-assessment into practice
As you can see, self-assessment can really help. We can always benefit from having a greater understanding of ourselves, what makes us tick and where we need to improve.
But how do you do this? A simple way to start is to just spend 30 minutes with a pen and paper. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses.
This is the best way to start. Be honest with yourself and don’t try to sugar coat things — even if you don’t like what you are writing. If you start in an honest manner like this, then your self-assessment will be more successful going forward.
With your list completed, you can then look at your individual strengths and weaknesses and determine what action you want to take. Maybe you lack confidence and want to build this up. Maybe you are great with finances and want to start investing. Use self-assessment as a steppingstone and a starting point to make positive life changes.
It’s always a great idea to look at yourself and strive for improvement
None of us our perfect. Many of us claim to be, but even the best of us have tiny flaws that could be improved. Self-assessment is a fantastic way to do this. You can be blunt and honest with yourself with the aim of developing your character and skills.
This will ultimately help push you forward and help you achieve your life goals — whatever they may be.
