How To Find Your Weaknesses

Table of Contents show

muscular mam — illustration by A Tailored Life

You Know Your Strengths

It’s often easy to come up with things we’re good at. Our strengths are shown in many ways every day. But when it comes to becoming a better person, we need to know what our weaknesses are as well. It can be difficult figuring out what these weaknesses are though.

What are personal weaknesses?

A weakness is a character attribute you aren’t as proficient in or that scares you.

List of weaknesses you might consider working on includes:

Self-criticism
Insecurity
Too detail oriented
Perfectionism to the point of keeping you from finishing something
Public speaking
Extremely extroverted or obnoxiously talkative
Shy or timid
Too sensitive
Poor communicator
Poor financial awareness
Overly critical of yourself
Not proud of yourself
Untrustworthy
Procrastinator
People pleaser
Afraid to learn/ tech phobia
Fear confrontation
Must always be right
Poor sense of humor
Lack creativity
Stuck in a rut/ afraid of change
Negative attitude
Worrier
Lack self-confidence
Overly emotional
Disorganized
Impatient
Expect too much from others
Don’t expect enough from yourself
Not finishing projects or other things started
Taking on too much
Not knowing when to say no

If you aren’t sure what your weaknesses are or which one you should address first there are ways to figure it out.

One way to determine our weaknesses is to ask others, especially those close to us. They will be honest with us and can clearly see what we need to work on or get help with.

Another option is to take a self-assessment test such as the Meyers-Briggs test. These tests are meant to help you see what your strengths are but are great at showcasing what your weaknesses are as well.

How to Improve

Once you know what your weakness is you can begin to take steps to improve it or work with it in a more positive way.

Recognize and accept your weaknesses. Dig deeper into why you act this way or do something this way. Does it come from some instance in your past or did you develop it as a defense mechanism? Whatever the reason address it and then move on. This is key in turning that weakness into a strength. Get guidance from coaches or others you trust.

Be prepared or overprepared to compensate for the weakness. If you need to hire others who have the skills you lack from your weakness.

Work on your weaknesses whenever you catch yourself falling back into one of them. For instance, if you tend to put too many things on your to-do list, working on multiple projects at a time, and find yourself at the end of the day not getting anything finished, try to only include two or three things on your list each day. We all have weaknesses that we would love to improve. Once you know what those weaknesses are and why you do them, you can begin making the changes needed to improve them.

Next: 5 Steps To Figure Out Your Next Move | Previous: 10 Reasons To Be Proud Of Yourself