When I was growing up, I remember being told repeatedly, “Be careful with that (person/thing/pet), Jason, you don’t know your own strength.” I was always hurting my friends in random ways, although I really didn’t mean to at all. I also recall saying, “Please don’t tell on me” more times than I care to count.
As an adult and a father of four now, I am well aware of my physical strength now, especially when compared with my three daughters. My son, on the other hand, will likely be bigger than me in the next couple of years. Yikes.
But I digress…
I was thinking about the term, “knowing your own strength”, and how it applies not just to the obvious meaning, but also to having an awareness of what you are good at and passionate about with regard to work.
I guess part of the equation is also “knowing your own weaknesses”, too, right?
Here are a couple of strengths that I feel I have:
- I am likeable (I can get along with almost anyone)
- I am sensitive to the needs of others
- I am patient
- I enjoy teaching and I can usually explain things in understandable ways
- I’m very good at remember names, faces, and numbers
- I am creative at coming up with solutions to various types of problems.
- I genuinely like writing
Here are some of my weaknesses:
- I have a temper
- I don’t have a strong knowledge of history (just not my thing)
- I am not really that technically-minded and I have a low tolerance for stuff I don’t immediately understand
- I am not handy….at all. My wife is the one who fixes broken things, not me.
- I tend to over-commit to projects.
- I don’t have a strong enough filter between my mind and my mouth sometimes, although it’s far better these days.
What about you? Have you done this type of thing before? I can guarantee you that others are always evaluating you – why not do it yourself?
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greencolander/1569954608/
