Think about your past accomplishments, the goals you’ve set for yourself and achieved with flying colors. What made your success possible? What were the daily habits, personal traits, beliefs, or skills that led to your success? Who were the people supporting you along the way?
Have you ever had a goal you did not achieve? Do you know why you didn’t succeed? What were the roadblocks standing in your way? Were you able to see how your habits, traits, beliefs, or skills presented challenges for you?
Did your disorganization and struggle with time management make it difficult for you to work on your goals? Or perhaps you were highly organized, but in difficult moments, you lacked the motivation to continue?
Nobody enjoys thinking about their failures (or at least few people do) but it’s often in considering BOTH the goals you’ve achieved and the plans that didn’t work out, that you can learn the keys to achieving your future goals.
Here’s what I mean…every person is a compilation of their strengths and weaknesses. We all have natural capacities that help us to be successful. For example, some people are naturally organized or excel in communication. We also all have weaknesses that, when left unaddressed, can make achievement very difficult.
Truly successful individuals are aware of both. If you ask a high achiever what their strengths are, they could tell you in detail. Likewise, if you asked them to identify their weaknesses, they could list those as well.
Great achievement comes when you learn to maximize your strengths and create systems and supports that make up for your weaker areas.
Effectively setting yourself up for success starts with self-reflection. In order to be strategic with your personal strengths and weaknesses, you have to know exactly what they are.
This is where personal assessments come into play. There is a plethora of assessments available that can you give you a better understanding of yourself (how you think, your work tendencies, how you relate to others, etc.)
Taking time for self-assessment will pay dividends when it comes to long term achievement. Here are a few assessment tools that can aid your personal growth, understanding of yourself, and overall achievement.
Myers Briggs
The Myers Briggs Type Inventory is a personality assessment that categorizes people into 16 unique personality types. This assessment focuses on how you process information, the way you make decisions, and the way in which you handle other people and situations.
Enneagram
Developed by the Enneagram Institute, this assessment identifies 9 core personality types. Unlike many other personality assessments, the Enneagram takes into account that no one fits perfectly into a single “box” or personality type. Therefore, this test identifies and explains your dominant personality type, but selects secondary types as well.
DiSC
This assessment measures your Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. The DiSC can be helpful in understanding your work style and how you relate to others.
Clifton Strengths
The Clifton Strengths test identifies an ordered list of your 34 top strengths. If you want to learn how to maximize your potential and use your natural abilities for your overall success, this is an excellent tool.
Using any or all of these personal growth assessments can help you develop a greater self-awareness that is necessary for success. Once you can identify your strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to create a success strategy that will help you achieve your goals. The trick is being curious and open to learning more about yourself and applying what you learn in services of your growth and development.
Are you interested in learning more about assessments, like these, and how they can benefit you? You’re in luck! I’m hosting a Virtual Summit that will unpack some of today’s most valuable assessment tools. CLICK HERE and save your spot today!
PS – Tell us what your favorite assessment tool is and why in the comments below.
