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Your Personal SWOT Analysis
Once a year, at least, take the time to assess where you are in your life, in all key areas: mental, physical, financial, spiritual, relationships, family. Take note of improvements you want to make and changes that need to happen.
As we approach the end of another year, we do all sorts of planning and strategizing about our work and companies. But what about a personal assessment of where you are? Consider doing a SWOT analysis of your own life.
As a reminder, SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Take a few hours on your own to do this. Here’s how:
Strengths:
• What strengths have you developed this year? Acknowledge areas where you have grown and expanded your capabilities. Reflect on personal and professional successes and what was required to achieve them. Which strengths did you employ? What 3 areas you would like to develop more? Include those in your plan for 2018.
Weaknesses:
• Where have you fallen short, personally and professionally? Which emotions or self-destructive habits have sabotaged your achievements? Are you impatient, quick to judge, self-critical? Do you procrastinate or linger in indecision? Pick 3 weaknesses you choose to change in 2018.
Opportunities:
• Consider the roads not taken. What personal and professional opportunities you have denied yourself? Is there a course you want to take? Is there a hobby you want to pursue? Is there some place you want to travel? Set an intention for 2018 to take advantage of those opportunities.
Threats:
• What threatens your happiness and success? It might be your health or not taking care of yourself. It might be your negative self-talk or attitude. It might be a lack of support. It might be the people you are spending your time with. Resolve to do something about those threats to ensure you have a great 2018.
You have the chance to make 2018 an incredible year. You are in control of your destiny and you are extraordinary. You deserve a great new year. Make it happen.
Snowden
Keep the Fire Burning!
Motivation Tip: Move from Contraction to Expansion
It’s all too easy to get caught up in negativity. Fear, scarcity thinking, economic worries and blaming all shift us out of possibility thinking into lack. In Fired Up!, there is an entire chapter about moving from contraction to expansion.
On a very practical basis, that means doing the activities which help you feel larger, more powerful, more competent.
List the 20 most common activities in your week, and next to each, write an E or C (E=Expansive= you feel successful & good, C=contractive, makes you feel small, frustrated or futile.)
Now study the list and see how many E’s versus C’s you have. If the majority are C’s, you probably are not as happy, effective or creative as you could be. Search out those activities and people who are Expansive for you and if at all possible, eliminate or minimize the C’s. Imagine how you would feel if every day, you did expansive activities and had lunch with friends and mentors who believe in you and buoy you up? You’d feel loved, successful, and limitless. You’d be unstoppable!
Stress Tip: Take a Mini-Vacation
Many people don’t take vacations these days, and that’s a big mistake. A Boston University study found that women who take at least 2 weeks of vacation a year cut their incidence of heart attacks in half! (Heart disease is the #1 killer of women.) So how can you take a mini-vacation? Get away for the weekend. Have someone babysit the kids and go an hour or two away just to get out of the house. My husband and I escape to a beachfront town less than two hours away, but it feels like we are in a whole new world. It gives us the feeling of being on vacation and helps us escape for a few days. Check hotel specials; there are always last minute deals on the Internet. Or ask friends or family if you could borrow their vacation home. Some people even switch houses for a week. Do something to take a break and see how much better you feel.