In last week’s issue, I introduced “rapport” and my belief that we need to start with “me, myself and I” if we are to create, develop and maintain the best connection and relationship – with ourselves and others.
If you missed this #LunchNLearnWithLindsay issue, you can read it here.
So, how do we create and maintain rapport with ourselves?
A great place to start is by spending some “quality thinking time” conducting a Personal SWOT analysis.
And, “Yes!” This is something I’ve shared before in my #LunchNLearnWithLindsay issues for those of you who have been signed-up to receive these “food for thought” messages for some time. The New Year is a great time to conduct this exercise and to ensure you’ve set a reminder in your calendar for subsequent Personal SWOTs every 2-3 months.
Conducting a Personal SWOT analysis
Typically a SWOT analysis is conducted at business/industry level. Conducting a SWOT on a personal level will produce a highly informative “snapshot” and visual of yourself.
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
It can be useful to assign different coloured pens to the respective headings – colours that symbolise the meanings to you personally.
Choose a time and space where you’re not going to be interrupted and consider this “quality thinking time” for yourself.
Remember this is not a “one-time” exercise. It is beneficial to conduct a personal SWOT regularly to gain a snapshot of you. The “me, myself and I” of today is likely to be very different to the “me, myself and I” of this time last year or the year before. We are constantly growing, developing, maturing and learning from experience, knowledge and the changing world around us.
Answer the questions as openly and honestly as you can and go with your “gut response” rather than overthinking your answers.
Never assume anything. Write down your responses even if they seem “obvious” to you. If your strength is organising diaries (but that little voice in your head is saying “but all PAs are great at organising diaries”) write it down!
If a question doesn’t sound right, look right or feel right to you, just pass over it.
Ready to conduct a Personal SWOT? Head to our Blog Post here for more details.
Learning
By completing a personal SWOT you have given a structure to the internal dialogue you have with yourself. If we can recognise and acknowledge the “little voices” and internal dialogue we are having, we are in a better place to “control” those voices. Also, by understanding about our own preferred communication style and how we process information we can ensure we can tap into the very best way for us to learn. We will also know where our “starting point” is to communicating better with others. In next week’s issue we’ll hone in on “optimising communication”.
