Ah, weaknesses. Sometimes it seems easiest to just ignore them. Whether it’s ignoring them to focus on the things we’re good at, or purposefully choosing blissful ignorance, it’s an easier task than facing them head one.

But here’s the thing:

Being able to identify your weaknesses takes away their power.

There’s a quote from Brian Tracy, a former teacher & friend of mine, that explains this well:

“The value of self-knowledge is in your ability to evaluate your weaknesses. To the extent that you are honest in that evaluation, you will reap benefits in staying motivated.”

When you are able to honestly assess and identify the things about yourself that could stand to be improved, you become that much closer to improving them. Here are some strategies for identifying and improving upon your weaknesses to become a stronger, more self-aware person.

How to Honestly Identify Your Weaknesses

A great way to get started in weakness-identification is with an exercise that I like to call the “1 Minute Brain Dump.”

Get out your phone or watch, and a piece of paper and pen. Draw a vertical line down the center of the piece of paper so you create two columns, and set a timer for one minute. When the timer starts, start writing answers to this question in the left column: “What do I wish I was better at?”

Try to turn off the judgmental part of your brain, and just concentrate on writing words down as they pop into your head. Once you write one word or phrase down, move on to the next line without looking back to review your list. This exercise is only one-minute-long – surely you can just write without judgment for 60 seconds, right? It’s tough, but you can do it!

A little disclaimer: this exercise isn’t going to be super fun. Especially not at the beginning. But the only way to truly identify your weaknesses (on the quest to minimize them), is to be completely honest with yourself.

Once you’ve finished your list (and you MUST stop writing after one minute, too! No need to keep dwelling on the negatives), put down your pen and take a deep breath. The exercise gets decidedly more positive after this.

Now that you’ve written down some areas of improvement for yourself, the next step is to use the right-side column to write down ONE way you can start addressing this area in the next 24 hours. Immediate, achievable action is the goal here.

Let’s give some examples:

If I wrote down, “working out more” in the left-side column, maybe in the right-side column I would write, “doing 50 crunches right now.” (And then do them!)

If I wrote down, “getting up earlier in the left-side column, maybe in the right-side column I would write, “set my alarm for 6:30 am.” (And then set that alarm!)

If I wrote down, “being less judgmental of others,” maybe in the right-side column I would write, “identify thoughts and words of judgment as they arise.” (And then really tune into that when I speak and think).

All problems have solutions. You just genuinely have to WANT to find them. Your brain knows when your heart’s not in it. So writing these mini action-items down is the first step to telling your brain what the plan is… and sticking to it.

The key to making consistent improvements to these weaknesses lies in creating a habit or forming a routine.

Using the Johari Window Model to Identify & Strengthen Weaknesses

One of the best ways to determine your your weaknesses (as well as your strengths) is by getting feedback from others. Enter the Johari Window Model.

The Johari Window Model is a psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955. It’s a very useful tool for improving self-awareness and defining “soft skills,” such as behavior, empathy, cooperation, and relationship development.

This model revolves around two primary areas of understanding (or lack of understanding): what YOU know about yourself and what OTHER PEOPLE know about you.

Here’s how it works:

In Quadrant 1 (top left), is your “Open/Free Area” – it’s comprised of anything you know about yourself and are willing to share. These are your known weaknesses and strengths, as well as other things about yourself you know to be true and/or strongly believe.

Any aspect that you do not know about yourself, but others around you are aware of, is in your “Blind Area” – which is Quadrant 2 (top right). You can discover what these things are by asking for feedback – not always easy to do, but ALWAYS helpful.

Quadrant 3 (bottom left) is your “Hidden Area” – things that you know about yourself, but that you purposely conceal or hide from others. This can be for a number of reasons: fear of judgement, shame, shyness, etc, but one thing is true: revealing these things, and moving them to Quadrant 1, will help you live your most honest, authentic life.

The final area, Quadrant 4 (bottom right) is your “Unknown Area” – full of things that you do not yet know about yourself – and nor does anyone else! This quadrant is especially exciting because it represents your limitless potential. You can begin to explore your Unknown Area through the process of self-discovery, shared discovery (with others), and observations from others – whether they are friends, family, colleagues, or perfect strangers.

The goal of using the Johari Window Model is to eventually expand the surface area of Quadrant 1 in your own life and self-awareness – to deeply understand who you are through the process of self-discovery and discovery insights from others.

By employing the Johari Window model, you can develop a better understanding of your own weaknesses, and work on turning them into known facts (first), and then developing them into strengths.

What tactics have you used to help you identify and strengthen YOUR weaknesses?