SWOT ANALYSIS:

SWOT stands for: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat. A SWOT analysis
guides you to
identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses (S-W), as well as broader opportunities
and threats(O-T).

A SWOT analysis can offer helpful perspectives at any stage of an effort. You might use it to:
 Explore possibilities for new efforts or solutions to problems.
 Make decisions about the best path for your initiative. Identifying your opportunities for
success in
context of threats to success can clarify directions and choices.
 Determine where change is possible. If you are at a juncture or turning point, an inventory of
your
strengths and weaknesses can reveal priorities as well as possibilities.
 Adjust and refine plans mid-course. A new opportunity might open wider avenues, while a
new threat
could close a path that once existed.
 SWOT also offers a simple way of communicating about your initiative or program and an
excellent
way to organize information you've gathered from studies or surveys.

SWOT analysis can help the following people.

 Students
 Managers and Owners
 Professionals, Executives
 Career Starters
 Practitioners and HR
 Doctors and Engineers
 Employees
 Husband and Wife
 Parents

THE ADVANTAGES OF CONDUCTING A PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS:

The main purpose of a SWOT is to promote the identified strengths, reduce weaknesses,
exploiting the
opportunities and having contingency plans to minimize threats.
There are many benefits and advantages of using SWOT Analysis for personal development. It is
good for
your success and betterment. Some of the most common benefits of conducting a personal
SWOT analysis
have been mentioned below.
 Helps to develops strategies to attain your goals
 You can be better than your friends and colleagues
 Shows where you currently stand on the path of success
 Measures your scopes of reaching desired goals
 Boosts your career, life and personality
 Helps to better understand who you really are as a person
 Maximizes your strengths and diminishes your weaknesses
 Explores and also enhances your soft skills and hard skills
 It helps you understand your preferences and personality traits.
 Focuses on your attitudes, abilities, skills, capabilities and capacities
1.8.2 USING THE SWOT ANALYSIS TOOL:
Strengths:
These are the traits or skills that set you apart from others. Questions to ask include:
 What benefits do you have which others do not have? This could include skills, education, or
connections.
 What are you better at than anyone else?
 What personal resources do you have access to?
 What do other people see as your strengths?
 Which achievements are you most proud of?
 What values do you believe in that others fail to show?
 Are you part of a network no one else is involved in? What connections do you have with
powerful people?
Weaknesses:
This part examines the areas in which you need to improve and the things that will set you back
in your
career. Questions to consider include:
 What work do you usually avoid because of lack of confidence?
 What do people think you weaknesses are?
 Are you happy with your education and skills training?
 Do you have any negative work habits?
 Which of your personality traits hold you back?
Opportunities:
For the opportunities section, look at the external factors you can take advantage of to pursue a
promotion,
find a new job or determine a career direction.
 What new technology can assist you?
 Can you take advantage of the market in its present state?
 Do you have a network of strategic contacts to offer good advice or help you?
 Is any of your competitors failing to do something important? Can you take advantage of it?
 Is there a need in your company which no one is filling?
 Could you create an opportunity by offering solutions to problems?
Threats:
This part takes into account the external factors that could hurt your chances to attain your goals.
The
factors to take into account include:
 What hindrances do you currently face at work?
 Is any of your co-workers competing with you for projects or roles?
 Is your job changing?
 Can technological changes threaten your position?
 Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?
Who am I ?

In general terms, one’s self concept is how one thinks about, evaluates or perceives
themselves. Our self concept includes the roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that we
consider most important about ourselves. Self concept answers the question “Who Am I?” The
answer to this question may include examples of the following:

Physical attributes (e.g. short/tall, blue /brown eyes,

Social relationships (e.g. husband/wife, colleague, friend)
Familiar relationships (e.g. brother/sister, son/daughter, mother/father)
Occupations (e.g. teacher, plumber, engineer)
Abilities/disabilities (e.g. smart, funny, shy)
Spirituality (e.g. child of God, Catholic, Buddhist)
Affiliations (e.g. Shriner, Calgary Flames fan, Polish Club)
Salient attributes (e.g. hard working,/lazy, honest/dishonest, good looking)
Avocations (e.g. athlete, musician, artist, volunteer)

Our self concept is not innate but develops over time from a variety of sources which
include our genetics (temperament), and the feedback we receive from society, coaches, parents,
family members, teachers, and our cultural heritage. Our self concept develops partly from our
temperament, along with our life experiences and the interactions we have experienced
throughout our life. Childhood is a particularly important time for the development of our self-
concept, however, it is not static and changes throughout our life.
Importance of Self-confidence

Self-confidence impacts the whole personality and life of a person. This is why the importance of
self-confidence cannot be denied or neglected. Self-confidence not only has a huge impact on
different areas of a person’s life but also impacts every smaller function of our daily lives. The
following points highlight the importance of self-confidence.

1. Leads to Better Self-esteem

Self-esteem is a combination of believing in oneself and believing in one’s self-worth. In
psychology, self-esteem is considered an important ability to have a successful life in terms of
having a healthy life – both physically and mentally. Having confidence in oneself is a gateway
to developing better self-esteem and vice versa. Many theories of psychology state that self-
esteem is made up of two components that are self-efficacy and self-confidence. It helps people
to better cope with life’s difficulties and challenges, inculcate happiness and love in life, and
have mental peace.

2. Decreases Anxiety
Having self-confidence is a way to decrease anxiety and fears in a person’s life. Almost all of the
issues related to social anxiety, self-esteem, and some other forms of anxiety have a root cause of
low self-confidence in a person. If you compare two people – one having self-confidence and the
other having low confidence – there is a visible difference in their anxiety level and fears.
Moreover, a person with low self-confidence tries to avoid every possible situation where they
have to be in the limelight that reinforces the anxious behavior. So the cycles continue unless it is
broken by increasing confidence.

3. Positive Self-worth
The importance of self-confidence is positively related to making people comfortable in their
skin. Confident people accept their flaws and know that this does not decrease their self-worth. It
becomes easier to accept one’s weaknesses because you are confident in your abilities that you
will get over them one day. By having self-confidence, one also has a purpose in life to achieve
the goals that have been set. On the other hand, low-confident people give up without trying.
Consequently, it decreases self-worth.

4. Makes a Better Leader

Leadership is all about having confidence in one’s abilities. One can have necessary skills and
talent but without self-confidence, the trust in having to utilize these skills is lacking. This is why
there are people with excellent skillset but they are not good leadership. One of the qualities of a
great leader is to have self-confidence. A leader is also an eloquent and confident speaker and a
charismatic personality. All these qualities are tied with having the self-confidence to impress
people and convince them to follow the leader.

5. Increase Motivation
Confidence is an ability that affects everyday life activities whether big or small. When you have
confidence, you will automatically gain more motivation to perform those tasks as compared to
someone who has low confidence. People with low confidence are preoccupied with the fear of
failure. This preoccupation often loses their motivation to perform the tasks and try harder.
6. Brings Happiness
A confident person does not hesitate from doing anything in life. This brings variety into life and
gathers various skillsets. There are no regrets of missed opportunities and no self-accusatory and
ruminating thoughts. When there is no regret in life, life automatically becomes happier than it
normally is.

7. Ensures Security
A person with low confidence has low self-esteem. What happens with low self-esteem is that
there is a lot of self-doubt and fear regarding oneself. there is insecurity about one’s abilities.
However, confidence ensures the security of the person. Even the person messed up a situation,
there is a knowledge that it was just one situation and other experiences will be better. Instead of
falling into self-doubt and feeling insecure about one’s abilities, confident people are secure.

8. Improved Relationships
Self-confidence also means to be true to yourself and confidently show the real side of yourself.
Instead of worrying over the image one radiates in a relationship, genuine interactions give a
better impression. Confident people are known to be more open and genuine in their interactions
because they are not constantly thinking about their impression in any social interaction. As
genuineness is a character that improves relationships, confident people are known to have a
better relationship than non-confident people.

Having healthy self-esteem can influence your motivation, your mental well-being, and your
overall quality of life. However, having self-esteem that is either too high or too low can be
problematic. Better understanding what your unique level of self-esteem is can help you strike a
balance that is just right for you.

What Is Self-Esteem?
In psychology, the term self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall subjective sense of
personal worth or value. In other words, self-esteem may be defined as how much you appreciate
and like yourself regardless of the circumstances. Your self-esteem is defined by many factors
including:

 Self-confidence
 Feeling of security
 Identity
 Sense of belonging
 Feeling of competence

Other terms that are often used interchangeably with self-esteem include self-worth, self-regard,
and self-respect.

Self-esteem tends to be lowest in childhood and increases during adolescence, as well as

adulthood, eventually reaching a fairly stable and enduring level. This makes self-esteem similar
to the stability of personality traits over time.
Why Self-Esteem Is Important
Self-esteem impacts your decision-making process, your relationships, your emotional health,
and your overall well-being. It also influences motivation, as people with a healthy, positive
view of themselves understand their potential and may feel inspired to take on new challenges.
People with healthy self-esteem:

 Have a firm understanding of their skills

 Are able to maintain healthy relationships with others because they have a healthy
relationship with themselves
 Have realistic and appropriate expectations of themselves and their abilities
 Understand their needs and are able to express them

People with low self-esteem tend to feel less sure of their abilities and may doubt their decision-
making process. They may not feel motivated to try novel things because they don’t believe
they're capable of reaching their goals. Those with low self-esteem may have issues with
relationships and expressing their needs. They may also experience low levels of confidence and
feel unlovable and unworthy.

People with overly high self-esteem may overestimate their skills and may feel entitled to
succeed, even without the abilities to back up their belief in themselves. They may struggle with
relationship issues and block themselves from self-improvement because they are so fixated on
seeing themselves as perfect.
Realizing and following the Importance of Self Esteem is not only imperative for your
professional growth but also your personal growth as well.

Self-esteem brings along the merits and benefits such as self-motivation, self-awareness,
confidence, efficiency, and deeper understanding of the subjects and aspects
of professionalism and life as a whole.

All of it results in the growth and success of personal as well as professional life. And this also
affects our self worth elevating it.

Conclusion

With all of the points as mentioned above of discussion, we can very well conclude that realizing
and following the Importance of Self Esteem is one of the crucial aspects of one’s individuality
and overall personality making you grow in your personal and professional lives.