Tag: Strength

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT Analysis is a planning and brainstorming tool for analyzing a person’s or an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths. It considers the internal factors and the external factors that can positively or negatively affect our ability to achieve our goals. It also helps us to focus on the strengths, minimize the threats and make use of the opportunities to the fullest. It is a much-needed one to develop plans for future growth.

S – STRENGTHS

Strengths describe what an organization or a person excels at. They are internal, positive attributes of a person or a company. These attributes could be handled by oneself and kept within one’s control.

W – WEAKNESSES

Weaknesses stop an organization or a person from giving their best at its optimum level. They are negative factors that detract from your strengths. These are things that one might need to improve on to be competitive.

O – OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities are openings or chances that help one for something positive to happen. They are external factors in your business environment or career that are likely to contribute to your success.

T – THREATS

Threats are anything that can negatively affect your business or career from the outside. They are external factors that you have no control over. You may want to consider having a plan B for dealing with them if they occur.

EXAMPLE SWOT OF A POPULAR PERSONALITY 

I would like to explain SWOT analysis more clearly by citing the SWOT of a famous personality. It will become easier to analyse the self SWOT if we read a few real-life examples. So, here is one such example – the SWOT of Mr. Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, and CEO of OYO. He is a great inspiration for many, especially for the younger generation. Being a college dropout, this young entrepreneur never fails to motivate the youth through his untiring attitude. Below are a few of his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that he analysed as he emerged as a budding entrepreneur.

STRENGTHS

  • He had big dreams of starting a business since childhood as he was not interested to take over the family business or work as an employer of any company.
  • He had a great interest in Computer Programming and developed the efficiency of creating a web application by himself.
  • He had the perseverance of doing what he dreamt of despite not having family support.
  • Self-efficacy – He believed in himself and his capabilities more than anything.
  • Being committed and passionate about work.

WEAKNESSES

  • He had no confidence in his studies.
  • Lack of innovation for improving the growth.
  • Concentrating on space rather than improvising the brand.
  • Lack of conceptual clarity.
  • Over hiring of employers.

OPPORTUNITIES

  • His young age and popularity gained him attention and opportunities.
  • His unique approach that gained him success.
  • Growing demand and no international competitors at that time.
  • His idea of providing budget accommodation to people.

THREATS

  • Convincing Venture Capitalists to start the initial investments.
  • He kept the parent company at stake which he might have lost in case of failures.
  • Growing concerns about safe stay at OYO rooms and hotels especially, for the women.
  • Increasing competition in the flouring market.

Whatever may be the strengths and weaknesses, the ability to convert the threats to opportunities determines the real strength of a person. 

SUMMARY

  • Take advantage of the Opportunities through its Strengths.
  • Stay strong against the Threats through its Strengths.
  • Improve Weaknesses by taking advantage of Opportunities.
  • Work to eliminate Weaknesses to avoid Threats.

How to build resilience

Photo by Andres Ayrton on Pexels.com

Community resilience is always a characteristic of human communities, but what about you? When you turn your lens inward, how resilient are you?

So – we need each other to get through this strange, unsettling time. But, what about you? When you turn your lens inward, how resilient are you? Resilience is something that we are born with. Because of resilience, we learn to crawl, then walk, then run until we can finally skip and dance. Sometimes, however, our resilience muscle needs to bulk up. Here are a few tips for building individual resilience in times of stress.

1. Be Self- Compassionate

Resilience allows you to bounce back from a challenge. The first step is to recognize that what you’re experiencing is challenging. Give yourself permission to say, “This is hard.” “This is scary.” “I’m really worried.” Next, remind yourself that it’s ok to feel the way you feel. Now take a deep breath and remind yourself that this is a moment in time and for this moment, you will allow yourself to feel.

2. Be Flexible

When life doesn’t go as planned, flexibility allows us to form a “Plan B”.  As you go about your new normal, you’ll probably experience moments of deep frustration. These are the times that flexibility is most important. Allow yourself to relax previously held standards that don’t make sense in the present. Apply your creativity to solve problems that crop up. Adapt your responses to others with an awareness of their own level of stress. Flexibility will help you navigate whatever lies ahead.

3. Reframe Frustrations

Resilience has a lot to do with your mindset. People who are able to detect good, even in difficult situations, tend to be more resilient. For example, when kids are together all day long, there are bound to be disagreements and tears. The silver lining is that there is now time and opportunity to teach kids how to solve problems. You’ll not only have time to teach this, but kids will have time to practice these skills. So, when you bump up against a frustration, reframe it so that you can see the positive aspects of the situation.

4. Exercise

There are three types of human energy – emotional, mental, and physical energy. And physical energy is the most important. When physically drained, we’re more emotionally reactive, our thinking is clouded and our judgement is impaired. Exercise builds physical energy. Take time in your day to exercise even if you’re not used to exercising.  A simple walk around your neighborhood or a park will shore up your physical energy, allowing you to apply emotional and mental energy to the stressors that you’ll encounter during the day.

5. Sleep

Brain cells are cleansed and recharged during sleep. Sleep deprivation will slow down cognitive function and increases emotional reactivity. Binge-watching Netflix into the wee hours may be a good way to escape reality for a while. However, lack of sleep will reduce your ability to be resilient at a time when resilience is essential. So, set a schedule that includes time for relaxing before sleep. High quality sleep will sustain the energy you’ll need to be resilient every day.

I hope these tips help you.

Thank you.

Can You Give Up?

“You can do it. Just a little more effort. You’re almost there. You’re the hero. I know you have it in you. You can’t give up.”

Well, here’s some newsflash for you. You can give up.

Be it movies, songs, books, everyone’s pushing the protagonist to do a thing which is clearly out of their scope. They may not have the physical or mental strength to do the thing but we still expect them to. It doesn’t matter whether you want to do that thing or whether it’s actually for a greater good. You just have to do it. You cannot give up. Because giving up is for losers. And the hero cannot be a loser, right? Or it’s the opposite? A loser cannot be a hero?

Shah Rukh Khan’s character from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was a scrawny guy who tried to fight with a samurai. Since they are selling their movie to you and it’s ‘the SRK’, obviously he’s going to win that fight. But think about this. You are up against some buffy wrestler let alone a professional sumo wrestler. Do you think you stand a teensy bit chance? You have your answer right there.

Provided this whole notion of not giving up works on some people, but it’s warping the minds of others. Most people cause some irreversible damage while not giving up. And more often than not, this damage is to them. I am not saying giving up is a good thing. But it’s not a bad thing either. Don’t you think, it would be nice to have an option of giving up, backing down from doing a particular thing when it is clearly out of our reach, and not be judged for it?

give up

Most of you might not know this but there is a Disney movie Moana whose scene would be apt in a situation like this. When Moana confesses she couldn’t defeat the villain, Te Fiti, her Grandma clearly says that it is not Moana’s fault. She states that the burden is too much for her granddaughter and that she would be with her even if Moana wants to go back home.

Moana did end up defeating Te Fiti in the end. But that wasn’t because someone pushed her to do that. Instead, she realized her power and strength on her own. This just shows that even if you don’t have enough strength to do something, you are not a loser. What matters is you gave your best. And there will be people who’re there for you, supporting you even when you get defeated in life because it’s not your fault. It was just too much burden.

Or a more relatable example would be Aamir Khan’s character in 3 Idiots who fought against all odds to study not because someone was pushing or cheering him but because he himself wanted to do that.

Having said all that, I’m not against actually working hard. But the focus remains on working hard because you yourself want to achieve something. What I’m saying is we should all try to find our inner voice and be happy with whatever outcome there is to our situations.