Personal Plan: Reflection Essay

I was shocked at how closely my career interests and my results were matched. Previous to these career building plans we have been doing, I was almost entirely sure I had chosen the right degree to pursue. Now after doing these activities, they have helped solidify that my career choice is definitely appropriate for me, and it aligns with my skills and strengths as well. For instance; researching, is my second largest strength. I already knew that I loved to investigate and dig deeper into things, particularly human behaviors. Therefore, Psychology is the perfect major for me because it is aligned directly with my skills, strengths, and interests. I had never really put much thought into my strengths before, per-say. When I would consider strengths and competencies I would mostly think about general skills, like reading or math. I never considered such things as; adaptability or innovation, to be a skill. Now that this activity has put my certain strength into perspective, I think my results match up really well with my competency skills. I knew already that I was good at taking initiative and investigating situations but, it did surprise me however, to find out I did fairly well at adapting to change. I do not personally think I am fabulous at this particular skill, so having a visual aid to help add depth and meaning to each of my own personal strengths and competencies is wonderful. SMART goals are a very efficient way for me to break down my long-term goals into shorter, more specific and measurable ones. Using SMART goals as a part of my personal plan helps me set milestones to see what needs to be achieved; by what time, and in which order, so I can reach my ultimate goal. They have taught me how to use a rewards system for achieving my goals. This way, I am training myself to; work now and play later, so to speak. Exploring in depth what each of my competencies truly means, trying to recognize, and practice them to the best of my ability will help build on the skills I already have. For example: organization is one of my personal strengths, so when I catch myself in a situation where I am applying this skill, I will now try and recognize and build on it. Asking friends and family to point out certain strengths and weaknesses will also help me build on each skill because I will have, at that point, be made conscious to the fact that I am utilizing a certain strength. From there I can apply different strategies as to build on each skill, or lack thereof, and improve each one. I think it is important to focus on both your strengths and weaknesses. If you solely focus on your strengths, then you are not building on, or learning any new competencies. If you focus only on your weaknesses, it might start to have a negative effect on you and any progress you might be trying to make. I will personally be putting more effort into building up the competencies that I am currently weaker in than others. I clearly know now, what my ultimate strengths are and I can see where I have the ability to do some things more efficiently than others. So I feel it is important for me to work on both my strengths and weaknesses, just to pay extra attention to the things I am not fabulous at, and build on them. As well as recognize my strengths and how to exercise them to my fullest potential or ability.