Introduction – Analyze

So what can you really ACHIEVE?

So now you know what you want, this lesson will help you to work out what you can actually achieve.

At the end of this Lesson, you will:

• Be able to list your strengths and weaknesses.
• Be able to list opportunities for and threats to achieving your goals.

What can you really achieve?

Hypothetically, you can achieve anything you set out to achieve – but we know that’s not always the case.

Resources, natural skill, and ability, time – these all factor into whether we can achieve something or not. The aim of goal setting is to set achievable goals, even if that means taking a larger goal or dream and breaking it down into bite-size chunks.

A tool you can use to help identify what is achievable is the SWOT Analysis – that is, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

A personal SWOT Analysis is a look at you and your life. The SWOT analysis will help you identify the most beneficial goals worth pursuing right now based on your current situation, and to identify goals that will help you prepare for the future.

For the purposes of goal setting, it is useful to perform a SWOT analysis on each of the life aspects you ranked as most important as it will help you identify where you need to improve, and therefore help you set goals to make these improvements.

More importantly, though, the SWOT analysis allows you to identify your internal strengths that you can capitalize on to seize your opportunities and thwart any external threats.

How to do a SWOT Analysis

A template for a personal SWOT Analysis is attached.

To undertake a personal SWOT analysis, for the life aspect you’re considering, ask yourself the following questions – just write down everything you can think of in each category whether you think it’s really relevant or not.

The next step is to take this ‘brainstormed’ information and gain some real insight from your results:

Strengths:

• What are your abilities, skills, and talents in this area?
• Do you have any special knowledge in this area?
• What resources do you have that support this strength?
• Who can you ask for advice, support, or help?
• What is already working well in this area?
• What personal behavioral traits do you have that are strengths in this area?

Weaknesses:

• What are your main limitations in this area?
• What skills/abilities are needed in this area that you don’t have?
• Are there any resources (money, time, help) that you don’t have that you really need?
• What is not working in this area right now?
• What personal behavioral traits do you have that are weaknesses in this area?

Opportunities:

• What opportunities (dreams, wishes, goals) have you been considering in this area?
• What could you improve in this area for you? List as many ‘goals’ as you can – which one or two will have the most impact on your life?
• How can you take advantage of your strengths to pursue these?
• Do you have any weaknesses that may impede these goals?
• What major change(s) do you need in your life to improve in this area?
• Are there any special tools that you can use or develop to help?

Threats:

• What external threats (changes to income, events, etc.) could affect you negatively? How could these affect you?
• Are you facing any risks in this area if you continue along your current path? What are they – list them all.
• What could happen if these risks took place?
• What obstacles or roadblocks are in your way?
• Do any of your weaknesses increase the level of these threats or impact in any way?
• What strengths do you have that could help you to reduce the identified threat(s)?

For each life aspect, identify key strengths that will ultimately help you achieve your goals. Not all of your strengths will help you achieve your goals – you may be a brilliant guitar player, but this probably won’t help you get fit!

You also need to identify which of your weaknesses are likely to get in the way of your achievements. Again, not all weaknesses will jeopardize your ability to achieve goals, but you need to identify which ones matter for you and your ability to succeed.

Activity 

Get Started! Do your personal SWOT analysis now! Use the questions as a prompt, and write down everything you think of.

Once you’ve got it all down, stand back and take a look at the result. What’s missing? What are the recurring ideas? Where are the connections between the life aspects? Are there any other life aspects that are more or less apparent after this process?

Now grab a highlighter and highlight the key items in each category. The outcome you want from the SWOT analysis for each life aspect is a shortlist of:

• What opportunities are best for you to pursue?
• What internal strengths you can use to enhance your pursuit of these opportunities?
• What threats do you need to eliminate/minimize?
• What internal strengths you can use to overcome these threats?
• What strengths you should consider making stronger to further enhance your ability to pursue your goals?
• What weaknesses do you need to improve on, or manage so that they don’t impede your goal setting?

For each life aspect, you should come up with a list of 2-3 key items for each of the above. This is your current SWOT and should be revisited from time to time as your situation changes, and forms a starting point for your goal setting.

Downloadable: swotanalysis.pdf

Lesson Review:

You should now know

• Your personal strengths and weaknesses and which ones are important to your ability to achieve your goals.
• What strengths you lever off to succeed
• What weaknesses are going to hold you back and how can you fix these.
• What opportunities are best for you to pursue right now.