Strengths and weaknesses generally refer to a person's

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

. Personal strengths are defined as positive character traits that include abilities, talents, skills, attributes and knowledge in which an individual exceeds. Weaknesses are the opposite of strengths, meaning they are defined as character traits that are poorly developed or negative. Weaknesses are used to describe the skill or ability of an individual in which they fail to complete the task or role more than once. In personal and professional environments, people tend to focus on using their strengths to boost and improve their performance or results, while they try to fix or minimize their weaknesses.

Identification

Most people know their strengths and weaknesses but are not fully aware of them or do not know all of them. To identify them there are multiple methods, but

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

is often the first approach. Asking friends, colleagues, or family members and writing them down will help with the identification of a person's strengths and weaknesses. Other methods are taking a strengths test or making a

self-reflection Self-reflection is the ability to witness and evaluate our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioural processes. In psychology, other terms used for this self-observation include 'reflective awareness', and 'reflective consciousness', which origi ...

In other cultures

Often a

strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals * Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...

can be a

weakness Weakness is a symptom of a number of different conditions. The causes are many and can be divided into conditions that have true or perceived muscle weakness. True muscle weakness is a primary symptom of a variety of skeletal muscle diseases, i ...

, and vice versa, a weakness can be a strength. In

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developmen ...

yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the c ...

(e.g., dark and light) are described as complementary opposites within a greater whole.

Identification

In other cultures

References

See also