Part I: Personal SWOT Analysis
If you’re feeling confused about your career or unsure about what to do next or how to leverage your strength - this is for you!
👋🏾 Hey, it’s Wamide. Welcome to another issue of OnGrowth&, a bi-monthly newsletter on career growth, leadership, and personal development.
Here’s something we often overlook: work and life are deeply connected. The more aligned you feel in your career, the more fulfilled you’ll be in other areas of your life. So your life and career deserve daily wins, not just occasional milestones.
Over the last three years, I’ve worked with countless professionals - people who felt stuck, wished they were doing something else, or longed for more meaningful work. Many of them believed their talent was being wasted, until they found clarity through our conversation.
If you’re struggling to figure out your path, know that it’s okay to feel uncertain. Career clarity doesn’t always happen overnight, and that’s completely normal.
But here’s the truth: Clarity comes from doing, not just thinking.
For example: You don’t learn to drive a car by sitting in a classroom or wishing you could drive. You learn by actually driving.
No matter where you are in your career - starting out, mid-career, or even at a senior level - if you’re feeling lost or doubting whether you have what it takes, I want you to hear this:
You already have most of the skills you think you’re missing.
Let me share why I believe this so deeply.
When I returned to work after my three-month maternity leave in 2021, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dissatisfaction. I wasn’t excited to start my day, to leave for work in the morning, and at work, I constantly questioned my relevance, skills, and competence.
I knew I needed a change - but I didn’t want just any job. I wanted something intentional and with freedom. The problem? I wasn’t sure what exactly that was.
Instead of staying stuck in fear and self-doubt, I did something different (I had changed careers a few times, but I wasn’t always so intentional).
I did a personal SWOT analysis - an honest assessment of my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. By the time I was done, I had absolute clarity on what I wanted next. In fact, I turned down offers from two major companies because they weren’t aligned with the best way I wanted to use my skills.
I leveraged my network and successfully landed a remote role in less than 3 months. Seven months in, I was building my own team. Two years in, I became a VP.
How to Identify Your Strengths
I’ve always loved building and so I started being intentional about finding roles that align with that. Here’s the kicker: a major part of why I landed my current job was because of what I was already doing - building a social enterprise community.
A personal SWOT analysis is a powerful tool to help you set career goals, reflect on your strengths, and spot exciting opportunities that align with your interests.
Today, we’ll go over some key questions to help you uncover your strengths.
Ask yourself:
What comes naturally to you or feels effortless?
What feedback have you consistently received from bosses, coworkers, classmates or friends about what you do well?
What accomplishments are you most proud of, and why?
What challenges have you faced recently, and how did you solve them?
What responsibilities do people often rely on you for, inside or outside of work?
Remember: Your strengths aren’t just your formal work skills. They include your natural talents, your school experience, your volunteer work, and the projects you’ve built just for fun. All of these add to what makes you unique.
But Strengths Are Just One Piece of the Puzzle
Understanding your strengths is an important first step, but a complete SWOT analysis also involves identifying your weaknesses, spotting opportunities, and acknowledging threats. I’ll dive deeper into these in my next newsletters, so stay tuned!
And remember - see beyond your current struggles. Visualize your desired outcome and take intentional steps toward the future you want.
🛎️ Call To Action
If you want to go deeper, I created a Personal SWOT Analysis Template to help you map all of this in one place, including 5 more questions and bonus prompts to help you spot patterns and take action. Get the template here.
No matter where you are - stuck, pivoting, or building - this tool can help you find clarity and direction. I used it myself in Q1, and it gave me so much clarity on my creator journey.
Bonus: I’ll randomly pick one buyer to gift a free career clarity session.
Thank you