On Weakness Assessment

Sometime ago, F. Stream and I did strength/weakness analysis for each other. The feedbacks I got are not only insightful, but also right-to-the-point.

This is hardly surprising: we have known each other since ECE202 in Purdue and were roommates/housemates for quite sometime, he really knows the nuances of my characters.

Without concerning the possible embarrassment I may subject to, I will publish the list of my weaknesses:

1) Too caught up in your own world. Some times, people may be following their own conscience and their own code of conduct as well. Try to put yourself in other people's situation to understand what they are going through and what options they may have. What may be bad against you, can be just what is a rational choice to others. In such situation, you should show some understanding and plan your own response accordingly.

2) More active attitude toward life. Need a little bit of passion in work and life. Now that you have developed good listening skills and measured response skills, you can contribute more to your work and your life. Develop a passion to see things done, to change the situation into a better one. You only live life once, what are you going to do to make it more meaningful to you? You don't have to be a great hero or inventor... improve on the little things in life. Maybe you wanna improve your coding skills? Architecture skills? software processes? Social development (charity work, eg.)? Self improvement? Cook a new dish? Girlfriend?

3) Take Risk, Relax and enjoy life. Engineers usually have this problem: spend money on bare necessity and live 'efficiently'. I was like that too. But I realized that, some times, it's good to take a break, enjoy life, let your mind relax. Sometimes, even be willing to spend some money to do the things you like. Explore the things that you are poor in doing. Experiment with life. You might discover hidden talents or develop a healthy habit. Who knows? Take some risks, live an adventure.

All the above points are very valid (especially #1, and #3), and I am planning a mitigation plan for now. I expect the outcome to be an amalgam of my personal reasonings and the inputs I have got so far. In other words, I will scan, examine, analyse, consolidate, and re-program my own self accordingly. :)

My sincere thanks to F. Stream and all my friends who are kind enough to point out my weaknesseses. I understand how hard it is to write down such thing and I highly appreciate the inputs.

However, I fully realize my weaknesses are not limited to the three mentioned above, talking of self-improvement! :P