Personal SWOT analysis examples: how to achieve your goals

If a company wants to expand its workforce, enter a new market, or set quarterly objectives, it first assesses the risks and benefits of these goals. To do so, the organization may perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This strategic approach is crucial for corporate goal-setting and planning. However, you can conduct one for yourself by following personal SWOT analysis examples.

A personal SWOT analysis helps you look critically at the skills and strengths you bring to the workplace. At the same time, it identifies weaknesses and informs strategies for how to improve your performance. The analysis isn’t limited to your career. Its flexible framework means you can leverage it in all areas of life. 

A personal SWOT analysis can be especially helpful when making strategic career moves, changing jobs, or working toward a promotion. With the right mindset and approach, you can conduct a personal SWOT analysis to help you set goals and achieve them. 

What’s a personal SWOT analysis?

A personal SWOT analysis is a self-assessment and personal development tool that outlines your professional strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for career growth, and threats to your success. Conducting a SWOT analysis is helpful when setting goals for self improvement. Additionally, it can aid you in finding what you’re good at and identifying creative ways to better utilize your strengths. 

Such insight offers a clear picture of where you already excel, weaknesses you can improve, and opportunities that may lead to success. You might use it to inform your five-year plan or even a plan for long-term goals within your 10-year plan. However, the process is only effective if done correctly.

To perform a SWOT assessment, you use a SWOT analysis template to designate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats into quadrants. When complete, your SWOT analysis can help you make decisions and determine how to better yourself.

Pro tip: You can use a personal SWOT analysis on all areas of your life. Implement the same template format and tips for personal goals related to relationships, family, health, and other life goals.

How to conduct a personal SWOT analysis

External Factors

Start by creating a SWOT analysis template. You can make one yourself or use a premade template. Ensure the SWOT analysis template has four quadrants, with one for each SWOT section. Ideally, you list your strengths and weaknesses in the top two quadrants, with opportunities and threats in the lower two. 

The four-quadrant SWOT matrix makes it easy to connect items across categories. Here is a breakdown of how you might match strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for optimal results:

• SO (strengths-opportunities): Explore how you can use your strengths to take advantage of opportunities.

• ST (strengths-threats): Brainstorm how you can implement your strengths to overcome or avoid threats. 

• WO (weaknesses-opportunities): Consider how new opportunities can reduce or resolve your weaknesses.

• WT (weaknesses-threats): Plan for how you can minimize weaknesses to avoid threats. 

Once you have the SWOT analysis template ready, it’s time for honest self-reflection. Maintaining an open mind is crucial as you list threats and weaknesses, even if it feels uncomfortable. Lean into your humility and self-awareness to uncover answers without self-serving biases. For your analysis to be effective, strive to be honest with yourself. 

A paper published by ResearchGate recommended setting SMART goals before doing the analysis. Use these goals to guide how you think about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in relation to achieving your objectives. In doing so, you ensure the analysis aligns with your goals. 

That said, you may be working to overcome insecurities or imposter syndrome at work. Avoid downplaying your strengths, and be sure you give yourself the credit you deserve. Trying to balance your strengths and weaknesses as an unbalanced assessment can be demotivating and disheartening, and it can lead to self-sabotage.

To help you create a balanced and effective SWOT analysis, here’s how to fill out each of the four quadrants. 

Think about your strengths

Kick off your SWOT analysis by listing your strengths. Doing so can help you begin the process with a positive mindset, which may boost your self-image. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What am I naturally good at?
• What accomplishments am I most proud of?
• Which characteristic allows me to do my best work?
• What advantages do I have that not everyone has?
• What would my boss or coworkers say are my strengths?
• What achievements (education, skills, etc.) set me apart from my colleagues?
• What connections or resources do I have that can help me achieve my goals?

Include strengths related to natural talent, work experience, and hard and soft skills. Try to note a variety of strengths since any of your proficiencies could be the key to your success.

Review your weaknesses

Now it’s time to examine your weaknesses. Everyone has areas for improvement, and it’s important to be transparent with yourself. Remember, it might feel uncomfortable to document your weaknesses on an external template, and that’s OK. 

Write down the areas where you have room for improvement, the bad habits you want to ditch, and anything else that might prevent you from being your best self at work. To help guide your self-reflection, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Which of my habits prevent me from doing my best work?
• What are the gaps in my education, training, or skills?
• What challenges me? What are the skills needed to overcome these challenges?
• Which skills do I want to improve?
• What do I avoid because I lack confidence?
• If I think about a time when I “messed up” at work, what did I do? 
• What are others likely to see as my weaknesses?

Based on your observations, you can make lifestyle changes that will help lead to your success. This exercise can also help you answer questions like “What are your weaknesses?” in a job interview.

Name opportunities for you

So far, you’ve focused on improving your work performance. Now, broaden your scope and look at career opportunities. 

Consider potential growth within your industry, company, and current position. The goal is to determine how well-poised you are for the career growth you want. To help you identify next steps in your career path, ask yourself questions like these:

• What’s the current state of my industry? Is it growing?
• What new technology could help me achieve my professional goals?
• How could my network help me take the next step?
• Which new skills can I acquire to increase my value as an employee?
• Are there professional moves (like a career change or lateral shift) that would help me reach my goals more efficiently? 
• How can I elevate my current level of visibility at my company?

Don’t be afraid to consider stretch goals, too. These are long-term objectives that can help you find purpose, set healthy goals, and create new habits.  

Pro tip: When thinking about professional development opportunities, look at external factors and opportunities you can create. Identify ways you can advocate for your career objectives. Knowing the kind of opportunities you’re looking for can also help you find the right company during an interview.

Identify threats to your goal

Finally, address the potential threats that could get in the way of meeting your goals. These include external factors like an unstable economy or competition from coworkers. Threats also capture internal struggles such as bad habits or a lack of the right skill set. Start by asking yourself questions like: 

• Who’s my workplace competition?
• Is my industry changing direction?
• Do technological advancements threaten my position?
• Could any of my weaknesses jeopardize my career success?
• What’s the current state of the economy?
• What is the risk of not embracing my strengths and developing the skills outlined in my weakness quadrant? 

Now that your personal SWOT analysis is complete, it’s time to put your results into action.

Put SWOT results into action

Completing a personal SWOT analysis is the first step in taking strides in your personal and professional growth. When implementing the results, if you have several areas you want to focus on, prioritize them first. You can rank them based on timeliness, personal importance, duration, or any other marker that feels appropriate. 

Once you have a good understanding of where to start, use these tips to turn your analysis into measurable results:

• Develop an action plan. After pinpointing your objective, create a step-by-step plan for approaching it. Using the SMART goal method can be helpful. Also, consider who in your network you can ask for support or guidance. Your action plan should also include a realistic timeline and a system for measuring progress. 
• Maintain an openness to adjusting the plan. You might find that one approach works better than another. If this happens, it’s OK to change course. At the same time, your career and life goals may change. No matter what shifts occur, make sure you live a life that is authentic.

Pro tip: Consider pairing items from different quadrants, such as connecting a strength with an opportunity, threat, or weakness. For example, you might leverage strong public speaking skills with the chance to speak at an industry conference and increase your company’s reputation. This way you’re using one of your strengths to make an identified opportunity a reality.

Personal SWOT analysis examples for every category 

A SWOT analysis is a helpful guideline for strategic career planning, personal development, and self-improvement. Here are several personal SWOT analysis examples for each quadrant to help you understand how to complete this self-assessment.

Strengths

• I’m a creative thinker, which helps me solve problems for my team in original and effective ways.
• I work well under pressure and in a fast-paced environment. 
• I’ve earned an advanced degree, demonstrating my willingness to work hard and enhance my expertise in my career field.
• I’m organized and detail-oriented.
• I'm skilled at time management.
• I’m personable and friendly, and I’ve built an extensive network of friends and colleagues in my industry. 
• I’m resourceful and always try to solve issues before turning to coworkers or managers. 
• I ask detailed questions, which means I receive valuable and informative responses. This also shows the listener that I care about what they have to say.

Weaknesses

• I sometimes lack the willpower to complete my projects on time, leading to procrastination and rushed work. 
• I’m often late to work because I lose track of time or oversleep. 
• I have room to improve my communication skills, including asking for help. 
• I previously had issues with a difficult coworker, and the disagreement made higher-ups see us both negatively.
• I might not have as much AI technology experience as another applicant applying for the same position. 
• I’m often too shy to speak up during team meetings.
• I have public speaking anxiety, and this causes me to turn down valuable opportunities to share my expertise.

Opportunities

• My company isn’t reaching a critical market at the moment. I could draft a proposal to increase our visibility, which would make a great impression on my boss.
• Technology advances like ChatGPT and other AI tools could help me become more productive at work. 
• I could contact one of my mentors for career advice or a recommendation for the position I’m applying for. 
• I could take an online course to build my skill set during my free time. 
• I could work with a career coach to improve my interviewing skills before I apply for a new position.

Threats

• As technology advances, my position may require more education or specialization. 
• My colleagues often receive praise for completing their projects ahead of time.
• AI programs might make my job obsolete, so I should prepare for a career change if necessary.
• My industry is growing rapidly, and new talent from college is always joining the company, increasing my competition. 
• Industry shifts make layoffs a reality, and I work in a department that is more likely to be impacted first.

Benefits of a personal SWOT analysis

A personal SWOT analysis is a flexible framework you can apply to any area of your life. It helps you create a step-by-step approach to accomplishing your goals, along with a host of other benefits such as:

• Strong understanding of your strengths and weaknesses: By identifying your strengths and weaknesses, you can find creative strategies to use your current skills to think outside the box and improve your weaknesses. 
• Improving your sense of self: To have a complete picture of yourself, it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses. This self-discovery also ensures you choose goals and strategies that align with your personal values.
• A growth mindset: This means that you’re always open to constructive criticism and learning new skills. It’s a positive mindset that means you view obstacles as growth opportunities instead of overwhelming setbacks. 
• Ongoing career and personal development: Upward movement in your career requires you to learn new abilities. A SWOT analysis helps shine a spotlight on areas where these opportunities for career and personal growth live.
• Resilience when faced with challenges: Striving for ambitious goals almost always involves challenges. Knowing this and implementing a growth mindset can help you build resilience when facing hurdles.

A personal SWOT analysis invites you to identify what makes your life fulfilling and can even help you find the self-confidence to pursue it. 

An impactful personal SWOT analysis ensures growth

A personal SWOT analysis is an excellent tool for setting professional development goals. Whether you’re a new graduate starting your career, a seasoned professional climbing the ladder, or a team member looking to make a big change, this assessment helps define your path forward. 

When it comes to achieving your life and career goals, don’t hesitate to ask for support. BetterUp Coaches are skilled with the knowledge and resources to aid in your growth. All you have to do is take the first step.