As we reach the end of the year, it’s often a time for self-reflection. Time for an assessment of what went well, what could have gone better, and what to focus on in the coming year.

In the last month or so I’ve done a bunch of self-assessment tests around personality type, values and strengths. I even explored my ‘dark side’! Among the profiles I looked at were the Myers Briggs, Talent Dynamics, Enneagram and Values matrix.

We so often focus on what we don’t do well and beat ourselves up over it. How about figuring out where we excel and celebrating that instead?

The resulting feel-good experience can have a positive knock-on effect on the other areas of our lives. Or it can even convince us to seek help and support with our weaker areas so we can spend more time operating in our unique zone of genius, providing the world with what we do best.

For example, my testing confirmed that I’m an introvert and someone who enjoys improving systems and processes. I’m creative but I also have a preference for operating behind the scenes rather than being in the limelight (yes, ironic for a singer!)

So, keeping up with people on Social Media and posting all my good news every day isn’t one of my strong points. I find it very draining.

Now that I know it (and I kind of did already but it’s always great to have it confirmed) I can decide how to proceed. Do I assign more time to connecting with people online and force myself to make it a priority?

Or, can I seek help and support in this area, perhaps by finding a Virtual Assistant or family member to help me out?

Or maybe I could focus on just one main Social Media channel rather than a handful, and close the others down?

Decisions, decisions!

What is YOUR zone of genius? What do you enjoy and do well at without needing to try too hard?

And on the flip side, where do you struggle? What could you hand over to someone else? Is there an area of your life where you would benefit from reducing or minimising your time commitment, thus freeing yourself up to focus on what you do best? I’d love to hear some of your answers.

Personality profiling isn’t for everyone but I think it’s a useful tool that can tell us more about ourselves, and even shine a light on areas we’ve been ignoring.

I write more about this and how personality profiling can help with your public speaking, in my book “How to be a DIVA at public speaking’. Find out more here: www.sholakaye.com/divabook