List of strengths and weaknesses, with examples and how to find yours

Personal strengths are the things you do well and with energy, often without noticing, like staying calm, spotting details or making people feel welcome. Weaknesses are the things that cost you more effort than they cost others. Many weaknesses are a strength pushed too far: a patient person can be slow to act, and a decisive one can be impatient.

An example: on New Year's Day, Jonas opens a fresh notebook and writes two headings: my strengths and my weaknesses. The weakness column fills up in five minutes. Impatient, messy, bad at saying no, always late. The strengths column stays empty for half an hour. In the end he writes "good with computers", and even that sounds like his mother talking.

What is a personal strength?

A personal strength is something you do well, that you enjoy doing, and that you would do even if nobody asked. Three quick checks help you tell a real strength from a wish:

• It comes easily. You do it without planning or a push from anyone.
• It gives you energy. You feel better after it, not drained.
• Other people notice it. Friends ask you for it, or thank you for it.

A strength is different from a skill. A skill is something you learned, like driving, cooking or speaking French. A strength is closer to how you are, like patience, curiosity or calm. For a longer list of words for good character, each with a short meaning, see positive personality traits.

A list of strengths

Pick the ones that sound like you on an ordinary day, not on your best one.

• In relationships: listening, making people feel welcome, calming an argument, cheering people up, keeping in touch, reading the mood in a room, saying hard things kindly, loyalty, generosity, honesty.
• In your thinking: curiosity, spotting patterns, seeing the big picture, attention to detail, common sense, imagination, asking good questions, thinking ahead, an open mind, learning fast.
• In daily life: reliability, planning, finishing what you start, making decisions, fixing things with your hands, keeping things in order, patience, hard work, adapting when plans change.
• In hard moments: staying calm, humor, courage, hope, standing by your values, self-control, keeping your word.

Examples of personal strengths

A strength is easier to believe with an example.

• Calm in a crisis: "When something goes wrong, my friends call me first, because I don't panic."
• Resourceful: "I can open a nearly empty fridge and have dinner for six on the table in an hour."
• Attentive to people: "I remember birthdays, the name of my neighbor's dog and what someone told me three months ago."
• Thinking ahead: "When a plan falls apart, I usually have a second one ready."
• Eye for detail: "I notice when a picture on the wall hangs a little crooked."

If you write your own list, add a line like these to each word. People believe a strength you can show more than one you can only name.

A list of weaknesses

Weaknesses are easier to list, because they are the things that cause friction. Be honest, and keep them specific.

• In relationships: avoiding conflict, saying yes too often, holding grudges, being blunt, needing a lot of reassurance, keeping feelings to yourself, interrupting.
• In your thinking: overthinking, jumping to conclusions, getting bored fast, being too critical, missing details, losing sight of the big picture.
• In daily life: putting things off, losing track of time, messiness, sticking to a routine when it no longer works, taking on too much, giving up when a task gets dull.
• In hard moments: a short temper, expecting the worst, going quiet and shutting people out, needing to be right.

None of these make a person bad. Everyone has a few, and the people who seem to have none are usually just better at hiding them.

Strengths and weaknesses that come in pairs

A weakness is often the same quality as a strength, only turned up too high or used in the wrong place. Look at these pairs:

• Patient, and slow to act.
• Decisive, and impatient.
• Easygoing, and prone to putting things off.
• Organized, and stiff when plans change.
• Curious, and quick to start more than you finish.
• Honest, and blunt.
• Caring, and unable to say no.
• Thorough, and prone to overthinking.
• Independent, and hard to help.

So when you find a weakness on your list, look for the strength beside it. When you find a strength, ask where it tips over. Getting rid of a weakness completely would often cost you the strength too. It is more useful to notice the moment your strength starts to work against you. A strong personality is a good example: the firmness that helps in a crisis can look stubborn at a family dinner. Being indecisive works the same way, since the care that slows a choice down also stops many rash ones.

Strengths and weaknesses of each personality type

People of the same personality type tend to share strengths, and they tend to stumble in the same places. These are the 16 types in Typeza, in the order of the types page, with one typical strength and one typical struggle each.

• Ideator: full of new ideas and quick to see where things are heading; struggles to finish once the exciting part is over.
• Harmonizer: makes people feel at home and settles quarrels; struggles to face a needed confrontation.
• Vitalizer: lifts the mood and brings people together; struggles to stop giving before they run out.
• Analyst: thinks with unusual clarity and holds to principles; struggles to show feelings and can seem cold.
• Mentor: inspires people and sees their potential; struggles with routine tasks and can overwhelm others.
• Inspector: completely reliable and catches the mistakes others miss; struggles when rules do not fit the situation.
• Commander: acts fast and stays steady in a crisis; struggles with impatience and bluntness that hurts.
• Dreamer: senses what is coming and makes a trusted confidant; struggles to turn understanding into action.
• Diplomat: lives fully in the moment and wins people over; struggles to stay with a long-term goal.
• Strategist: sees consequences early and thinks things through; struggles to move from thinking to doing.
• Entrepreneur: sees the path to a goal and gets things moving; struggles not to push too hard.
• Guardian: reads people's character well and protects the people they love; struggles to forgive and to trust new people.
• Organizer: gets things done properly and helps in practical ways; struggles to change a method that has always worked.
• Counselor: picks up on feelings others miss and makes people feel safe; struggles not to absorb other people's moods.
• Encourager: sees hidden potential in people and links them up; struggles to stay with one thing to the end.
• Craftsman: has real practical skill and an eye for quality; struggles to talk about feelings.

Often the strength and the struggle are the same thing seen from two sides. The Ideator who loves new ideas finds old ones dull. The Inspector who keeps the rules finds it hard to bend them.

How to identify your strengths

Your strengths are easy to miss, because they feel ordinary to you. These steps bring them out.

1. Notice what people ask you for. What they keep asking for is something you do well.
2. Notice what you lose track of time doing. Hours that pass like minutes point to something that suits you.
3. Notice what annoys you in others. If sloppy work drives you mad, you are probably careful. If slow talkers make you restless, you are probably quick.
4. Look back at moments you felt proud. Pick three, and ask what you did in each one. The same quality often turns up in all three.
5. Ask three people. Ask a friend, a family member and someone newer in your life what they think you are good at. How to describe yourself has a simple way to compare their answers with yours.
6. Read your weakness list again. Each weakness points to a strength beside it.

What to do with your weaknesses

Some weaknesses are worth working on, like a temper that hurts people you love. Many others are easier to plan around than to fix.

• Make a small rule. If you say yes too often, never answer a request on the spot. Say "let me check and get back to you."
• Lean on other people's strengths. A dreamer and a planner make a good team on a holiday. Let each do the part that comes easily.
• Watch the tipping point. If your honesty turns blunt when you are tired, save hard talks for the morning.

Start both columns from your type

Jonas's empty column is a common problem. Strengths are hard to spot from the inside because they feel normal to you. A personality type gives you a starting list. The free personality test puts two statements side by side, and you pick the one that fits better. Your result gives the type name and a link to its profile, with lists of what the type does well and what trips it up. Use those two lists as a first draft of both columns, then cross out whatever does not sound like you. Seeing your type does not require an account.

Curious how your strengths mesh with someone else's? Send them the same test through your result. When they finish, the relationship type you form is there for both of you to read.

Questions people ask

What are some examples of personal strengths?

Staying calm in a crisis, listening well, keeping your word, thinking ahead, noticing details, making people laugh and learning fast are all personal strengths. They count most when you can point to a moment that shows them.

How do I find out my strengths?

Notice what people ask you for, what you lose track of time doing and what you felt proud of. Then ask a few people who know you well what they think you are good at.

What are some weaknesses?

Common weaknesses include putting things off, impatience, saying yes too often, overthinking, a short temper, bluntness and getting bored fast. Many of them are a strength pushed too far.

Can a weakness be a strength?

Often, yes. Stubbornness is persistence in the wrong place, and worry is care for the future turned up too high. The same quality can help you in one situation and hold you back in another.

Written by Virko Kask, founder of Typeza
Written with the help of AI tools.