KNOW YOURSELF FULLY

In the above figures, all the four quadrants have been shown in equal size just to begin with. In actual practice, the size of each quadrant differs from person to person. Those persons who analyze themselves on continuous basis and improve accordingly are able to increase the size of the first quadrant; those who do not do it are not able to increase it. Let us briefly discuss these quadrants.

1.Open. Open quadrant of one’s personality is that part about which the person concerned is aware but at the same time those who interact with him are also aware about it. In fact, it represents that part of personality which is used very frequently. For example, extroversion/introversion, openness/closeness, emotional maturity/immaturity, etc. are quite frequently known to self as well as to others.

2 Blind. This part of personality is not known to self but is known to others. For example, a person behaves in a particular way but he is not fully aware about why he has behaved in a particular way but others can point out the reason behind this particular behavior. This happens because a person copies behaviors of others either consciously or sub-consciously. His behavior is affected by both conscious and sub conscious minds but he can find out the reasons of an action based on his conscious mind while the action based sub-conscious mind is unexplainable.

3Hidden. Hidden quadrant of one’s personality is that part about which the person himself is aware about which the person himself is aware but others are not aware. This happens in two situations. first, the person uses that personality characteristics very rarely in his behavior pattern and, therefore, others cannot form exact opinion about this part of personality. Second, the person himself may try to hide this part of personality as people learn to hide many of their ideas and feeling right from childhood.

4.Unknown. Unknown quadrant of personality is unknown to the person concerned as well as to others in a given time frame. In fact, people’s qualities are like an iceberg. An iceberg floats on the water surface. Only its ten percent part is visible while remaining ninety percent part remains under water which is not visible. In a case of a person, what is seen above the person surface is only small part of the qualities. Large part of the qualities which is known as potential is hidden below the surface. Such qualities come on surface when a person faces a crisis which comes in the way of achieving his valued goals. A very small example: a person runs his fastest when a barking dog is behind him.

Based on the above discussion, you can assess your qualities. For doing this, divide your total qualities in two parts – technical qualities and behavioral qualities. So far your qualities falling in quadrant and 3 are concerned, you are fully aware about these and you can assess yourself on your own.
About qualities falling in quadrant 2, you are not fully aware about these. Therefore, you can take the help of your well-wishers who know you fully like you parents, trusted friends, etc. Assessing qualities falling in quadrant 4 is problematic. For this purpose, you can recall your experiences of handling crises and what you really did in those circumstances. For example, assess how much efforts you put in preparing yourself for examination. This will reveal how hard working you are in case situation demands.
You may have various qualities but not necessary in equal proportion. Some of your qualities may be out standing while some may not be of this level. Therefore, define the degree to which you possess various qualities. For this purpose, either you may use 3- point scale: very good (3) good (2), or average (1) or 5-point scale: outstanding (5) very good (4) good (3) and average (2) and below average (1). Whatever scale you use, use it for assessing all your qualities. This will make comparison among various qualities easy.

Since your technical and behavioral qualities are in various forms, identify all these forms. For example, your technical qualities may pertain your proficiency in different subjects that you might have studied at different levels of your education. You might be outstanding in some but not necessarily that much outstanding in others. Do not assess yourself simply on the basis of marks scored in examination but assess yourself in the light of your view. Have this type of exercise for various behavioral qualities as pointed out in chapter 2.
   

You can do this exercise in your mind or you can write your exercise on a piece of paper. Doing this exercise on a piece of paper is more desirable at the initial stage because when you award a particular grade to a particular quality possessed by you, you think more rationally before awarding the grade. When you do this exercise in your mind, you may tend to adopt a generalized approach and your assessment may not be as objective as you wish. When you undertake exercise of assessing your qualities and writing the result of this assessment on a piece of paper, it will look like the table given below.

In the table, only limited number of qualities has been presented. You can increase the number of qualities up to any level depending on your requirements. While assessing your various qualities, you have honesty of the highest order so that you have realistic assessment of yourself. Do not hesitate to award grade – 1(average) to a quality that you do not possess above this level. After all, you are doing this exercise for yourself and are not going to disclose its results to others so that they become aware about your shortcomings. This approach of assessing your qualities honestly will help you in two ways:

1.When you do this exercise honestly, you become aware about your shortcomings and you can take necessary steps to overcome these shortcomings. Remember: various qualities are not in-born but these are acquirable. You can acquire that by taking relevant steps.

2. When you are fully aware about your qualities, you can put your outstanding qualities as your strengths if a question is asked about this aspect (this is frequently asked in an interview).

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