Knowing Yourselves

Knowing yourselves means you understand who you are, what you like or dislike,
what your beliefs or opinions are, what is your background, what you are good
or bad at. It is important to know who you are.
Likes
Dislikes
Beliefs

Who
am I Opinions

Values
Background
 Beliefs Values
Likes
A belief is a sense of confidence Values are the principles or
It refers to the activities you enjoy
that something exists and is true, standards of action; your own
or love doing, for example,
with no particular evidence. For judgement about what is important
swimming, playing computer games,
example, belief in god in your life. They have a great
etc.
influence on a person’s behaviour
and attitude. They also serve as a
general guideline in all situations.
Some good values are honesty,
equality, community service, etc.

Dislike Opinions Background

These are activities you don’t enjoy It means the outlooks and This denotes a person’s experience,
or love doing like you may dislike judgements formed about training, and education. Background
people who mistreat their servants, something or someone, and this may may develop from the kind of
you may not enjoy studying maths. not necessarily be based on actual childhood, education, or family a
facts. For example, opinion about a person has.
person’s pet choice.
It is a set of behavioural or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognized as a
member of a group. It can emerge from a person’s citizenship, religion or caste. A person’s
identity is a total of his/her opinions, beliefs, values, likes , dislikes, religion, etc. it is important
to know who you are because only then you can measure your strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strength or ability is what you do well and are good at. Everyone has strengths. For example,
one person can be good at solving mathematical equations, another has good cooking skills,
etc.

Weaknesses, also known as “area for improvement” is what you don’t do well and what you are
not good at. Everyone has some weaknesses. For example, a person cannot draw well or panics
in a difficult situation etc.
 By understanding
ourselves we Using this
information we By improving
understand
realize how to ourselves, we
what/what not to
improve ourselves become more
do.
confident.

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses

To identify your strengths and weaknesses think about the activities you enjoy/dislike doing.

Find your strengths

Spend time thinking about what you do well.
Think about what you have always done well.
Think about what others appreciate about you.

Find your weaknesses

Identify areas where you have difficulty and things you find difficult to do.
Critically analyse the comments you receive about yourself from other people.
Be open to feedback and accept your weakness without feeling bad. Thinking of it as an area for improvement.
Difference between interests and abilities
Interests are the things we love to do. Interests could be:-
➢ Activities that you enjoy doing in your spare time that make you happy.
➢ Activities that interest you or you would even do if no one asked you.
➢ Activities you want to learn or want to do in the future.

Sometimes interests may not match abilities. In such cases , one can improve their
skills or go a different route. For example, you may like badminton(interest), but
you may not be good at the game. In such cases, it can be played just for a fun,
not aim for a badminton career.
Impressive appearance means having or tending to have a
strong effect on the mind or emotions, eliciting wonder or
admiration. Grooming is the process of giving oneself a neat
and clean appearance. Proper grooming and impressive
appearance can send a message that you are a confident and
a smart person. These two qualities reflect our preparedness to
handle the world around us. You give respect and care to
yourselves; others will also give importance to you.
 Importance of dressing appropriately, looking decent and positive body language

When one dress appropriately and keeps oneself neat, he/she conforms to
generally acceptable standards of respectable and descent looks. Dressing
appropriately, ‘looking descent and positive body language’ is important
because:
❖ It helps us look well-presented and clean.
❖ It gives a good impression on others
❖ It boosts self-confidence
❖ It speaks before your words
❖ It draws the right kind of attention and sends the right message.
 Personal grooming checklist
Following are some basic guidelines for personal grooming:
✓ Wear clean, neat and well-ironed clothes.
✓ Always wear clean socks and polish your shoes regularly.
✓ Avoid using flashy accessories.
✓ Brush your hair well.
✓ Get your hair cut regularly.
✓ Wash your face periodically.
✓ Boys should be clean shaven or have well-trimmed beards or
moustaches.
✓ Keep your nails trimmed.
It means to know one’s calibre by analysing
intellectual and spiritual capacities. It helps to
achieve the profession for life and goal of life by
developing a clear understanding of self-interests
and needs.
Formal learning means learning to develop skills from traditional educational
institutions like school or university. For example, knowledge gained through
classroom learning.
Informal learning can be defined as the method of learning from every day
activities. For example, learning during trips organised by schools to historical
places, learning during summer camps, inter or intra school competitions like
debate, etc.

Each type of learning whether formal/informal helps to acquire some skills. Out of
these skills, some may be preferred skills and may guide us shape our career. An
attitude of continuous learning helps us to update ourselves with the required skill
set that keeps changing with the time.
Career counsellor/computerized career information systems
They can help individual with information on tending courses that can
boost our career.

Self-reflection/inquiry
It can defined as a process of introspection where people discover
themselves by going through past experiences and observing patterns of
their own behaviour.

Feedback
The suggestive input given by peers, family and mentors on our action is
called feedback. It helps us identify our hidden talents and strengths.
A team is a group of people who work together to
achieve a common goal. Each team has goals to
achieve. The process of working together in a
group is teamwork. Everyone in the team plays an
important role. Each individual in the team is called
a team member. Each team member needs to
understand his/her role in the team.
➢There is no individual pressure to succeed because everyone has a role to play
in the team.
➢All members have a support system to help correct mistakes made by any team
member.
➢You feel good when the team succeeds and this helps to build your confidence.
➢Works get done faster.
➢Teamwork means collective effort, thus generating better results.
➢In team, you get to learn a lot from other. This is essential for your growth.
➢Team helps you to boost your confidence as when you are loosing your faith,
your team mates will motivates you to regain your confidence.
 Engage all
team members Ask about the
in Discuss often problems/
conversations, difficulties
ideas, etc

Help as much as Brainstorm to solve

you can problems quickly
Networking means getting to know people, staying in touch over time and using knowledge or skills to help each
other. The networking skills include two very important skills:
Listen in good faith :- shows the respect to others sayings
Ask thoughtful questions :- interested in the opinion of others and build trust in relationship.

Advantages of networking
• Networking helps to find trusted friends
• Sharing your expertise and skills can help a friend or neighbour to prepare for an interview.
• Makes it easy to seek help during difficult times, example:-can ask a friend to complete
School project or accompany to hospital for a medical test.
• It helps notify and be notified of new opportunities, example:- Ask your neighbour/parents’s
friends to help you find a part-time summer job at their workplace.
Develop networking skills
Explore both online and Communicate regularly
offline events for networking

Help others with your expertise Show interest in getting to know

too your contacts. Listen to them
patiently and share information
if required
Self-motivation is simply the motivation within you that drives you to do things. It drives us to
achieve our goals, makes us feel happy and improve the quality of our lives. Its our ability to do
what needs to be done without someone or something influencing us.

There are mainly two types of motivations:-

(i) Intrinsic/Internal Motivation
We do things that interest us and give us enjoyment. Eg:- Joyita loves to read novels. Inspite
of her busy schedules she takes 30 minutes every day to read a book.
(ii) Extrinsic/External Motivation
We do things because it gives us rewards like money, fame, etc. for example:- Rohan
practices playing chess every day because he wants to win the year-end chess championship.
Goal setting is very important factor in personal and professional life. The process of setting
goals in life helps to decide how to live life, where you want to be and what to be in future.

Goals can be related to several things like money, health, family, education, career, etc.

Goals are constantly changing. We meet old goals and then establish new goals to achieve.

Goals are a set of dreams with an achievable deadline, for example:- during the second covid
wave, many people arranged oxygen cylinders for the covid patients in their local areas.

Goal setting is finding and listing your goals and then planning how to achieve them. It helps to
focus, to succeed in career and personal life.
 Goal

Set Make Get

Stick Reach
to
goal plan to it Goal
work
Goals can be set using SMART model

S: SPECIFIC Define a clear, specific goal

M: MEASURABLE To ensure you can track progress.

A: ATTAINABLE Create a goal that is realistic

R: RELEVANT Ensure your goal that is realistic

T: TIME-BOUND Assign a target date to keep accountability

Time management is the ability to plan and control how you spend your
time well and do whatever you want. An example of good time
management skills is to finish your homework immediately after school so
that you can watch TV later or play with your friends.

Time management is a thinking skill that helps you:-

▪ Get things done on time
▪ Make a daily schedule
▪ Accurately estimate how long it will take to complete chores.
▪ Submit assignments and do homework before or on time.
▪ Don’t waste time postponing activities.
 Take breaks
Set goals Prioritize Set a time between
correctly wisely limit tasks

Take
breaks
between
tasks

Remove non Organize

Plan ahead essential
yourself
tasks