Listening and Empathy—I listed these together because those traits, at least in the way I want to display them go hand in hand. I can get ahead of myself when evaluating a situation and assume certain things about the individuals involved, sometimes being right and other times being wrong as I didn’t know all of the circumstances involved. Slowing down, listening, taking that extra second to evaluate and try to put myself in the shoes of the other individual would do me good in all areas of my life.
Wisdom—To me this is again taking a little more time to look at a situation before coming to a conclusion and also having the awareness that things and people are not always the sum of their face value. Inherently I want to believe someone, especially if I like them when I rush to take everything they say at face value I may miss the bigger picture. This isn’t to say that I want to become skeptical of people or distrusting but rather to grow in wisdom and discernment when looking at a situation.
Being Relational—Taking time for people is something that I’ve tried to do for many years but I want to become even better at it. I want to be so dedicated to people and learning about those around me that I rarely pass up an opportunity to be conversational. Overcoming the feelings of awkwardness in certain situations and just giving that simple “hello” or introducing myself.
Calm—By nature I am not a calm person, now that is an asset when there is a lot of energy needed and things to be done that require it. Then there are the times that I am far too intense for the situation. When I don’t have control of a situation then I tend to get even more intense trying to reclaim control when in reality I should get calm, evaluate and then decide on the best course of action. Just realizing that being calm is strength many times would be a great help for me.
Disciplined—In some things I am already disciplined but in the things that I can go without but would really be good for me I lack in the discipline to just get the done. Things like reading, writing, focused exercise and all of the little tasks I know would make me a better person but I’m doing okay without them, or at least that’s what I tell myself. I want to have the discipline to just get things done, not to think about them incessantly but to just make them happen.