Identify your blind spots

Identifying your own blind spots is an exercise in paradox, because if you’re aware of a problem, it doesn’t count. It’s like tracking the wind: You can’t observe the thing itself, only its effects. The tracks that a blind spot leaves are repetitive experiences that seem inexplicable, the things that make you exclaim, Why does this always happen to me?

 

Scientifically, blind spots refer to areas our eyes are not capable of seeing. In personal development terms, blind spots are things about ourselves we are unaware of. Discovering our blind spots help us discover our areas of improvement. One exercise I use to discover my blind spots is to identify all the things/events/people that trigger me in a day – trigger meaning making me feel annoyed/weird/affected. These represent my blind spots. It’s always fun to do the exercise because I discover new things about myself, even if I may already think I know my own blind spots (but then they wouldn’t be blind spots would they?). After that, I work on steps to address them.

As much as we try to improve, we will always have blind spots. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Some people to approach will be friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances, since they will have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively.

It is important to know your blindspots before you enter into a relationship because blindspots are usually the cause of accidents in  a relationship.  When you are in a relationship and one of your blindspots pop up from your partner, know how to deal with them without causing any harm to your partner. Remember our main goal in a relationship is to be the best partner. 

Here are some examples of blindspots:

• being ungrateful, learn just to say thanks even for the smallest thing
• controlling, learn to be submissive and not to be in control all the time
• always being late
• if you tend to talk too much or interrupt.