Annual self-analysis is essential to effective marketing of personal services, as is annual inventory in merchandising. In addition, the annual analysis should reveal a decrease in defects and an increase in virtues. We move forward, we stop or we go backwards in life. Of course, we have to move forward. The annual self-analysis will reveal whether progress has been made and, if so, to what extent. It will also disclose any backward steps you may have taken. Effective marketing of personal services requires progress even if progress is slow.
Your annual self-analysis should be done at the end of each year, so that you can include in your New Year's resolutions any improvements that , according to the analysis, should be made. Take this inventory by asking yourself the following questions and verifying your answers with someone who will not allow you to be wrong about their accuracy.
Self-Assessment Questionnaire for 'personal inventory
Did I achieve the goal I set for myself for this year? (You should work with a set yearly goal to achieve as part of your primary life goal.)
Did I provide the best quality service I was capable of, or could I have improved a part of this service?
Have I rendered the service in the greatest possible quantity of which I was capable?
Has the spirit of my conduct always been harmonious and cooperative?
Have I allowed the habit of procrastination to diminish my effectiveness, and if so, by how much?
Have I improved my personality, and if so, in what ways?
Have I I persisted in following my plans until the end?
Did I make decisions quickly and definitively on all occasions?
Did I allow one or more of the six basic fears [poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love of someone, old age, death] decrease my effectiveness?
Have I been “over-cautious” or “under-cautious”?
Has my relationship with my associates at work she is pleasant or unpleasant? If it was unpleasant, was the fault partly or entirely mine?
Did I dissipate some of my energy through lack of concentration of effort?
Have I been open-minded and tolerant of all things?
How have I improved my ability to render service?
Have I been intemperate in any of my habits?
Have I expressed, overtly or covertly, any form of selfishness?
Has my conduct towards my associates been such as to cause them to respect me?
Have my opinions and decisions been based on guesswork or on the accuracy of analysis and reflection?
Have I made a habit of budgeting my time, expenses and income, and have been conservative in these budgets?
How much time did I spend on unprofitable efforts that I could have put to better use?
How can I reschedule my time and change my habits in order to to be more efficient during the next year?
Have I been guilty of conduct not approved by my conscience?
In what ways have I rendered more and better service than I was paid to render ?
Have I been unfair to anyone, and if so, in what way?
If I had been the purchaser of my own services during the year, would I be satisfied with my purchase?
Am I in the right vocation and if not, why not?
Is the buyer of my services satisfied with the service I rendered and if not, why not?
What is my current grade on the Fundamentals of Success? (Make this assessment honestly and frankly, and have it verified by someone who has the courage to do it accurately.)
Excerpt from THINK AND GROW RICH:The Complete Original Plus Bonus Material (A GPS Guide to Life)Copyright © 2019 by Napoleon Hill and reproduced with permission from St. Martin’s Press.
