WHAT IS THE PERSONAL DOFA MATRIX AND HOW IS IT DONE? - DUDAS

The Matrix Personal SWOT or SWOT or SWOT (for short) is a technique applied business planning within the personal sphere. In this technique, the D (weaknesses), O (opportunities), F (strengths) and A (threats) of people are analyzed on the path to achieving their individual goals.

The SWOT matrix can be applied for the use of individual people, especially for workers or people who want to develop personally or professionally. It has an analogous purpose, that is, it allows individuals to better understand their reality to undertake strategies that help them achieve their personal goals.

Personal SWOT analysis scheme or personal SWOT

Within the business environment, the SWOT matrix is a tool that allows identifying important aspects of organizations and their environment. It is essential to decide if a business is viable; specifically, the threats that exist present or in the future, the strengths of the business, the weaknesses and the opportunities that exist not exploited are analyzed.

Thanks to this matrix, it is possible to know the state of the companies and implement appropriate decisions and strategies according to that knowledge.

Components of the personal SWOT matrix

The SWOT matrix is based on the exploration of four components, which in turn are classified into two groups: the internal analysis components and the external analysis components.

Internal analisis

Internal analysis refers to the personal characteristics that determine an individual's success. This includes the negative aspects represented in the Weaknesses and the positive aspects represented in the Strengths.

External analysis

External analysis looks at the external issues that can influence a person's success or failure.

It addresses the negative aspects represented in the Threats and the positive aspects represented in the Opportunities.

Example

We can briefly exemplify this by using as an individual a high school student who wants to pass his final exam in history of philosophy.

Within the internal analysis of the student, we find their memory Strength, but their low motivation to study this subject as Weakness.

Regarding the external analysis, it is detected that the main Opportunity is that it is a multiple choice type, so using your memory you have more options to pass, but as a Threat that, since it is very ambiguous concepts, it can be very difficult to interpret any questions.

How to prepare the personal SWOT matrix?

The first step in developing your personal SWOT matrix is setting a specific goal. Otherwise, the matrix result can be quite general and will not help with decision making.

Once the personal goal has been established, the next step is to analyze the four components of the matrix:

- Weaknesses

The analysis of weaknesses focuses on all those internal characteristics that keep the person from reaching their goals. Faults, fears, and knowledge or skills that the individual needs to develop must be taken into account.

Consistent with this analysis, each individual will be able to propose actions and strategies aimed at transforming their weaknesses for the benefit of their objectives.

This includes working on intimate issues like laziness or a lack of organization, as well as intellectual issues like training in a specific discipline.

For example, a young man who aspires to enter a university career must know his weaknesses as part of the selection process for his profession. In this case, knowing your flaws can help you rule out options or focus on corrective actions.

This analysis should include personal flaws such as shyness and lack of academic skills, such as limited interest in reading. This would allow you to rule out, for example, a career in journalism.

- Strengths

The strengths analysis focuses on the internal characteristics that can contribute to the achievement of the proposed objectives. In this case, personality qualities are taken into account as well as technical knowledge and skills.

Thanks to this analysis, it is possible that the individual can focus on objectives according to their own abilities and preferences. This includes identifying personal qualities such as perseverance or tolerance, as well as technical talents and specific knowledge.

This knowledge will provide you with the necessary security for the development of your projects and will allow you to take controlled risks. That is, taking risks in those activities in which you know you will be more easily successful.

For example, the young man who is choosing a career must analyze his strengths to choose the path to follow.

This analysis will allow you to recognize personal qualities such as creativity as well as skills and knowledge such as mathematical reasoning. In this case, this student should be leaning toward a career such as architecture or graphic design.

- Threats

Threat analysis focuses on external characteristics that can negatively affect the achievement of personal goals. In this case, all external conditions must be taken into account, including the social, political and family issues that surround it.

This analysis allows the individual to delve into the various situations that threaten their goals and establish concrete actions that allow them to face them in the best possible way.

Continuing with the example of the young man, among the threats can be found the fact that in his city there are no universities that offer the degree he wishes to study.

Faced with this situation, their efforts should be directed towards finding other options: either by profession or from universities elsewhere.

- Opportunities

The analysis of the opportunities focuses on the external issues that favor the achievement of the proposed objectives.

In this case, both the particular benefits that are received from a given situation and the general benefits that arise in the general social sphere must be taken into account.

Thanks to the recognition of positive external factors, it is possible to take actions that take advantage of external conditions. For example, if the applicant for a university career has the financial support of her family, she can make decisions according to this opportunity.

In this case, you will know that you may choose a private university or even aspire to study in another country.

Advantages of the personal SWOT matrix

The personal SWOT matrix has several advantages for the individual development of human beings. These advantages are mainly related to the possibility of systematizing individual analysis.

All people generally know their defects and qualities, as well as the threats and opportunities that the environment poses. However, they usually do not do a thorough analysis of this information.

By expressing this knowledge graphically through the SWOT matrix, it is possible to better understand reality itself.

Weaknesses can be weighed against strengths and it can be found which of those flaws are more troublesome and therefore require more attention.

Likewise, it is possible to compare opportunities with threats. This analysis can help you discover what opportunities can help you overcome negative environmental conditions.

Consequently, this systematic and visual analysis allows individuals to develop a higher level of knowledge of themselves and their environment. Which, finally, helps to make decisions adjusted to the needs and expectations of each person.

References

Herman, M. (2017). Creating a Personal SWOT Analysis. Recovered from: executivesecretary.com
Martin, M. (2015). Conducting a Personal SWOT Analysis for Your Career. Recovered from: businessnewsdaily.com
Martinez, I. (SF). How to do a Personal SWOT - Example and Template. Recovered from: ivanmb.com
Mind Tools. (SF). Personal SWOT Analysis. Recovered from: mindtools.com
Skills you need. (SF). Personal SWOT Analysis. Recovered from: skillsyouneed.com.

WHAT IS THE PERSONAL DOFA MATRIX AND HOW IS IT DONE? - DUDAS - 2025