We all have a blind spot. We all have areas in our lives that we just can’t see because we are too deeply involved in ourselves. Our ego and our familiarity with certain things can make us blind to what others might find to be obvious. This personal flaw can be very serious when we are competing in a high-stakes game or when we are trying to seriously improve ourselves.

This blind spot does not allow us to see our weaknesses. Often times our ego will not allow us to see ourselves in a clear way because by doing so it admits that we are less than perfect. Even when we constantly put ourselves down and exaggerate faults, it is often the case that these faults are not our real problem. The ego cannot see these faults so how could it possibly find them, at least the correct ones. Self bashing usually involves the bashing of minor eccentricities, real problems could never be faced by a self-deprecating ego because these faults are beyond the egotistical personalities grasp.

This personal blind spot is also responsible for not letting us see our strengths. We all have natural strengths, just like our faults we are able to slightly perceived these and can sometimes use them, but it usually takes someone else to point out what our true gifts really are. The more that we are able to use our strengths, the more that we will find success in everything that we try to achieve. It is therefore incredibly important that we try to find these merits as soon as possible.

The best way to get around this blind spot is to get feedback from individuals that you trust. These individuals should be honest, trusted, and considered by you to be intelligent enough to make positive appraisals. It is sometimes the case that people that we consider to be critics or enemies can give us very good evaluations because these people are not interested in trying to make us feel better and therefore will not ‘sugar coat’ their appraisals of us. If you can though, stick to getting advice from trusted friends because discovering your merits is as important as discovering your flaws.

When you discover this trusted individual(s), ask him/her for feedback. Tell them that you honestly need to know what they think and that they should forget about your ego because you are interested in their honest evaluations. At first these evaluations might hurt but eventually your confidence will improve as you are able to fix flaws and work on strengths because of this honest feedback. As you become more capable and understand the true value of honest feedback, your confidence will increase to the point where you will be in constant search of this honest evaluation.

The whole point of this honest evaluation is to make improvements on your weaknesses that stop you from using your strengths better. You will seldom find a successful person that is not constantly seeking these kinds of evaluations. Through these appraisals, they are able to discover things that others cannot because their ego will not let them see what is quite obvious to others.

We all have a blind spot. Some of us are able to overcome this blind spot by being able to understand the range of our ego, and to look at ourselves from outside this range. The best way to overcome the blind spot though is to have honest appraisals from people that you trust. With the help of these people you can overcome your weaknesses and finely honed your strengths. You can even begin to understand your ego and the boundaries of your ego, discover for yourself the reasons why it does not allow you to see certain things clearly. Self understanding is a continual process and can only be enhanced through honest appraisal by others.