Summer selfie: A seasonal self-review can help you assess, inspire

Using a personal self-review to find solutions to some of your problems — answering your emails each morning when you wake up, spending 30 minutes

of daily exercise to help maintain your weight, taking guitar lessons to help alleviate some of your stress — may be less complicated than you think. In many ways, reaching those goals can only be accomplished after you do an honest appraisal of your current situation. To help get you there, author John Putzier offers three tips for a strong selfassessment:

1. Measure the good and bad:

Create a balance chart by simply drawing a line down the center of the page and labeling one side with a plus sign and the other with a minus sign. Write down the things you’ve done well on the plus side and those areas where you’ve fallen short on the other. Accomplishments don’t have to be ground-breaking. Something as simple as “Stopped eating fast-food for lunch every day” could be one. “Paid bills on time” could be another. On the flipside, negatives can be “inconsistent sleep” or “watch too much TV.”

2. Step outside yourself: If you’re writing a self-evaluation for work, you’d use the perspective of a client or co-worker. When you’re evaluating your personal life, use the perspective of family members and friends. Are you pulling your weight at home by doing a fair amount of housework? Are you available to others when they need help?

3. Question everything: Again, Putzier suggests modifying work-related criteria by asking the following questions:

• To what degree have I added value to others?

• To what degree have I been easy to live with?

• To what degree have I done more than what’s expected?