"motivation" essay 1: Candid Description Essay: Candid description of yourself, strengths and weaknesses, factors which have influenced your personal development. (Maximum 500 words)

Question 1 Give a candid description of yourself,
stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses
and the main factors which have influenced your personal development,
giving examples when necessary. (500 words maximum)

I believe the old saying “You can judge a person by the company they keep” to be pretty accurate. I believe that the support and guidance of my family, friends and teachers throughout my life has shaped me into the responsible, ambitious and empathetic person I am today, and helped form the strong values I try to live up to.

I enjoy talking to new people and although I can sometimes be a little reserved at first, I have an easy-going personality and a positive outlook, which helps me put people at ease. I am also an avid listener, which helps to build relationships quickly, in both professional and social settings.

Work has played a big part in my personal development. At Widgets.com, I manage people much more experienced than myself, and I have learned how to inspire and guide others which, despite my youth, resulted in me earning the respect and support of my colleagues. Working in a project management environment has also enhanced other characteristics of such as my analytical side, meaning I am always thinking in pro and cons, risks and possible outcomes before taking decision. Creativity, another of my strengths, has been valuable when facing challenging situations which require outside the box solutions. Finally, determination keeps me pursuing a goal despite problems that may arise. Sometimes it is hard to switch off the Project Manager in me, but I am glad that it combines well with my personality, making me an organised and reliable leader and collaborator.

I am also well aware of my weaknesses, such as my impatience and anxiety for solving every problem that I encounter as soon as possible. I have struggled with not being able to settle every issue instantly; in the widgets industry, many problems require long-term solutions, while new problems keep appearing. Over the years, I have learned how focusing on root causes can solve most problems efficiently, and I remind myself that sometimes results may take a while to appear. If the efforts are pointed in the right direction, the issues will resolve eventually, even if they were not what I expected. I will learn from it and get better next time.

Above all, what inspires and drives me is the need to make the best out of the opportunities that I have gotten. I am grateful for my family’s constant support. Until just two generations ago, my grandparents were small farmers in isolated villages, hundreds of miles from the nearest town. Although though they did not have much, they did what they could to give my parents every chance to have a better life, and my parents did the exact same thing for me and my three siblings. I know that they are very proud of what we have achieved, but not surprised: they always told us that the sky is the limit. I want to wake up every day knowing that I am doing my best to fulfil their expectations, hence I am applying for the INSEAD MBA.