Our Innate Qualities

Our Innate Qualities

"History is valuable as a guide to the future. It provides insights into the nature and potentials of various peoples, because both the innate qualities and the cultural characteristics of a people do not change easily or quickly."

- Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore National Day broadcast, 1969

We all have innate qualities that we are born with. Some of these qualities could be strengths that could determine how successful we are in our lives. There are also innate qualities that negative or bad, and they could lead us to our downfall if not properly held in check.

Therefore, knowing what our innate qualities are is very important. These qualities will always be there throughout our lives, and like what Mr Lee said, they are very difficult to change. If we know we have certain areas of strength, we'll need to reinforce and nurture them so that they become a fundamental part of our character. Once a person's character is formed, his responses become automatic and instinctive. He excels whenever those qualities are being put to practice. His innate qualities have become his "core competence", to use a corporate cliche.

The negative qualities are the ones that are difficult to deal with. They are problematic because we are usually not willing to admit that they are our weakness, simply because they are such a fundamental part of our nature. Now, if we are wise enough to identify our negative qualities, and strive to minimize or even eliminate them, then we will limit the damage that they could do.

In our daily interactions with people and in the course of doing our work, we will realize what our positive and negative innate qualities are. Filter out the bad and amplify the good. And start nurturing new positive qualities that could over time become an innate part of us too.

Go ahead, do a QA on yourself. If you know how to make use of your innate qualities, you will do certainly improve the quality of your life!