“While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them.”

If you’ve heard this before, it may mean several things. Maybe you’re meeting with a psychologist, a minister, a dear friend, a psychic, or some other authority figure. They mean well, but can’t seem to get past the label of weaknesses, so try to make up for that by generously offering that sometimes you can compensate for the weaknesses they’ve diagnosed you with.

If you’ve heard this and start to believe it, then run!

While it’s great to get reflections from others, your ultimate authority is within yourself. Starting to believe that others can see deeply into your psyche and prescribe what’s best for you can lead to the slippery slope of distrusting your own observations. It can lead to handing over your responsibility to some so-called ailment which is only an incomplete label.

See for yourself if whoever said that to you also said some of the things in this entire Forer Effect or Barnum Effect statement: Read the Amazingly Accurate Personality Evaluation on this site or Read the statement on Wikipedia