I asked 8 friends to tell me my strengths… What I heard back was a huge surprise.

Have you ever noticed how rarely people pay each other genuine compliments? The negativity out there about people outweighs the positive so often that hearing good things about yourself can seem like a breath of fresh air when it happens.

Thing is, this breath of fresh air that I just felt actually happened three years ago, when I had just started my company, Breather. But, it’s so powerful I think you should experience it yourself.

I’m pretty sure this was an exercise I found in a book somewhere. I wish I could tell you it was insight I got on my own — but it isn’t. In fact, I don’t even remember why I did this, other than straight curiosity.

The experiment below was so random, in fact, that I had never written down its results. But, lucky for me, I took screenshots of what I saw.

Here is the exercise: Ask 10 close friends exactly what they think of you. Specifically, ask them about your strengths.

About half the people you send a message to will kind of respond flippantly and with something super brief. Don’t take it personally when they do — they’re probably busy. Instead, respond by telling them theirs, at huge length. They will be massively flattered. Then, ask them for yours again, and this time, you can bet you’ll hear a mouthful.

Don’t worry about bugging people in the middle of the day. Keep asking until you get to 10 people. Some will reply with insanely insightful, rare compliments you probably have never heard before.

Here’s a tip: Try texting some super negative and some super positive people. The positive people will just totally make you glow, but even the more neutral people will probably give you something amazing to work with.

Have you tried doing this yet? I’ve been telling you to do it since up there ^^^

So why haven’t you?

In conclusion: I was told by some of Breather’s investors a few months ago that one of the rarest traits I had that they’d ever seen was my ability to be highly self-aware.

I didn’t recognize why this was valuable at first, but it’s now become clear to me that, in your professional life, it’s hugely valuable to be able to be both super confident and self-doubting at the exact same time — and that’s it extra-valuable in a founder/CEO.

So, if we presume this is true, and if you’d like to magically become more self-aware immediately, try this. I promise, you’ll be surprised by what you hear.