I feel like my top three traits all go together – being independent goes hand in hand with being self-motivated to me – as opposed to being motivated by other people. I googled “working independently” to see what came up, yes, being an independent worker essentially tells the employer you can “take initiative and complete tasks without constant supervision”.

So I guess it’s good self-management that includes, according to Google search results, “choosing your own tasks, managing your own workload and priorities, seeking solutions to problems on your own, and proactively communicating your progress without needing someone else to check in on you”, “taking the initiative rather than waiting to be told what to do; Doing what is asked to the best of your ability, without the need for external prodding, and working until the job is completed; Learning to work at a pace that you can sustain; Taking ownership of your mistakes without looking for excuses”. So you should be self-motivated, have initiative, organize and manage your time and work well, be able to problem solve as well as communicate well, for example, when you need help.

I think that’s a much better description of being independent, which was trait #1, but includes self-motivated and self-reliant. So I’m going to call trait #2 tenacious. Googling that, I come up with “not giving up on something challenging” – okay, a good thing in general, but I guess necessary for challenging things.

Hmmm. I need to think more about what I’ve been tenacious about. I’ll save that for tomorrow.