Stop Focusing On The Things You’re Bad At
Most people get told at some point early on in their career that “they aren’t good at (fill in the blank).” Then for better or worse, they spend the rest of their life trying to prove they’re better at… that… thing. I hate to say it, but you’re wasting your time.
Granted, this isn’t to say you can go through life ignoring the other qualities needed to be a good entrepreneur, employee, teacher, citizen, etc… It’s important to build up a set of broad basic skills that allow you to hold your own no matter what the task. But when it comes to deciding where to focus your energy, your time, your thoughts, well, this is where most of us get it wrong.
I played basketball for over 18 years of my life so forgive me for the ole sports analogy. But if you’ve ever played, you probably spent a majority of practices improving your all-around skills… a couple Mikan drills, time at the shooting gun, defensive slides, and pick up games. Yet, when we had extra time to focus on our individual abilities I often found myself trying to improve the area where I was the weakest. Yes, to improve my skills, but let’s be honest, it was mostly due to proving that the (fill in the blank) comment wasn’t true. But so what if it was?
Little did I know, I was choosing to be marginally better in an area, that generally stressed me out, over being great at something I was naturally gifted in. There are so many of us exerting extra energy, choosing the wrong tasks, focusing on the wrong things just to subconsciously prove something.
When every person starts focusing on their strengths it becomes increasingly easy to identify the skills needed to excel as a team. Making it very clear what and who to hire. If you want to personally be great or have a great team, start by understanding your strengths.
I’m not entirely sure where this idea of focusing on your weaknesses came from, but what I know for sure is… it’s really stupid advice. Know your weaknesses but most of all, focus on your strengths. You’ll not only have a much better career, but you’ll also be much happier while doing so.
