“Work on your weaknesses.” While I am a firm believer of the statement above, I usually precede that statement with, “harness your strength.” Whatever it is that is your strength (and is a beneficial one), hone it so much that almost nobody does it better than you. A strength that you use so well that it almost makes you appear indispensable. The problem with most people is that they think the strength has to be something grand. I am a firm believer in building the grand from the little things.
They’re your weaknesses for a reason. Everyone is deficient at something. You cannot be proficient in everything. What you should be doing is work on your weaknesses so that they don’t impede your strength, then harness the heck out of that strength.
You must get to a stage of growth in life where you know what you are, and what you’re not.
My greatest strengths are my networking skills, recognising value in people, giving value, and my consistency. The first strength helps me to open doors that other people struggle to get into. I often say it jocularly that if I want you to be my friend or be part of my life, you can not escape my Cupid’s arrow. There is absolutely nobody I cannot talk to – whatever your age and social class. We will find a common ground. I was on the train last year and met someone who turned to be the CEO of a multinational company. We ended up speaking for over two hours of that train ride and till we got to our destination in town. It has gone beyond just a chance meeting as I’m mentoring his daughter now. The second strength helps me to build solid social capital. I’m one of those with a lot of friends and I honestly can say I do NOT have a single bad friend. Because I am very deliberate about who I let into my life, and who I let stay in it.
The third strength is closely related to the second. I have always been a giver in most of my friendships and the number one rule of getting value, is to give. Give without expecting much in return. I am not talking about money.If you keep giving value and you’re not getting back, then you’ve not been intentional about your relationships.The fourth strength helps me to achieve set goals. I have this mantra when I set put to achieve any goal – Putting in my best so that if it doesn’t go the way I was aiming for, I’ll know it was not a lack of effort on my part. It helps me to move on quickly. My weaknesses?I have a short attention span and I am very easily distracted. Because of this, I try to eliminate all forms of distractions especially when I want to achieve something. ALL notifications are off on all social media platforms. I check only if, and when I want to. This has helped me better with this weakness.I used to be very sensitive when I was younger, even with random people. I worked on my emotional intelligence abd I realised that I’m not responsible for how people act or what they say, but I’m definitely responsible for how I react. Now, unless you’re contributing positively to my life, hardly will your words or actions hurt me. Whether online or offline.
If you truly desire to be a better version of yourself, harness those strengths that are unique to you. Then work on your weaknesses so they don’t hinder your strength. You’ll finally be ready to unlock the best version of yourself!