Freak Factor
David Rendall provides 14 steps on how to overcome your weaknesses with one key factor in common: don't overcome your weaknesses. For most people (including me), this seems backwards, but Rendall contends that efforts to fix weaknesses often fail and the time is better spent building on strengths.
Unfortunately for Rendall, I disagree with him on just about every step. Like Step 3: Flawless - There's Nothing Wrong With You. In this "step", he states that every strength has a corresponding weakness, and vice versa. Adventurous people are usually irresponsible and realistic people are often negative. He then goes into different weaknesses, like addiction and dyslexia, and talks about the benefits gained from each one if you harness the power of the weakness and use it to your advantage. Where Rendall lost me on this one is when he talks about a drug addict who switched to being an Ironman Triathlon Addict. He talks about his road to recovery, how he started multiple non profit organizations to help other addicts, and how he didn't try and fix his addiction. The next sentence is, "he has lost everything again. he’s had cars repossessed and houses foreclosed and that is after becoming sober. his financial losses are due to his fanatical pursuit of the organization’s mission and he makes no apologies". Yeah, sounds like a great idea to me.
The next step, "Dont Try to Fix Your Weaknesses", lists reasons why you should ignore things you aren't good at.
It is slow. It is difficult to make progress in our areas of weakness. Its difficult to do anything worthwhile in life. Just because it's hard doesn't mean that people should ignore it. Working on a weakness might help you find other strengths that you can use to your advantage. For example, I used to be really bad at socializing with people I didn't know very well. I was awkward at small talk, so I realized the problem and battled it, forcing myself to be put in situations where it was required. Over time, I became much better at it. When I went to California for an internship, I was working with a very talented cinematographer. While we were setting up lighting equipment, I started up a small talk conversation that grew into a very intelligent discussion on DSLR cameras. He gave me advice on lenses, the name of a good website, and his business card in case I wanted to email him about any questions.
It is painful. We don't enjoy working on our weaknesses. And? I don't enjoy going to class every day, but I do because I believe a degree will help clear the path that I want to follow of thorns and branches. I don't enjoy these blogs but I do them because getting a good grade in the class will make things easier in the future. Sometime things suck, but the end result just might be worth it.
Step 6: "Focus: You Can't Do Both". Easily the most common excuse I hear. Focusing on strengths and weaknesses takes up too much time, effort, slows progress, is difficult, doesn't work, blah blah blah. Kind of like how you can't have a job and work on a project at the same time, you have to quit your job for it. You can work on both at the same time, you might just have to cut down on the three hours of television you watch every night or the time you spend reading these manifestos.
I found my weaknesses very early on in life by simple self reflection and listening to the constructive criticism of others. I am not a people person, I would prefer to sit in the back and make pizzas at Donatos instead of working up front with the customers. I am not a big reader either, and creating a good story involves analyzing the structure and content of other stories. I procrastinate very frequently, My weaknesses define me as a person, but if I work to eliminate them, I believe that will only make me better.
