Here’s the truth: you can’t be good at everything. No matter how wonderful you think you are, we all are only humans at the end of the day. We have our strengths, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that we do come with our own share of weaknesses.
They say, to err is to human. And this is absolutely true. No human being on the planet is perfect. Yes, from a distance, someone might look an archetype of being perfect, but that is only until you know the person up close. The fact is, we don’t live in a perfect world. In fact, we are surrounded by flaws so much that it almost seems absolutely normal to have a few of them.
In this imperfect world that we all belong to, we don’t have silver hair or abs of steel. We’re just people with a bunch of weaknesses. However, to succeed in life, you do need to be better than most other beings. It’s not about being flawless, but more about having a few flaws as compared to others. But, how do you that? How do you turn your weaknesses into strengths? Let’s find out.
The whole pursuit of human beings is to better than most other people. Naturally, they work their way towards it, eliminating a lot of their apparent weaknesses in the way. But, we raise the question: why do you need to ‘change’ yourself in order to eliminate your weaknesses? Why can’t all of us just embrace the people we are, with all our strengths and weaknesses? In fact, when you embrace your weaknesses, you become more accepting of yourself. That, in turn, boosts your morale. Following are a few ways in which you can turn your weaknesses into strengths. Take a look:
#1. Embrace Your Weaknesses
Like we said earlier, we’re all flawed beings. Besides, change is difficult- extremely difficult. The best way to get the most out of your weaknesses is to embrace them wholeheartedly. Another thing that is worth noting here is the fact that you can only solve a problem when you know that the problem exists. Similarly, unless you accept that you have a particular weakness, neither can you embrace it nor can you work towards turning it into your strength. So, accepting and embracing your weaknesses is really the first thing you should do.
(Image Courtesy: Medium)
If there is one factor that you think is a weakness, you can first start by acknowledging it. For instance, say overcommitment is your weakness. Now, while it helps you sometimes, it can become a huge problem later on. So, you need to know not to overcommit. However, that would only be possible when you know that overcommitment is your weakness. Do you get the point yet?
#2. Every Weakness Has A Corresponding Strength
This one is straight out of psychology books. Psychologists believe that on an average, every individual has three major flaws that define his characteristics. For instance, your three major flaws might be being disorganized, being stubborn, and being shy. These three traits essentially define you as a person. But, experts believe that for each of these weaknesses, there is one corresponding strength.
In this case, the strength of being disorganized is that you can be extremely creative. Similarly, being stubborn and shy means that you can be extremely dedicated and reflective at the same time. This is what scientists call a corresponding strength. It is the ability to say that the glass is half full. So, what you need to learn from this is that for all your flaws, there are a lot of corresponding strengths. All you need to do is to first identify your weaknesses and then work towards turning them into strengths.
#3. Unrealized Strengths
Just like you need to realize your weaknesses and embrace them, it is extremely crucial that you realize previously unrealized strengths. A lot of people aren’t even aware of their full potential until they really try to discover themselves completely. Scientists believe that human beings are capable of things previously unimagined of. But, the only thing that pulls them back is the fact that they aren’t themselves aware of their full capabilities.
For instance, do you know if you’re scared of heights? Why are you afraid of skydiving? Only because it seems dangerous? The point here is, you need to discover yourself at every opportunity. What if there is an Olympic level swimmer in you and you only need to overcome your fear of water to unleash the beast in you? It’s all being familiar with yourself, both inside out. The more you discover yourself, you’ll be surprised to see that you can do things that you never thought you could. That is a great way of finding new strengths to overcome your weaknesses.
(Image Courtesy: Yahoo Sports)
#4. Get Good Enough
We’re putting this point here with a very special purpose. The rate at which the world is evolving and with the advancements that are being made in the field of technology, you always need to adapt to the changing times. Today, it is good to be a jack of all and master of none. More and more employers want people who can play multiple roles. Besides, in the future, there would be a need for people who can quickly adapt to everything.
So, the point is, you don’t have to be the absolute best at anything. You just need to have a sound knowledge on everything. You need to be competent enough in filling out multiple roles. While you may be weak in one of them, you should just try to get good enough for it. Don’t run after perfection because that is unachievable. But, getting good at something is absolutely doable.
#5. Hiring Skills You Can’t Master
If you’re an entrepreneur or an employer, we can tell you that sooner or later, you’re going to need specialized people do the job for you. Like we pointed out before, it is impossible for someone to do everything. But, you can always get people to work for you who can help you in an area that you’re not very good at. Every company does that. Apple did that when they got John Scully, who infamously decided to kick Steve Jobs out of his own company!
So, get good people to work for you. Success is a team phenomenon, and you can get individuals with different skill sets to collaborate in a productive way. Additionally, having good people working for you makes your life a lot easier and gives you time to address other weak areas of your personality.
(Image Courtesy: Fast Company)
#6. Guidance
We’ve emphasized this fact a lot of times before, that having a mentor in life is the best thing you can do. Guidance can take you a long way. Besides, it sometimes can be extremely difficult for an individual to know about all his flaws. A third person can help you in identifying your weaknesses. We’re never the best judge of ourselves anyway.
(Image Courtesy: Jamie)
The best people that can teach a few things about life are the ones that constantly undermine you. These people might occur to you as enemies, but they are your truest friends. People who constantly criticize you often bring out the best in you. These are the people who can effectively help you in identifying your weaknesses so that you can later turn them into one of your biggest strengths.
So there you have it. Your weakness is a part of who you are and tells a lot about you. Most of the times, it isn’t required to change yourself to fix a weakness. You can continue being the person you are and just embrace your flaws. Have you ever turned your weaknesses into strengths? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.
(Featured Image Courtesy: Success Magazine)
10 Opinions
9 Opinions
