The Truth About Investing Time to Fix Your Weaknesses
The truth is you have more weaknesses than you have strengths. This is a fact. Moreover, you also have more talents that you have not maxed out by turning them into strengths, than you have strengths.
Ultimately, this means you are not a finished product. Therefore, one of the most important decisions you must make each day is how you will use your time to invest in personal growth.
- Do you invest in fixing your weaknesses?
- Do you invest in turning your talents into strengths?
- Or do you invest in strengthening your strengths?
By definition, a weakness is predicated on something you don’t enjoy. As a result, fixing a weakness takes a tremendous time investment. Investing time to get better at something you don’t enjoy is like running up a 5-mile mountain (i.e. Mount Everest) with a weighted rucksack on your back. Unquestionably, you’ll be better and stronger for doing it (if you survive), but you may only want to do it once in a lifetime.
On the other hand, something you do enjoy, but just isn’t one of your strengths yet, is a talent waiting to be developed. Investing time to turn a talent into a strength is often effortless. Spending time doing what you love and getting better at the same time is a win-win. It’s like riding a bike down a smooth slope. You could do it over and over with the right equipment and environment.
The same goes for strengthening a strength. This is the process of sharpening to go from good to great. Yes, it takes a tremendous time investment, but the pay-off for that effort multiplies.
Given that, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out how you want to spend the limited amount of time you have to invest in personal growth. Yes, there may be one or two weaknesses preventing you from reaching your goals. Particularly when there is a weakness in a fundamental skill. In these cases, you just can’t avoid learning how to manage those weaknesses. Other than that, don’t beat yourself up over the things you aren’t good at and don’t enjoy. Life is too short.
Simply stated, when you have limited time, focus on your talents and your strengths. Don’t let what you can’t do using your weakness stop you from what you can do using your talents and strengths.