Our strength grows out of our weaknesses. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Something that has always intimidated me from starting something new has always been a deep worry about my shortcomings. I know that I have weaknesses, and I’m afraid they’ll lead to my failure.
I’ve learned in recent years, however, that those weaknesses can be turned into strengths with a very simple tool: the right mindset.
I’m not talking just about the power of positive thinking (which I think is a great tool for anything) but about figuring out ways in which weaknesses can actually be strengths. If you develop the mindset that weaknesses aren’t really weaknesses, you’ve just broken through your limitations and fears.
For example, for the longest time, I was no good at sustaining something for very long, at achieving any kind of long-term success. I was good at short-term projects, but I couldn’t keep anything going for long. So I found two ways to make this work in my favor:
- I became the master of the quick turnaround. Someone needs a job done? I’ll do it in a day or two. Any job that takes longer than that is broken down into smaller jobs — and I take them on one at a time, rather than as a group of intimidating and overwhelming projects. I can do amazing work in short bursts — and that’s an awesome strength.
- I learned to focus on baby steps. For some goals, you need to sustain something for a long time — running a marathon is a good example. But if I focused on one step at a time, and made each step a major success, I could achieve a lot over time with little baby steps. Instead of worrying about an entire marathon training program (usually takes 3-4 months), I focus on one day at a time or one week at the most. And I celebrate my successes as though I completed the entire program.
Weaknesses as a Writer
A fear of not having mastered the novel form of writing also stopped me from trying to make it as a writer with a larger audience. I didn’t have experience in the larger world of journalism either (I’ve only written for small newspapers and magazines), so I never tried to make it with larger publications. For the longest time, these weaknesses held me back as a writer — I didn’t know how to write a novel and I don’t have a lot of big-time experience.
But then I discovered blogging, and suddenly my weaknesses were strengths: I could write blog posts about topics I knew about, in an honest way, rather than taking on the novel (which I will master someday). And my lack of experience actually helps — I’m just a regular guy going through things like everyone else, learning as I go — and my experiences as a learner help others learn as well. My weaknesses are strengths.
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