You know there are only 24 hours in any given day. You get to choose how you spend them. Of course, there are certain activities that you must fit into those 24 hours, sleep being one of them. But, in your waking hours, you get to choose how those hours will be spent. So, why not spend them dwelling on your strengths?
Suppose you spend an hour focusing on a weakness. This is one less hour you get to spend on a strength. It’s a concept known as opportunity costs. By making one choice, you forgo an opportunity. Therefore, it makes sense to spend the maximum number of hours available on your strengths.
Sometimes, it does make sense to spend time on weaknesses, especially if you are looking to make them strengths. This is considered improving yourself and should be looked upon in a positive light.
But, too often, people get hung up on their weaknesses to the point where they obsess. This is not healthy and it will make you lose self-confidence. Everyone has weaknesses.
Acknowledge those weaknesses, fix them where you can, but move onto your strengths.
By the same thinking that you can improve upon your weaknesses, you improve even further upon your strengths. This is not always possible, especially when you are already as good as you can get with something. But, for many strengths you possess, you can get even stronger with them. Everyone believed Billy Joel was an amazing piano player and then he took time off to get even better. Now, he is insanely good. He decided to do this after he worked with Ray Charles and felt he was inadequate in comparison to Ray.
Another way to focus on your strengths is to hook up with people who are better than you at those strengths. While these people may seem intimidating at first, you will naturally pick up aspects of those strengths just by being with them and trying to emulate what they are doing. Again, think about the Billy Joel/Ray Charles story described earlier.
Sometimes, you can bring old strengths back into the mix. Perhaps you changed careers earlier in life but you come across a situation where your old strengths can serve you.
Don’t be afraid to reintroduce those strengths into the new career. You never know just how helpful those skills can be in your current situation. It can also give you a new perspective by using past experiences.
openmind
http://www.realliferealfaithmagazine.net
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