The 3rd “thought on
life” that John Maxwell shared with us at Catalyst Dallas:
In abilities, work on
your strengths,
In matters of choice, work on your weaknesses.
Although this is
becoming a more popular thought in self-improvement, this is counter-intuitive
for most of us. Going through school I
was always taught to get better at the things at which I am not good. Maxwell makes a pretty compelling argument of
why that is not necessarily the best option.
In abilities, work on
your strengths.
In things that it takes
a natural ability to ever be a master, you should work on your strengths. If you rate yourself a 2 (out of 10) in something,
then (unless you are the exception) you will probably never be an 8, 9, or
10. However, if you are naturally a 5 or
6 at something, then over time, with practice and learning, you can become a 9
or 10.
And of course if I know I am weak in a certain area, I am going to
try to add someone to my team that is stronger in that area, to make up for my
weaknesses.
Also, if it is something I am passionate about, my level of
ability will not stop me from working on it for my own enjoyment. I am still
determined that one day I will play the guitar even though I can’t change
chords and strum at the same time. I also enjoy playing recreational racquetball
and volleyball, I will probably never be better than a “B” player, but I enjoy
these things and they are for my personal fulfillment.
In matters of choice,
work on your weaknesses.
In things at which you
can choose to be better, work on your weakness.
Maxwell’s examples were Attitude and Discipline. In both of these areas, with determination
and focus you can go from a 1 to a 10.
IF I have a bad attitude or a lack of self-discipline, then over time
with learning and practice I can become a 10.
We can choose to put different behaviors into our lives that will help
us develop these things and go from bad to Great.
As someone who has wrestled with self-discipline most of my life,
I was greatly encouraged by this for one reason: IT IS TRUE. With help and some coaching I am turning my lack
of discipline around. I have always had
just enough discipline to get by, but never enough to excel. As an example I
look at my low High School GPA, 2.35 (inflated by several credits of band and
other electives that were always A’s).
It was just enough to scrape by and graduate. With work and help I have become much better
and am still improving daily.
What are your thoughts/reactions to this? Do you know of an exception? In matters of
abilities do you spend more time on your strengths or your weaknesses? Do you
have a way of working on your weakness in the matters of choice category? How many of you have someone who intentionally
helps improve your life?
