Focus on Your Strengths, Not Your Weaknesses

Author: Curtis George Norton Jr.
July 12, 2019

Everybody has desires, or wants, and at least an idle wish to attain them. Therefore, everyone desires success or achievement in something, even if their particular wants might seem very basic to someone who is highly motivated towards loftier goals. (Even being idle can be a goal!)
Most people have goals that are broad and vague or non-specific. These might include things like “I just want to be happy” or “I just want to be rich”. As we meander through life we may incrementally get closer to these wants, but there are proven methods to fast-track goal attainment.
We all realize, at one time or another, that there is not enough time to do everything. Successful goal-setting and achievement is much more effective when efforts are targeted.
This does not only relate to specific goals, but also to our attitude and methodology in achieving goals in general. To succeed in life, you will make more rapid and effective progress if you can focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. To be even more effective, you don’t need to focus on all your strengths at once.
This doesn’t mean you should not make efforts to overcome your weaknesses, however, if most of your time is spent doing so, you will have little left to add value to your life using your strengths.
Make a List of Your Capabilities
Write down a list of your strengths and abilities. You don’t have be the best person you know at doing a thing to include it in your list. Simply list things you feel capable of doing, and traits that you feel help you get things done.
Take a little time to prioritize your list, with your greatest strengths at the top. The top few will give you the most bang for your buck – that is, you will achieve more, in less time using these skills and attributes than if you employ others further down the list.

Invest Your Energies in Your Strengths
The more you focus on your greatest strength the more rapidly you will achieve both goals and personal growth. We achieve goals by completing the tasks that contribute to achieving the goal.
By structuring our tasks around our strengths, we make the whole goal so much more rapidly attainable. As you direct your energy towards maximizing this strength, you will learn to let go of tasks that are simply distractions.
It is very enlightening to look backwards and realize how much you have got done by not doing other things, or by doing them differently, that would have otherwise diverted your time away from your successful achievements.
You will feel more motivated, energized and inspired to perform even more activities to achieve your goals. As a bonus, you will find more meaning in almost everything you do. Instead of just ‘doing’ and walking the daily grind, you will feel more accomplished and directed, as you learn to let go what is not important.
What Happens if You Focus on Your Weaknesses?
Why is it that when we focus on our strengths we become more productive and we are better able to increase our chances of becoming highly successful?
According to research, if we force our minds to focus on the tasks that we are not good at, our mind will more strongly promote the development of negative neural pathways. These negative pathways become avenues for a self-defeating attitude.
In time, you may find yourself feeling depressed, overwhelmed and having feelings of failure. This is common when we give all our strengths, weaknesses and goals equal priority, and it seems we are not using our skills and gifts, and nothing seems to be getting done.

Awareness of Opportunities and Solutions
The more you do what you are good at and the more you like doing what you do, the better you are developing positive thoughts and emotions. This is healthy for your mind and excellent for your future productivity!
You will feel less stressed and able to complete one task after another. This creates a positive circle. The more you accomplish, the better you’ll feel, and the faster you’ll reach your goals. By focusing more on your strengths, opportunities and solutions will present themselves that you might not have otherwise noticed.
When you dwell on your weaknesses, your brain state will blind you to possibilities, and quite possibly miss seeing great opportunities, even if they present themselves before you.
Focusing on your strengths is not just a trite saying, it is a way of life that has helped many people to become great at what they do.

 "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." -- Vidal Sassoon

 

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