Let’s face it, we can’t be great at everything, there are some areas in our lives, where we are lacking skills. But the essential part to be successful in our personal as well as professional lives is not to be perfect in everything we do, but rather to know our strengths and weaknesses because it can mean the difference between success and failure and everything in between.
While none of us really likes to have our weaknesses pointed out, it is important to remind ourselves that weaknesses can be turned into strengths, all we need is a little self-examination and some strategies. Sometimes we think we hit a wall and let our weaknesses feel as though they are insurmountable. However, instead of letting them hold us back in life, we need to learn how to address them head on and turn them into incredible strengths.
Oftentimes we look at our own flaws and assume ‘perfect’ people never have to deal with any weaknesses. Remind yourself that it’s not your weaknesses that will hold you back from being successful in life, it’s your determination that will take you to the top.
Here are our TOP 10 ways to transform weakness into strength.
#1 Recognize and Accept Your Weaknesses
Before you can turn a weakness into a strength, you have to recognize that you, like everybody else, has weaknesses and then get to work to identify them. The first step in overcoming your weaknesses is to determine what they are and admitting them to yourself. Once you acknowledge your weaknesses and accept that nobody is perfect, you can take your flaws into account when making a decision and start to work on eliminating them.
#2 Find Out What You Are Avoiding
A great way to figure out what your weaknesses really are is to look at the things that you are spending your time on and the things that you are avoiding. If you keep putting off the same important task over and over again, this could be a great indicator that you have not mastered the skills to successfully tackle the task or you don’t feel confident enough in your abilities. Once you figure out what those tasks are that you are avoiding, focus on getting the skills necessary to handle them with ease and move on to the next challenge.
#3 Get Honest Feedback
Sometimes we are blind to our own flaws, which is why it is crucial to find people we trust in our professional as well as personal life who will tell us the truth, even if it’s difficult and we may be hurt in the moment, but it will help us to become stronger in the long run. Make sure that the people you ask for feedback are honest, trustworthy and straight forward and aren’t afraid to tell you like they see it. While we aren’t asking you to blindly accept the feedback, it is important to consider it and when we find it to be true, act on the feedback, maybe even ask for help to figure out how to acquire the right skills.
#4 Find the Hidden Upside
There is always a corresponding strength to any weakness. For example if you find out that you are not flexible, it may mean that you are very organized. If you are shy that probably means that you put a lot of emphasis on forming close relationships. You get the idea… Identify your three biggest weaknesses and find their upsides. Harness those upsides right away and you’ll be amazed how those perceived weaknesses suddenly turn into your biggest strengths.
#5 Be Prepared
A lot of times it is best to fight a weakness with thorough preparation. For example, one of us has a very poor sense of direction and can get lost easily. It’s an unfortunate flaw for someone who likes to explore new places as much as I do, but to overcompensate for the lack of orientation, I prepare carefully, printing out directions, downloading apps, renting a car with GPS… The same applies to other situations as well. If you find yourself a bit insecure about negotiating a contract, read up on what to expect ahead of time. If you are pitching an idea to a new customer, learn all you can about the potential client and practice your pitch with a friend or colleague.
#6 Embrace Your Weakness
There are things in life that you simple can’t change nor should you change them because we need to realize that we can’t be everything for everybody. Instead of dwelling on a weakness, embrace it and make the best of it. For example as small business owners it may not always be possible to offer the same low price or huge variety as big corporate competitors. But what small businesses can do is offer better, more personalized service and creative solutions, which will be worth so much more to the right clients.
#7 Seek Help and Advice
Transforming weaknesses into strengths is not an easy task and while we need to push ourselves to make it happen, sometimes it is helpful to get advice and support from somebody else, who may have had to deal with the same issues. Remember, asking for help is never a weakness in itself, but rather the smart choice to help you achieve your goals. Not a single hugely successful person ever gained massive success by doing it alone. Having a support system is crucial if you are serious about realizing your end goal.
#8 Hire the Skills You Lack
Sometimes it’s the smart choice to hire somebody to do a certain task for you whether that’s in your professional or personal life, when you lack the skills to do it yourself. While helping you out in a certain situation this also builds up an important life skill. Finding people you can trust and giving them the task you don’t fully understand yourself. For example we are positive it is possible to learn to do our taxes ourselves, however, we believe our time and energy is much better spent elsewhere and let the professional CPA do the job instead.
#9 Get Just Good Enough
Like we said earlier, we can’t be perfect in everything, however, there are some things that are so important that it is worth the time and effort to learn enough to reach the minimal level of competence. Even if you hire somebody to do the task for you, you want to be able to tell whether something is possible in a certain amount of time or not.
#10 Help Others with the Same Weakness
If you find a weakness that you were able to turn into a strength, you can be sure that somebody else is having the same exact problem and is now looking to turn that weakness into a strength themselves. Think about ways you can help others overcome their weaknesses and turn them into strengths, it could end up becoming your own best asset in making you successful and overcoming your own deficiencies.
Transforming your weaknesses into strengths involves accepting many aspects of yourself that you may not want to face. It takes incredible strength to come to terms with who you are and even greater strength to push yourself to becoming the best version of yourself. But as with everything else in life, the hardest part is always to get started, once you get the ball rolling, you’ll see that your weaknesses are not so bad after all and transforming them into strengths is accessible to all of us.
TURN YOUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS INTO YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTH
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked