Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Which to Focus on?

Should you focus on your strengths or shore up your weaknesses? Should you do the hardest thing in your day first, or tackle more little stuff to knock it off the list? When it comes to personal strengths and what’s best, you often hear conflicting information.

Experts and successful entrepreneurs alike will often say to “do this” and “don’t do that” kind of advice. Subsequently, it can be challenging to identify the best plan of action for the most personal growth for you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Audio Article: Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
• Paradoxical Popular Advice
• What do You Focus on?..
  • …Your Strengths or Your Weaknesses?
• Business Tips
  • Marriage and Partnerships
• Pushing Boundaries
• Soul Call
  • How to Get in Sync with Self

AUDIO ARTICLE: Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Where Growth Happens

The reason for the confusion is that there’s no one solution for everybody. To compound things further, what worked for you last year—or yesterday—may not be what works for you now, or next year.

There are seasons of life and phases of growth where what’s right at one point and for one person, can be completely opposite of what’s best for the next. However, one thing is universally true, no matter the area of endeavor or personal strengths, the greatest growth for most begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Yet even that statement and popular quote isn’t exactly true. For those who have caught fire with personal growth, find it more “comfortable” to pursue growth than to stay the same. See? Thus general advice is limited in capacity and scope.

The greatest assets for personal growth is self awareness and a learner’s mindset.

All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone.
~Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, author, born-2/29/1960

Paradoxical Popular Advice

You’ve probably heard both of these phrases; likely even in the form of advice.

1. It’s always best to focus on your strengths first.

AND…

1. It’s good to challenge yourself to strengthen your weak areas.

So which is true, or most true for you? There again, the answer is that it depends on who and when. So we each have to decide for ourselves, all things considered.

It’s true that you make progress more quickly by working within and focusing on your strengths. And it’s true that you want to expand your circle of ability by pushing against your own limitations. So what you choose and when is dependent on your season of life, both personally and in your business.

One thing is certain: every effort you may toward learning and growth, whether it’s to enhance your strengths or to shore up a weak area, will benefit you in more ways than you might at first imagine.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
~Wayne Gretzky, former pro hockey player & coach, born-1/26/1961

What Do You Focus On?

Famous pro basketball star, Michael Jordan, has said that shooting hoops from a distance was his weakness. Jordan wasn’t good at distance shots, but he improved it to a master level by constant practice.

Mega successful serial entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk often says to “Double down on your strengths.” Gary generally advises people not to worry about their weaknesses, and to outsource those things to others.

Here’s an example where both are true, but which is more true? Well, since Michael Jordan cannot outsource his basketball plays, then he must become better at his weaker areas. Same thing for artists. Writers, can outsource the editing and even formatting and art for their books, but they must create the story and do the bulk of the writing.

So in that case it’s a blend of advice. Writers should seek to continuously improve their craft of writing, however, if they’re weak in all the other aspects of bringing a book to market, and can afford to, outsourcing the author support services is the greatest benefit.

Your Strengths or Your Weaknesses?

For most of us most of the time, the best results come from focusing on our strengths.

If your game… your career doesn’t depend on doing the things you’re not so good at, and you don’t enjoy those things enough to pursue them, then spend your time working on what you do best. You can likely outsource the rest.

We’ve found that it’s best for you to at least learn it first, then you can turn it over. For instance, our family company owns multiple websites. While we know the basics of how to build websites, the tech side is not our strength, so we hire that out.

For most creatives, the best results come from focusing on your strengths, and outsourcing the rest.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®

Outsource Your Weak Areas

There are always exceptions to every rule, and when it comes to creatives especially, for every generality.

For instance, if you’re awful with administrative details and numbers and dislike doing it, then take it to a bookkeeper or accountant. Learn from the experts what you need to know for the best results for your business, then do what you must and hand over the rest.

If you’re a visionary entrepreneur and you dislike the details of business management, then you need to find a partner or assistants who are strong in those things in which you’re weak.

BUSINESS TIP:
It’s often quicker and easier to hire a consultant to teach you what you need to know for an hour or so than to take a course on how to do something you don’t want to do.
~iCreateDaily.com®

Marriage and Partnerships

When it comes to your strengths and weaknesses, it’s smart to hire to your weak areas. In other words, hiring those who are strong where you are not. Same thing with partnerships. Those that are comprised of compatible complementary but different strengths can become stronger, resilient and lasting.

For a story about a husband wife team where he’s the primary artist and she’s the primary entrepreneur of their business, you may enjoy this podcast. He’s the artist visionary and she’s the artist entrepreneur and business systems implementer.

But again, if you don’t have such a partner, you can hire those with complementary skills. You don’t have to do it all.

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
~ Michael Jordan, pro basketball legend, b.2/17/1963

Pushing Boundaries

Your Job: decide which boundary you need to push against next.

Skills Needed:

• deep honesty
• growth mindset
• determination
• perseverance

Your soul guides you to grow. But how does your soul get your attention? Your soul deposits the knowledge you need in inspiration, ideas and in art and creativity. But also in feelings of discomfort; in dips of depression; in irritation… and even in disease.

Being “out of sorts”, can be a misalignment with your core, your essential self… out of sync with Soul. A feeling of being disconnected from Self and Soul; from Purpose and who you really are.

Out of sorts = out of Self. Get back to YOU.

Soul Call

When you evaluate whether or not to do something, you need to be completely honest with yourself. Is it really just not your thing… doesn’t resonate… doesn’t fit..? Perhaps it’s that it’s too hard or uncomfortable. Or maybe it scares you. Whatever it is for you, dive deep into discovery.

Hiding from the truth will never serve you.

Take on stuff that scares you. Tackle what’s hard and watch yourself grow. It’s inevitable.
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®

Your soul knows. In your heart, you know. Tune into that channel. That frequency is Truth, it’s station handle is WLUV (“with love”). Probe your core with honesty.

Then… if you still don’t love it, outsource it! ?

Humans are born in the throes of pain and the ecstasy of creation. That’s life.
Live it with love, courage and a sense of adventure, and you will thrive.
~LeAura Alderson, co-founder, iCreateDaily.com®

How to Get in Sync with Self

If you feel disconnected from yourself and others, it’s usually an indication that you’re out of sync with your soul… with purpose. The fastest way to get back in sync is to do the hard things you’re procrastinating. Those things constricting your progress and dampening your joy… those are the shadows blocking your light.

The things you avoid, often blight your day. Face them, deal with them and the light of your attention will disperse the negatives lurking in the shadows.

Facing the foes of undone tasks will free you to move on. You can outsource it or buckle down and get it done. Just don’t avoid it because it’s hard. Face it, deal with it and then move on.

Either you run the day or the day runs you.
~Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, speaker, 1930-2009

No Personality Tests

If you’re looking for personality tests to tell about yourself, don’t. There’s no personality test that can tell you more about yourself than you already know.

Beyond that, the proliferation of personality tests and typing can even be harmful. One of our favorite writers and visionary thought leaders, Benjamin Hardy, has written an incredibly transformative book on the subject: Personality Isn’t Permanent.

Instead, Make a List

Make a list of things you’re good at. Add to that list by asking friends and family their observation of your strengths. Over time, you’ll begin to accrue quite a list of personal strengths that will help you become more aware of the tools you already have to work with.

Then Make Another List

Next, make a list of strengths you’d like to acquire or improve. Identify which to focus on first, then set a goal toward that. Now you have your personal development plan to work on daily.

So… bottom line? No matter your strengths or weaknesses, you are free to morph those into whatever you’re interested in. Like Michael Jordan, you just take more shots to improve what you’d like to improve.

Isn’t that wonderful? It’s wonderful to know that you need not be resigned to being good at this or bad at that. Your personality is perfectly malleable and capable of transformation in whatever direction you choose.

Vision it, then go make it so, one day at a time through the choices you make and the actions you take.

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