We all have certain areas of strength! But, we also have certain areas or traits that we feel are our weaknesses. Becoming better at our strengths is easy. Generally people like and enjoy things they learn or can do easily. Therefore it is fun. Most people will unknowingly concentrate on their strengths. It’s important to know how to improve weaknesses. However, many people leave their weak areas by the wayside or work on them with minimal effort.
I am all for trying to improve every avenue of oneself. I also believe there are certain times where improvement only takes you so far. And while you may never be great at your weakness, you can improve and fight to become better.
Of course most people know that how to improve weaknesses is to work hard at them. The more you practice the better you become.
But is that it? Does it only come down to going through the motions over and over, and magically you will become better? I think it takes a little more self reflection, open-mindedness, and understanding than physical repetitions.
So, here are some of the mindset changes that need to take place in order to move something from the ‘weakness’ column to the ‘strength’ column.
Change your mindset about how to improve weaknesses
Call it “focus work” instead of “weakness improvement”.
Simply by changing the way your mind thinks and speaks to itself is a great start. It makes it easier to accomplish the tasks at hand that you might not be thrilled about doing.
The word “weakness” implies that you’re bad at something. If you’re bad at something there is a good chance that you don’t want to do it. By switching to a mindset of opportunity you give yourself the chance for growth.
Do I want to mow the yard? No. But do I want to get better at weed-eating? Yes. So instead of thinking I ‘have’ to do something, now I ‘get’ to do something.
Change your mind, and you will change yourself.
Expose, experience, and learn
A while back I was reading about kids and why physical playing is an important part of a child’s development. Due to an increase in personal electronic technology recently, researchers believe things like coordination, problem solving, balance, athletic ability, physical strength, and immune health have and will continue to suffer in children.
It is hypothesized that the more situations and scenarios a young growing mind and body are exposed to, the more understanding and comprehension the mind and body retain. And here is the crazy part, the researchers even believe that this goes for situations and events that the individual has not been exposed to yet.
Basically, when you expose yourself to situations that require you to think through/fix a problem, then you are laying a solid base for when you come up against a new problem or issue.
I like to picture someone standing on the ground looking up at a second story deck that has no stairs. If all they have done the first 15 years of their life is look at a screen and push buttons how able are they to get to that second story? They aren’t!
But each and every experience they have growing up; no matter how large or small, learning how to ride a bike, reading and doing book reports, playing hide-and-seek with friends, or being taught how to build a fire, act as building blocks that now gives them the knowledge and self confidence to get to that second story deck. They may not know how to build a ladder or stairs, but they know they can learn, or they will problem solve until they reach that second story.
The more you do, the less intimidating new experiences are.
Understand how to improve weaknesses
Be clear in your understanding of self. I, for one, am not great (or even good) at anything musical. I know this and I don’t have a delusional point of view that tells me otherwise. Being able to identify an area you are weak at is important. This is because if you don’t know where to focus your effort you are flying blind.
To get to point B from point A, first you have to know where point B is in relation to point A. If you don’t know you are just guessing, and while you might get lucky there is a much better chance you won’t even get close!
Find the areas you are not strong at. Have enough of an open mind and enough knowledge of self to realize you aren’t amazing at everything. If you do think that, you are delusional and should go seek professional help. It’s far better to have an understanding of your flaws and how to improve weaknesses.
Keep your goals insight
What are your goals? Do you want to become the best at something? Do you just want to learn for the sake of learning? Do you want to just become better at a subject so you can have an understanding when friends discuss it in front of you? Whatever level you want to reach, try writing down your goals. Writing down your goals can be a great way to remind yourself why you are working so hard.
We discussed how people don’t enjoy working on weaknesses. It is usually a struggle to make yourself do it. By writing down a goal, or goals, that you have can help inspire and reinvigorate you to push towards them.
Motivation is key, but can quickly fail us, especially if you don’t see much progress. Keeping your written goals in a place you see everyday will remind you to not only work on improving, but why you are doing it.
We want to know your goals. Who knows maybe we can help you accomplish them! Feel free to comment and tell us what your goals are.
By Nate Cordray and David Gionta
