How do I overcome my weaknesses?

Image by Yogendra Singh from Pixabay

It was a question I was afraid of in my youth, how do I overcome my weaknesses? I didn't like to think that I had any weaknesses. You know, to be weak was to expose myself to failure and I really didn't like failure. To fail made me look incompetent, inept, and silly. I didn't want any of this.

Strength was different though. Strength was to be puffy-outie chested with strong body language and no visible signs of weakness. To be strong would mean to be able to confront anything the world was to throw at me and to be able to handle it with better than average efficiency. That was strength. Strength was impenetrable. I was very jealous of strong people and tried to act this way as much as I could, when the world wasn't bearing it's whole weight down on me.

The mind doesn't like to think bad things of ourselves. That's why most people end up convincing themselves that trivial things are not our fault and only if our colleague or friend acted in a different way then the outcome would have been so much better for us. Yeah, it's was that other person's fault. No way was it yours. You are very rarely wrong. This is the mind's way of balancing mental health.

If you look at it from a mental health perspective -- if you've done a lot of terrible things in your life, (and let's be real here, you aren't human if you've only walked the gold plated path of doing no wrong) and you haven't learned to properly deal with the fallout or take accountability for it, then the mind finds a way of negating the responsibility to protect your mental health. Always thinking bad of yourself is a trait associated with depression, and whilst we do a lot of bad I like to think mostly humans try to do good, or at least what they perceive as a good decision.

Weaknesses are inherent in all of us. We all have weaknesses, every single one of us. I for example am the most unorganised clusterfuck of a human being that you can ever meet, and that's me. I think I'm at peace with my weaknesses. Which brings me onto my first lesson.

How do I overcome my weaknesses - Embrace your faults

When I was doing self development last decade I was always trying to work on my understanding of how do I overcome my weaknesses. I always wanted to close that gap between what I can do versus what I can't. For instance a big part of me always wanted to be more organised so I focused on being just that. But as I was becoming more organised I realised that there were other areas in my life that were starting to slack too.

In short you just can't be that perfect person that the mind tries to make out all the time. For some that's a hard pill to swallow, but if you want to learn more on how do I overcome my weaknesses then it's one you are going to have to.

The trick is to shake hands with that devil. There's just parts of you that's not perfect, that are lacking, and some that just down right suck. Guess what? It makes you human. Well done, you're just like everyone else. Don't think of it as a downfall, think of it as a superpower that you are comfortable with this and look to boost the good parts of you whilst ignoring the bad. Can 100% tell you that you will be ahead of most people with that one if you have made it this far..

In management you have to learn where you fit in. Knowing what parts you grow in and what parts you don't puts you well ahead of the class. Even more so if you are comfortable with it. How do I overcome my weaknesses? By getting into management.

Learn Responsibility

In life you can be responsible for few things, or you can be responsible for a whole lot of things. The level of responsibility you hold will more than likely dictate what kind of salary you will be on for the rest of your life and what kind of opportunities you will have in the future.

By taking on more responsibility you will learn really fast what you are really good at, and what you really suck bad at. This isn't something to point and laugh at though, because everyone sucks at something, the key is about learning really quickly what you're bad at and dropping it like a hot rock.

Learn Accountability

If you take more responsibility then you're going to have to be accountable. A great way of understanding how do I overcome my weaknesses is to be accountable for your actions. When the time comes to stand up and admit that your idea was wrong, or that the way you were headed wasn't a good one, then do it. Stand up and fully admit you were in the wrong. Not only will people respect you more for that but it's a trait slowly escaping this world.

Admitting you're wrong isn't a bad thing. It shows that in a time of weakness you also had shown strength. Remember how hard it is to take accountability and be thrown at the mercy of those higher than you -- it speaks volumes. Not only to the people around you, but to everyone else.

Avoid blaming people

A sure fire way to come off as someone that's weak is to blame anyone bar yourself for the trouble that you're in. Sure, life may have handed you the worst ever hand, but there's nothing in this day and age to stop you getting out of the hell that you're in.

Always with the excuses and nothing is ever your fault. It's always someone elses fault. Hell, you could even avoid any responsibility like I once did so that I didn't have to show weakness.

But that won't get you anywhere. Don't blame if you're trying to learn how do I overcome my weaknesses.

Show strength

Strength isn't like what most people think it is. I was once of the illusion when I was a young man that brute force and shouting was the way to show strength. Weak men would quiver and shy away from any show of sheer brute strength. But in reality strength is more of character. Someone that's willing to admit to their shortcomings, stand up when they feel something is wrong, fight for the little guy, etc.

Strength is more about battling against the odds when all seems lost. Strength is about overcoming our own personal demons to become something much more. Strength is about show of character.

And that, as they say is that,

Peace out friends!

Thanks for reading: How do I overcome my weaknesses?

Originally published at https://learnisart.com on March 23, 2023.