No Weak Excuses, Please
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but these days it feels like what doesn’t kill you just doesn’t kill you. You feel me?
This year has tested all of our powers of resilience and positive thinking. (Don’t throw in the towel yet, we still have a ways to go.) We’ve had to let go of old routines and form new ones, accept that which we used to deem unacceptable (seven days of sweatpants, for example) and simply recognize that we have no control over much of what is happening so we need to work with what we’ve got.
As our grade school report cards graciously reminded us, we all have strengths and weaknesses (gently labelled areas for improvement). And many of those have come under the microscope during these testing times. My management, and general life philosophy, has been to spend more time leveraging our strengths and having the confidence and self-awareness to accept our weaknesses.
But then a wise and wonderful sage recently gave me a new perspective on this. Kat Lourenco, my business partner, right (and sometimes left) hand and friend, was leading our recruitment of some amazing and talented individuals to join our team. Instead of asking the standard “tell us about your weaknesses” question (which always gets answered with the standard “I’m a perfectionist” bullsh*t), Kat spun the question differently. She asked, “Sometimes what we think is a weakness (or what others tell us is a weakness), actually helps us uncover a better way of doing things. Tell us about a time that a perceived weakness of yours gave you the insight you needed to make a positive change.”
Not only did I think this was a much more productive and insightful line of questioning, but it gave me the opportunity to reflect on my own personal and professional journeys and see how my weaknesses have led to positive change in my life and work.
What did I discover? That anxiety is awesome! (How’s that for rose-coloured glasses? More like rosé-filled.) While I used to consider anxiety my Achilles heel, I can now appreciate how it has shaped the way I work and live. And while not all of it’s great, I acknowledge how it’s motivated me to get my ass up and work hard, even when the going gets tough. (You know, like running-a-business-during-COVID tough).
I also suffer from a severe case of procrastination. And while I used to berate myself for leaving things until the last minute, I’m now more aware of how that time pressure has led me to deliver some of my best work (if you like my blog posts then you’ll agree). So instead of looking at it as wasted time, I look at it as setting up the parameters for success. And it turns out that success for me includes a fire under my ass!
As my boyfriend (who doesn’t know he’s my boyfriend), the NBA GOAT, Michael Jordan said, “If you push me towards something you think is my weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.” I think it’s safe to say he got an A+ there. But what he said, and did, so well, is the action. It’s not that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, it’s what you do that makes you stronger.