Everything You’re Not
… is a waste of your time.
I used to think I could be anything I wanted to be. But in reality I knew that made no sense. Now I know why. You can’t be anything you want to be.
No matter how hard I try, some things I just don’t excel in. Some things come harder to me. Well, ‘who cares’?
Society has long emphasized that we focus on and improve on our weaknesses. Just think of all the heart-wrenching American underdog films that exist. There’s Rudy (the movie tagline? “When people say dreams don’t come true, tell them about Rudy”), Dodgeball (“a true underdog story”), and the yearly (monthly?) movie about a struggling baseball/football/basketball team.
Granted, it’s heartwarming when someone overcomes a lack of talent. But besides that, what’s the point? Why spend countless hours focusing on what you aren’t good at?
Why not just focus on your strengths?
You are valuable because of what you do well, what you excel in, what your talents are, not what is hard for you. Perfection is overrated and impossible.
The key to personal development is building on who you already are. There is extraordinary room for growth there.
As Dr. Martin Seligman author of Authentic Happiness notes, “you cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”
