16

not focusing on strengths

I believe we have a major learning problem in our society, worldwide: we focus too much on our weaknesses.

Western culture applauds people who manage to overcome their weaknesses and win a victory, however small. We love hearing stories about the short person who makes the basketball team, the poor math student who graduates with an accounting degree, or the average writer who still manages to churn out a book. As a society we greatly admire the unlikely victor, the underdog, the person who beats the odds.

Now don’t get me wrong—I have admiration for any great achievement, I really do. But my point is this: if you’re not suited to doing something, if you are weak at it, why devote hundreds of hours of your life to ...

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