Weaknesses And Planning

Everybody has weaknesses – lack of self-control, laziness, shyness, etc.

This week, on my call with Paul, we talked about how planning can help him overcome the weaknesses holding him back so that his strengths can shine through and enable him to better reach his goals.

Useful and useless plans

Like the crutches the soccer player is using in the above photo, external devices can be incredibly effective at making us more capable. In fact, it's incredibly useful to think of plans like crutches.

Without crutches, even a twisted ankle can be disruptive. The weakness of your ankle dulls your strengths because it hinders your mobility. But with crutches, you get that mobility back, allowing your strengths to shine once again.

Now, if your ankle is fine, trying to design a device that helps you walk even better is not the best use of your time or effort. After all, a 1% increase in the efficiency of your walking isn't going to do much.

But when you put the proper plan in place, one that supports the weakness that is holding you back the most, you'll be surprised how much can change.

Where are you weak?

The first step to creating a useful plan is a humbling one. First, you'll have to admit that you have weaknesses that are standing in the way of achieving your dreams. That can hurt, but without this step, you're going through life without recognizing your blind spots, and this makes achieving your dreams almost impossible.

So, sit down and recount your failures.

1. Where did you go wrong?

2. What caused it?

3. Is there a common denominator? A common mistake that caused these?

When you find those weaknesses that really hurt your pride, the pitfalls you can never seem to conquer so you've tried to hide them even from yourself – that's when you know you're on to something.

Once you've identified the weakness that's holding you back, all you need to do is make a plan.

How can you create 'crutches'?

Now that you know where your weakness is, you can start to create 'crutches' that will support you in your struggle. This may take some doing, and it may help to talk to friends, family, or coaches to build it. But once you've built it, and refined it, it will be worth all the effort you put into making that plan.

I'll give you an example of what I mean:

In the past, Paul was dealing with an afternoon slump that kept him from taking on more work. This made it impossible for him to spend time prospecting or dealing with the myriad of other tasks required to grow his business. He could have spent time trying to work faster or become better at prospecting, but unless he dealt with his greater weakness, ie., his inability to work efficiently through the day, he would still fall short of his goals.

So, we created a plan to help him even-out his afternoon slump. By changing his diet, and holding off until the afternoon to drink his first cup of coffee, we were able to keep his energy levels more steady throughout the day.

Simple Crutch, But Effective

Now he can get through more work each day and has time to start working on growing his business, instead of trying to keep up with all the work in the business.

That's planning for your weakness and this is what I'm Thinking Thru this week.

What about you? How can you create a plan for your weakness in order to reach your goals?