How to Draw Strength From Your Weaknesses and Be Your Best Self

We all struggle with moments of self-doubt and insecurity. But if that seems like it’s becoming the norm instead of the exception?

It’s time to make a change, learn how to overcome your weaknesses, and build your confidence in the process.

In this post, we’ll tell you how you can better learn to identify your personal strengths and weaknesses. Then, we’ll tell you how you can use your emotional strengths and your overall skill set to overcome your personal weaknesses.

Ready to become the best version of yourself?

If so, then read on to make it happen.

1. Ask for Help

We have no problem when other people come to us for advice or admit that they need a little help.

But when it comes time for us to ask others to assist us, to offer their advice, or just for some input on a minor hiccup at home or at work?

It feels incredibly easy to freeze up, attempt to hide the problem, and continue to work to keep up the facade of the perfect life.

First of all, we all know that getting through life alone isn’t just exhausting — it’s also impossible.

Still, many of us feel like we’re showing our personal weaknesses or even that we’re failures if we need to ask someone for help.

The good news?

Everyone has a weakness.

Maybe you’re a new parent who just can’t handle the stress of taking on a new work project on three hours of sleep. Maybe you’re nervous to speak in front of a crowd. Perhaps you just feel like you’re a dating disaster.

Every single person has felt these same insecurities at some point in their lives.

Asking for help should be seen as a strength.

You’ll learn how to do something better, you’ll get a worry off your chest, and you’ll strengthen your personal or professional relationship with the person you went to.

Remember, being upfront about a weakness is all about turning failure and fear into opportunity and confidence!

2. Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

Sometimes, the best thing that you can do to improve upon your insecurities and gaps in experience/knowledge is to identify your personal strengths and weaknesses.

Get out a pen and paper and write “Strengths” in one column and “Weaknesses” in the other. We’re willing to bet that you immediately want to fill out the “Weakness” column first.

After all, you know exactly what you’re doing wrong — and you can always think of a new weakness.

Here’s a challenge: for everything you put in the “Weakness” column, you have to put three things in the “Strength” column. This can be as complex as “I have strong emotional intelligence and can work with different communication styles” or as simple as “I make amazing hot chocolate.”

Coming to terms with the weaknesses people have and those that you have yourself is the first step. And it’s OK to have weaknesses. No one is expecting you to be a master of everything.

But you have to admit that there are things that you are good at.

Once you’ve completed the columns, take a look at your sheet. Figure out how you can use your strengths to improve your weaknesses.

For example, if you’re on the shy side, maybe you can use your awesome hot chocolate skills to break the ice at your new office. Or maybe you can even host a winter hot chocolate sale to fund a neighborhood project.

Remember that no one gets stronger without taking risks. Luckily, your personal strengths will be there to back you up.

3. Set Smaller, Stepping-Stone Goals

One of the most important things you can do if you want to turn your weakness into a strength?

Make sure that you set several smaller goals that eventually lead you to your larger “ultimate goal.”

The trick here is to work to keep things manageable, and to keep your work and improvement consistent.

For example, maybe one of your personal weaknesses is that you’ve put on a lot of extra weight in the past year.

We know that the temptation is to beat yourself up and overcorrect and punish yourself by hitting the gym for 7 days a week, for three hours a day, at a workout level that’s crazy intense.

Well, you might have a great day one.

But day two, three, and ten?

You’ll be ready to quit — because you’ve set an impossibly high bar for yourself when it comes to overcoming your weaknesses.

Instead, focus on setting achievable and realistic goals that allow you to celebrate your progress and actually stick to the plan you’ve created.

Not only will this help you to get the results you’ve wanted. It will also allow you to tap into your inner strength and boost your own belief in your ability to make what you want to happen.

Overcoming Your Personal Weaknesses: Wrapping up

From setting realistic goals that you can actually achieve to learning how to ask for help, we hope this post has helped you to realize that you can overcome your personal weaknesses.

Remember that overcoming challenges is a process, and that you’ll encounter many roadblocks along the way. The trick is to remember that these roadblocks are temporary setbacks.

See them as an opportunity to push yourself even harder.

Looking for more awesome self-improvement advice?

We’ve got you covered.

Check out our website and blog to learn how to love yourself, practice mindfulness in your daily life, and much more.