From a business perspective this realistic approach certainly applies…For example, while self-employed entrepreneurs are called upon to do so many varied tasks to run their biz, it’s really easy to fall into “I have to do it all myself” trap and all of a sudden they are sucked into the vortex of limited time and resources to stay float at the detriment of working on the more important things like business development and growth planning…They would be much better served focusing on what they are “good” at and offloading the rest.

Funny though, because when you look at employee evaluation forms, you see that people are all rated on the same criteria regardless of their position, which kind of leads back to the “you have to be good at everything” mindset…But really, the person who will achieve the best results is the one who focuses on their strengths and compensates for their weakness instead of trying to “improve” them.

My 2 cents,

Patch
.-= Patch´s last blog ..Set Your Mind to Succeed =-.

That’s AWESOME! Best of luck with the training, what an awesome challenge.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue and I’m swaying a bit. I think there are levels to this:

1) On the one hand, there are certain things that certain people will not be able to do, full stop.
2) There are also things that certain people will not be able to do without certain other factors (support, coaching, facilities, money, time, etc) being present which are, practically speaking, not going to be present. So maybe they theoretically can, but practically won’t be able to.
3) For some people, these factors (resources, time, motivation etc) ARE present, but there is no intrinsic enjoyment of the task, so the journey of getting from their current state to the one they want will be so difficult and unfulfilling to make it either unlikely that they’ll stick with it, or just simply not worth doing in the first place (unless there’s some benefit to other people that is driving them on, perhaps).
4) Sometimes a person has no or little natural talent, but they have some enjoyment for the task so with enough practice – maybe the 10,000 hours I talked about above, they can reach the goal – eventually!
5) Some people are naturally talented at a particular thing and it just comes ‘naturally’ to them. But still, no one is a natural master and they will still have to put in their many thousands of hours’ practice – they just might get there a little quicker or have a little headstart because of the talents.

So as I allude to in the article, maybe it’s not so much whether it’s possible to do something that you’ve set your mind to, but whether it’s worth doing. I think this “you only need to believe” stuff is bullshit. You are better off believing that you can do it, obviously, but it doesn’t logically follow that belief is all that is needed.

Anyway, good look and let me know how you get on!
Warren

In my own experience I have certainly found that firm conviction, making a decision to do something and believing you can do it, almost always results in success… I guess that’s the same as saying you can do anything you set your mind to.

I’m currently training to run the Ironman triathlon, and I’ve had the odd doubt about the race, but recently read an article about a double amputee who completed the race. It was at that point that I knew I was capable of doing it and made the decision 100% to train for, enter and complete the race no matter what, and I believe I will… I guess I’ll find out in a few months whether I really can, but I think the same approach can be applied to any area of life – sport, family, business whatever!
.-= Billy AKA Action Geek´s last blog ..Get your geek on =-.

Thanks.

David
.-= David Kerr´s last blog ..Day 7 of Mental Excellence – Positive Images and Positive Self-Evaluation =-.

Wow, many thanks for the kind words! You just made my day!

Yes you’re exactly right – I think the influence of the self-help industry encourages the “You can do anything you set your mind to” attitude, especially in the US where that industry is hugely popular. I agree with the idea that you should make your own choices – why not? Many, many years ago you had little choice but to follow in the family trade (if there was one), and in many countries today people have little or no choice over what they can do with their time. But now we have all this choice – why not try to do something you like? But the key thing is, are you really planning to do something you like, or do you just plan to get somewhere you want to be? It’s a bit like the old saying, it’s the journey not the destination that counts.

Happy new year to you!

I agree, Tiger Woods is a great example. Apparently he saw a sports psychologist from a young age to learn the mental game early on. Mental game is another factor that I think is huge in getting to high levels of skill.

Many thanks for the comment Brian!
Warren

On the flip side, as my old football coach used to say, “You’re gonna learn a lot about life in this game.” He was right, we learned what hard work mixed with persistence could do and how that quite often overcame talent.

In the end, if you have a strength and apply it to something you love you can achieve greatness. Best example for me would be Tiger Woods.

Brian

You’re right, and I think what Buckingham and co are saying is that this need to demonstrate a balanced range of capabilities in the workplace is the wrong way to go about things. But yes sometimes you can’t avoid something involving a weaknesses, and you have to do what you can with it. Public speaking and presentations are probably the best examples. Most degrees and many jobs involve this at some stage, so you won’t do as well if you’re really shy and unskilled at speaking. But if you’re shy and have a lot of practice speaking… you probably still won’t follow speaking as a career, but you’ll do better in your job or course.

As with all these things, it is never a black-and-white case, as you point out – and to focus on your strengths shouldn’t mean to ignore all of your weaknesses.

For example, in order to progress in most workplaces you need to demonstrate a balanced range of capabilities, and whilst a focus on strengths will still drive improved performance, if you do not acknowledge and address any shortcomings that you have, you are passing on the chance to develop and may even end up missing out on opportunities you never expected to experience.

Thanks for the post, just stumbled across your blog today and will continue to read with interest…