“Use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses.”
I heard this for years. It sounds right. It’s not easy. And the way most people interpret it, it does not work.
Here is what they hear.
“I’m creative, so my lack of discipline is fine.”
Or “I’m a fast learner, so my poor follow-through won’t matter.”
That’s not how it works. Being creative at a 7 out of 10 does not eliminate the need for discipline.
You have to turn your strength all the way up. I mean 11 out of 10. I mean so high that the weakness becomes irrelevant. Not ignored. Not compensated for. Consumed.
I saw this in my own habits. I had separate habits for experiments, courage challenges, cost optimization tasks and value creation work. Four distinct lanes.
When my experiment rate hit 13 per day, courage challenges became redundant. Run 13 experiments and some are going to push you outside your comfort zone whether you plan for it or not. At 34, cost optimization became unnecessary. At that volume you are probably going to execute on things that reduce your costs directly or indirectly.
But at 5 experiments per day I still needed all four habits. I am good at sensing what would be a good experiment and executing on it. But 5 per day is not enough to make weaknesses irrelevant. You have to go extreme. Five was not enough to weaponize.
This is the difference between having a strength and weaponizing one. A strength at moderate volume is a nice trait.
A strength at extreme volume is a superpower.
You do not overcome a weakness by running your strength at moderate volume. You overcome it by cranking your strength until the weakness is consumed.
🦹♀️
What strength could consume a weakness if you went all the way with it?
