Fu*% Your Weaknesses
Focus on your strengths
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In my football glory days I’d study game film like religion.
Pausing, rewinding, and fixating on every second of the tape in search of the exact moment where things went wrong.
This is what we’re taught to do.
In sports.
In work.
In life.
We’re bread to find our past mistakes so that we can avoid making the same error in the future.
But hardly ever do we step back to assess what we’ve done right, so that we can focus on being even better moving forward.
By the time I hung up my helmet and jersey for the last time, it finally clicked. . .
Those that want to be good, obsess over correcting their weaknesses. But those that strive to be great, go all in on their gift.
I realized that consuming myself with a list of shortcomings was counterproductive.
Placing every ounce of energy that I have toward honing my handful of natural talents, is far more beneficial.
When I traded in my cleats for Allen Edmonds I brought this realization with me over to the real estate game.
I quickly recognized that I wasn’t the best salesman.
It didn’t come natural to me like other Realtors that transitioned from selling cars and solar panels, to now houses.
So I had to find my path.
I’ve never been one to throw in the towel, so taking a left turn wasn’t up for debate.
And wasting time and effort to become a mediocre salesperson made no sense.
I made the right decision without hesitation.
Sales isn’t my thing, but I’m a hell of an educator and I have a knack for simplifying complex concepts.
So rather than trying to sell ice to eskimos, I figured that I’d focus my efforts on teaching about the dangers of frostbite and how my jackets and gloves could be of value.
After only a few months of sharing useful insights and practical tips that property owners could immediately benefit from, my first sale fell in my lap.
I rolled that commission into two flips and an out-of-state rental.
From there I picked up five small apartment buildings and another single-family rental here in California.
I’m now at 23 doors across 3 different states and I still suck at sales.
The idea that we can brute force our weaknesses into strengths is a fallacy.
If you loathe running, you’ll never be an olympic sprinter.
If you hate cooking, you’ll never be a master chef.
But if you’re a natural-born chess savant that eats, sleeps, and breathes rooks and bishops, you have a much higher chance than most at becoming a World Champion.
Chess may not be your game—football wasn’t my ticket to the Hall of Fame—but we all have a unique super power.
Find it and be the hero of your story.
Thanks for reading.
Please share if I’ve earned it.
Michael C.
What’s your take on today’s topic? Do you agree, disagree, or is there something I missed?
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