I have a strong sense of logic. I like to crunch numbers and playing mind and logic games. I consider this a great skill, but logic/analytical skills in themselves won’t help me to become financially independent!
Having Great Ideas that Didn’t Take
I come up with what I consider great ideas, but I don’t communicate those ideas very well. Often, I’ll bring an idea up to a manager or friend and they won’t get it, then later someone else will think of my idea but they are able to create some buzz around it, thus enabling the newly re-discovered idea to be applauded and implemented (and yes, I hate that this happens to me).
So based on a long history of these kind of experiences, I’ve come to the conclusion that my weakness is my communication and marketing skills. Since I now know the enemy, I decided to use blogging as the weapon of choice for combating my weakness. In fact, trying to defeat this weakness is my third main reason that I blog, and blog often. My 1st and 2nd reasons are to play with the technology and to help others recognize a path for a middle-income member (like myself) to become financially independent.
Why I Blog Almost Every Day
Since I’ve uncovered my weakness through analyzing my past, The simplest and most entertaining way to combat my communication weakness is by blogging.
After almost two years of blogging, I’ve notice that my communication and marketing skills have increased in the following ways:
- I think of words faster during a conversation with others. I use to stumble for the correct words when speaking to other, but now those words just slip off of my tongue like a bicycle slipping on ice.
- Both my email and IM communications are easier and more clear for the recipients to read.
- I have confidence in my words. I’m a blogger and this is now what I do, so words and I are finally friends.
- I’ve learned to think outside of the box. New ideas come to me all the time at work.
- I believe that in some ways I’ve become smarter, and think that writing has kept me sharper than if I didn’t write.
With My New Skill, Will I Become Financially Independent?
With my new skills, I find it easier to talk to strangers. Talking to others creates and enables opportunities that would not exist for you if were just kept to yourself. So just in this small side effect from blogging, my odds of financial independence has greatly increased.
Since I have increased my weaknesses, now I can focus on my strengths while maintaining my new skills. I’m hoping that with my strengths and enhanced weaknesses, I’m a more marketable individual.
Getting Help if You Have Weaknesses
What if you are the opposite of me? Let’s say you have great communication skills, but horrible math/logical/analytical skills? What can you do?
First, starting with the basics, try learning your skill weakness again. Sometimes when you are younger, too many other distractions exist to focus on something that requires a lot of focus (like math, logic, etc). You may find that you now have the patience and attitude for learning in your area of weakness.
Second, if find that you still don’t like your area of weakness, bring in others! Friends, family, paid contractors… whatever it takes! Keep an open mind during your encounters with your weaknesses can go a long way to fix those problems!
Readers, do you have any weaknesses that you care to share?
Thanks for helping me on my path to become financial independent.
MR
I think I can relate to not being able to find the words quickly. Blogging is certainly helping with that and making writing (which I do a lot in grad school) much easier.
Yes, I find crafting an email is much easier now at work 🙂
Over the last few years I have been working really hard to buff up my areas of weakness. I have done lots of reading and tried to branch out into different areas at my job. My hope is that I will be able to develop those skills enough to use them on a regular basis with confidence. It is a long road but I keep plugging along.
I do find like 20’s finance said that blogging has helped my writing skills.
Yes, for the most part it’s all about practice. Like most things in live, if you practice it enough, you’ll eventually become better. The hard thing is recognizing your weaknesses in the beginning.
Working on your weaknesses is part of life. A few years ago, I wanted to improve my writing skills, so I went on a reading marathon and read 100 books in less than a year. For the last year, I am blogging and practicing my writing skills. I can see an improvement and who knows where this may lead me.
Wow, I’ve never hear of a reading marathon, interesting! I can imagine how that would increase both your wisdom and word fluency.
I have similar weakness as yours. I’ll join toastmasters soon and see if I can improve my communication skill. I’m not sure if blogging is helping, maybe I just need more time.
I’ve flirted with toastmasters before in the past, but never took the plunge. Perhaps someday I will too.
I am happy blogging keeps you on track too. I always find the reciprocal relationship associated with helping others quite amazing.
Yes, that is pretty incredible! Although lately I’m finding I don’t have enough time to get around as much as I would like to.
Blogging is good mental exercise, helping to crank out more ideas. Compare an hour of watching TV with an hour of writing a blog post. Not much for physical exercise, but it keeps your brain fizzying along.
Yes, that is very true. And I think at a very personal level, it bring you closer to your inter-thoughts. Versus almost being force-fed whatever is on TV…
I’ve done a variety of jobs over my career and when I was in my 20’s, I purposely put myself in roles that I had no clue about. It scared the daylights out of me and I had to live with feeling like an idiot for the first 3 months of a job, but in the end, it made me a better employee because I was more well rounded.
I’m very much of a task master and the big picture thinking is something that I initially avoided, but now I actually really like it. If I never was a product manager where that’s a big part of the role, I would have never appreciated how important that is in many jobs.
I was lucky because I work for a big company and those opportunities were plentiful to me, but you can also stretch yourself through volunteerism. That is what I do now as I don’t really want a job change at the moment.
I think getting out of your comfort zone on a regular basis is the key to growth. You must do the things you dread because they become less scary the more you practice them.