They All Want Me To Fail

One thing that has been consistent throughout my life, is the abundance of people who seem to want me to fail.  From bosses, to teachers, to even my own parents at times, it seems like everyone is obsessed with making sure I became a complete failure.

I’m not really sure why this conspiracy exists.  I admit that I wasn’t the most well behaved kid (I really thought frogs would enjoy living in my sister’s clothing drawers), or the best student (I heard rumors about grades above th “D” line but never actually saw one). However, despite this I really wanted to be successful.

They Used A Very Effective Strategy

What’s incredible is that although most of these people didn’t know each other, they all used the same technique to set me up for failure – THEY KEPT TELLING ME TO IMPROVE MY WEAKNESSES.

No Other Explanation

I can promise you that I’m no conspiracy nut.  I don’t believe the U.S. government is hiding an alien spaceship at area 51 or that the IRS is building prison camps (the DMV would be much better at it).

All of this being said, why would someone have me focus on my weaknesses unless they were trying to have me fail?

So tell me – does this sound familiar?

Have you had a review with your boss in which the majority of time was spent talking about what you had to improve on? Or worse, when you review your children’s grades do you zero in on the lowest one and spend most of your time talking about that?

A Common Error

In reality, the tendency to focus on weaknesses is a well intended but common error.

By having us focus on our deficiencies, others think they can help us turn them into strengths, thereby positioning us for success in life and business.

It’s Impossible To Give Equal Attention To All Qualities

The human brain is not designed to focus on all things equally.  if someone is spending the majority of their time focusing on their weaknesses, they’re depriving their strengths, causing those skills to deteriorate.  Therefore, focusing on weaknesses makes one worse, not better.

70-25-5 Three Numbers That Will Bring Success

So now that you know focusing on weaknesses is the wrong thing to do, what’s the right strategy for success?

Every highly successful person I know – athletes, CEOs, etc. – follows the 70-25-5 rule for success.

70 – Focus 70% of your time on your strengths, NOT your weaknesses.  The rational is simple, devoting time to something you’re not good at transforms it into a competitive advantage.

Steve Jobs, on of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, he didn’t spend his time focusing on technical details.  Rather, he indulged in his passions around simplicity, elegance, and beauty.  As a result, these qualities became strategic advantages that allow Apple to dominate its competition.

What are you good at?  What are you passionate about?  Spend 70% of your time feeding those affinities, and they will become your strategic advantages.

25 – Spend 25% of your time on things you want to get better at.

For example, as an online marketer you might want to get better at designing landing pages.  So, each day spend 25% of your time getting lost in landing page design.  And when I say “get lost in”, I mean jump into it like a child with a new toy.  Lose yourself.  Find out everything you can, and most importantly, have fun.  Soon these areas you want to get better at will become strengths that help drive your success.

5 – The remaining 5% of your time should be spent on your weaknesses.  As much as we’d like to completely ignore them, we have to spend some time dealing with them.

Notice I said “dealing”, not “trying to improve”.  For example, say you love website design but hate coding.  Easy, spend 5% of your time finding people to code for you.  You’ve just addressed your weakness and you’re back to the things that are going to make you successful.

Now You Have Permission

You officially have permission to turn the pyramid you’ve been taught upside down and follow the 70-25-5 rule.  Before you know it your strengths and passions will be driving you to a whole new level of success.

Angelo Lombardo is a Fortune 500 executive for the Coca-Cola Company, and a faculty member at Winery Academy.  Like his blogs? Become an Elite Member and get his webinars for free.