Use Your 'Weakness' to Leverage Your Hidden Strengths

Weakness is not usually a pleasant word to hear and, it often has negative connotations associated to it. Well according to Plato's Protagoras and Explanations of Weakness (1966), mentions that weakness can be understood in the form of an individual who does something they know they should not be doing, or fails to do something they should be doing even though they are granted the chance of using prior knowledge of outcomes to prevent it from occurring. For the sake of simple terms, it can be understood as an individual being impulsive despite having experiences of similar situations.

So, how exactly can you use your weakness to increase your strengths ?

Step 1: Identify the Behavioral Issue

Well, honestly the first step is to identify which daily behavioral issues greatly impacts major areas of your life. This is usually easier said than done, so be patient with yourself when attempting to identify some of those behavioral issues.

"Its easier said than done, and patience is key..."

extracted from Salsabeelah's Self-Reflection Journal (V.1)

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Let me illustrate by giving you a major personal weakness of mine - Overthinking.

Attributions: <a href='https://www.freepik.com/photos/hijab'>Hijab photo created by wayhomestudio - www.freepik.com</a>

Overthinking does cause a myriad of negative effects to the individual engaging in the thought process of over-thinking. To illustrate, Mishra (2021) mentions that some of these adverse effects include irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, high blood pressure, and the list just goes on.

In the back of my mind, I knew there was a loophole in my thought processes as Witmer (2021), describes overthinking as the process of dwelling or worrying about the same thought repeatedly. So, imagine dwelling on multiple thoughts repeatedly on a daily basis. Yikes! its outcome was never pleasant. Personally experiencing some of those symptoms, It was frustrating to go through these daily thought patterns that result in hysterical and/or panic attacks. I also had an idea or two that getting stuck in the thought process of overthinking or what I refer to as the psychological trap was flagged as a 'weakness' as It was highly impacting areas of my life where:

"...Normal daily stressors were too stressful to deal with, Identification in differences between a 'real'  threat and potential threat presented itself as a challenge, and Any place/area that was not psychologically marked as a 'safe territory' was deemed dangerous and off-limits." 

extracted from Salsabeelah's Self-Reflection Journal (V.1)

Step 2: Data Collection

So, the behavioral issue identified in my situation is over-thinking. Next, step two is to collect as much information about that issue. I did this in the form of self-reflection vlogs and journaling.

Step 3: Analyze the Data for Trends and Patterns

After which, step three is to go through all the data you have collected and analyze the triggers and patterns that occur the most frequently. In a nutshell, the behavioral issue identified in my situation is overthinking. Further, the trigger or starting points are when I make a mistake or achieve below the goal I have set for a task. The pattern that occurs the most frequently is overanalyzing the situation. According to an article written by theawarenesscentre.com they highlighted that

"Overthinking is also known as ‘analysis paralysis’ because by thinking too much you’re getting stuck in your thoughts and stopping yourself from taking action".

Step 4: Understand the General Theme of Trends and Patterns

The final step is to understand how you can transform the behavioral issue - your 'weakness' to unleash your inner hidden strength. In my case, the general theme was analyzing situations. I then categorized my analysis into 'Healthy' analysis and 'Destructive' analysis. The former being analysis that were sound (logical) and were backed with data while the latter being analysis that were solely based on my feelings. I then figured out that I do have a great interest in exploring data which prompted me to start a Google Certified Course on Data Analytics and this can later be added as an additional strength.

Concluding Remarks:

The realization of your ability to transform a problematic behavior into a potential added strength can help you become and remain inspired.

I hope this article will be resourceful to you! #getinspired #thegrowthlimitdoesnotexist

References

1. https://theawarenesscentre.com/seven-strategies-to-stop-overthinking/

2. https://www.healthshots.com/mind/mental-health/overthinking-and-its-impact-on-your-mental-health-know-from-an-expert/

3. https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/healthy-mind/how-can-i-stop-overthinking-everything

4. Santas, G. (1966). Plato’s Protagoras and Explanations of Weakness. The Philosophical Review, 75(1), 3–33. https://doi.org/10.2307/2183590