Where to Focus

With a new year the traditional questions, good intentions, and admonitions for New Year's resolutions are pervasive.  We are encouraged, challenged, and scolded into making resolutions for this new year.  Is this Good? or Bad?  For now, I'm going to ignore the good or bad questions instead moving to what should be our focus this new year.  

Most people will focus on fixing what they perceive is "wrong" with them and fix that.  Some will focus on opportunities and goals.  Some will focus on getting those things done in the new year they weren't able to accomplish in the previous year.  I am going to focus on strengths and weaknesses for this blog.  

In my coaching and consulting with others most people gravitate toward fixing or working on their weaknesses.  They focus on the weaknesses believing their strengths will continue to be strengths.  Strengths are muscles of our lives.  If we don't use them they will atrophy and it will take a concentrated effort to regain their use.  Additionally, when we focus on weaknesses we walk a path which generally takes us away from doing what we are both good at and from doing what we really like.  Focusing on our weaknesses is like trying to teach a pig how to sing - it wastes our time and annoys the pig.  

I believe that if we focus on our strengths we will achieve excellence in our lives, enjoy what we are doing, and be happier in our lives.  I believe we need to:

                   Focus on our strengths and manage our weaknesses