Acknowledging Your Weaknesses

The example in the book about Rudy, to me somewhat leaves out an important factor. There is no question he is not the best football player in the world, and that perhaps his time can be better spent elsewhere. However, maximizing productivity using the talents we naturally have ignores the idea that we do not enjoy doing what we can do well. There are certainly numerous statistics showing that employees enjoy their jobs better when they are doing something they are good at, but in the case of Rudy he followed his passion. We may not all be the best at what we want to be, but if we acknowledge that there is no reason we cannot follow that path despite that. True, it may not be the most efficient use of our time, but efficiency should not take precedence over that which we want to do.

This reminds me of another example I heard along these lines from one of my professors. A student of hers wanted to be an artist, but she was not very talented in this area. Instead of giving up, she worked hard to cultivate some kind of artistic talent. She now waits tables in New York and only occasionally has her pieces displayed in small galleries. There is no doubt she would be more successful doing something else, but she is happy.