Is weakness such a bad thing after all?

If Arjun learnt how to shoot a fish in the eye, if Jaspal Bindra learnt how to hit bulls eye, if Sachin learnt how to get to the line of the ball to get a boundary, if Ronaldo learnt how to dribble his way to scoring, if Vishwanathan Anand learnt how to outthink his opponents by sheer speed of his moves, if Roger Federer learnt using speed and reflexes to cover the court in totality, if Lance Armstrong built stamina, despite cancer, to cycle through the French Alps, if Mohammad Ali learnt how to sting like a bee and float like a butterfly in the boxing ring……..then there was also a time when all these icons did not. They did not know, or their bodies had not internalized how to hit bull’s eye or dribble or whatever was the skill. The source of their talent was uncharted territory.

Going from non-knowledge to knowledge, requires a desire, followed by concerted effort, focussing energy and resources on results, a good coach, patience and practise. Till such time that the body, the brain, limbs, joints, organs, muscles and other parts do not coordinate into one smooth, seamless action. That level of performance becomes the body’s new equilibrium.

So from weakness to strength is a continuum, where weakness is the absence and strength is the presence. A desire is what drives the individual will to learn and acquire new habits, skills and way of being. Fed by resources, a good coach, an environment to practise and feedback, is sufficient to deal with out-dated skills, habits, fear and complacency.

The fear of failure is more crippling than failure. We may fail 10 / 20 times in a lifetime, but failure prevents us from exercising our individual will 20 times per day. We spend recklessly on products to secure us against fear, while neglecting the cheapest one…… failing to encourage the individual will and sharing tips and insights to make learning a success.
What we can do is encourage the individual will, spot the spark now to convert weakness into strength, give that input now to let loose the discoverer, give a chance now to the risk taker, listen to the ideas of the fresher now.


Encourage your people to be the best of what they can “BE”