David Rendall's "FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness"
I just read the article linked above, "FREAK FACTOR", on changethis.com (such an excellent website) written by David Rendall, a speaker, author, consultant, and entrepreneur. Reading the excerpt about his life and his bio found on his web page, I learned that he is a true "freak", in that he grew up knowing he wasn't average or normal in many different aspects. He is dyslexic and hyperactive, and as child he was told it was a disadvantage and needed to be cured or worked on. He turned that boat right around and created quite a life for himself focusing on helping others redefine what weaknesses and strengths really are.
Here are three excerpts of advice that I really felt for:
2. What's My Problem?
What's My Problem takes all the labels of weaknesses that has been pinned on him by his teachers, parents, managers, friends, and wife, and then he does something that I should have thought about a long, long time ago. David Rendall took these labels of weakness and say them as clues to his inherent and natural strengths. Now his "hyperactivity" is a highly appreciated and employed attribute in his job where he gets to stand up and talk. It's not necessarily a flaw as a whole, you see, it has a place somewhere in some form.
This makes me wanna compile a list of my weaknesses and see what strengths they link to. Then I can stop being so frustrated at the thought of these inherent inabilities and see where they become an inherent ability. Maybe even a super ability if I happen to have a huge weakness. It's all about seeing the other side, and changing your perspective about yourself. Ya dig?
3. Flawless: There is Nothing Wrong with You
This is the next step in the process that I've created for myself after reading Rendall's article. In Flawless, David states that every characteristic, strength or weakness, acts as a double-edge sword. What he means is that any strength can also be a weakness in a sense, and vice versa. He says that "unfortunately, instead of seeing a weakness as natural and unavoidable consequence of its corre- sponding strength, we see weakness as a problem to be eliminated." Strengths are weaknesses, weaknesses are strengths, the two are inseparable. If I'm a very flexible person (not like physically flexible, I can barely touch my toes) it also means that I'm inconsistent. I can't have a flexible schedule and also be consistent with my schedule. Or at least not completely one or the other. You can find a balance.
This is where I take a look at my weaknesses, and even my strengths, and see what advantages and disadvantages each characteristic truly holds. And you know what, after that I am going to re-label my weak characteristics as a positive ones and then perform the next and final step.
5. Foundation: Build on Strengths
This section is the final step in the my personal process. I have to apply all my strengths (and new strengths) in areas where they satisfy and the ball starts rolling from there. David says that "your strengths are patterns of passion and proficiency. They are what you love to do. They are what you do well." I don't see why I should waste much of my time trying to "correct" my "weaknesses" when I know that I have strengths that not everyone else has, some strengths being exceptional, and they can be put into practice NOW!
Don't sit around and sob about the lack of some of your abilities, and don't try to work on those that you know are inherent and are too difficult to change, like dyslexia or hyperactivity. Most importantly, don't try to change qualities that provide a great strength that can be applied (referring to #3).
Rinse, repeat as necessary.
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