assess your own flaws

everyone wants to talk about their strengths. nobody wants to sit down and make an honest inventory of their weaknesses. but the things you're avoiding looking at are exactly the things that are holding you back.

the uncomfortable inventory

grab a piece of paper. write down your top 5 weaknesses. not the fake ones you'd say in a job interview — "i'm a perfectionist" doesn't count. real ones. the things that cost you relationships, opportunities, health, and happiness.

maybe you're terrible at follow-through. maybe you avoid conflict until it explodes. maybe you spend money you don't have. maybe you lie to yourself about how much effort you're actually putting in.

this exercise should make you uncomfortable. if it doesn't, you're not being honest enough.

the strategic question

here's where it gets interesting. for each weakness, ask yourself: should i fix this, or should i work around it?

not every weakness needs to be improved. some can be delegated, automated, or made irrelevant by leaning harder into your strengths. a CEO who's terrible at detail work doesn't need to become detail-oriented — they need to hire someone who is.

but some weaknesses are so fundamental that they undermine everything else. if you can't keep commitments, no amount of talent will save your career. if you can't regulate your emotions, no relationship hack will fix your love life. those are the non-negotiable ones to work on.

ego vs. growth

the reason most people never do this exercise is ego protection. admitting weakness feels like admitting defeat. but the opposite is true — the people who know their flaws are the ones who can actually navigate around them. the people who pretend they have no weaknesses are constantly blindsided.

do it now

write the list. five genuine weaknesses. for each one, decide: fix or work around. then take action on one of them this week. self-awareness without action is just navel-gazing.

if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.