Daily Inspiration 3-8-14

"Success is achieved 

by developing our strengths, 

not eliminating our weaknesses." 

 -- Marilyn vos Savant 

When I first saw this quote today, I thought, "gee, I could write a whole book on how many ways this applies in my life."

My first thought was about business, and how sometimes people get to a point in a business where they try so hard to eliminate their weaknesses; e.g., cut all expenses. They seem to think that they can make a profit by cutting expenses, or eliminating weaknesses. Now, I agree that there are some things that can be temporarily curtailed, cuts can be made, but that is not the way to profit. The way to profit is to focus on the strengths and expand them. Cutting just makes you less than you were, whereas expanding your strengths makes you more than you were. Choose one: growth or death.

In my personal expenses, I can cut for a while, tighten my belt, go without for a time, but the real answer is not this. It is to focus on my strengths and expand. Life is growth. Decline is death.

I've been around so many businesses, many intimately, where they got on to an expense cutting tirade, which I call tripping over dollars to save nickles. If that energy were spent moving forward on our strengths--and I don't mean spending recklessly--the gains would make all the difference. It's not expenses, it is sales. 

Focusing on eliminating weaknesses, in our business and our personal lives is like standing still or going backward, whereas expanding our skills, our knowledge, our strengths is moving forward and growing.

To some who might think that this is a trap of becoming obsessed with getting bigger. It isn't about getting bigger, it is about being alive and growing. You don't have to be bigger to grow. There are lots of ways to grow and expand; to become more than we were before.

As long as I am living, I will be wanting more. This doesn't necessarily mean the same thing. It could be something different. It could be a change of careers, or any number of changes, but in all it is living, breathing, moving, and growing.


Focus On Your Strengths. Expand Your Strengths. Become Even More Alive. 

Spread Some Joy Today--How can you help someone else find their strengths? It's a joy creator.