Blessing of Incompetence

We can’t be good at everything… There is a seductive illusion that we can…

We are thought that we should be all around good at doing things. We should be able to do anything that is required. However the truth is that we are not good at everything. On some things we are completely incompetents… and that is okay. There is nothing wrong with being bad and incompetent at something.

One of the most important things that we have to do in our life is to discover those things that we are good at. The things we are not good at might not be the things that we love doing, but we need to get a clear understanding on this subject in the first place.

Now… take a moment and think about those subjects that you are good at. Write them down on a pice of paper… No, really… do it.

Now look at them… There might not be lots of items and definitely “everything” might not be there… hopefully. That’s okay. If there is at least one thing written on that piece of paper than this is what we should focus on.

Investing time, energy and effort on becoming mediocre at a thing that we are not good at, is not worth it. Investing that time and energy in what we are good at, in order to become great, is what we should strive for instead.

If those things that we are not good at, that we are incompetent in doing, but we need to do anyway, we should ask ourselves this question. What will we do about it?

Should we talk about them, or just do the poor work and pretend it’s good?

When we admit that we have things that we are not good at, we might think that this is a sign of weakness. However it is quite the opposite. People are scared to talk about the things they are incompetent about. Those few that can talk about it freely can admit that they need help.

Human beings are social creatures, we rely on others. We should ask for help on subjects we are not good at. This is the core principle of any team, of any group. We bring our best competences to the table and we put our skills to work… to do great work.

Doing great work is in the end what makes a difference. Most of great work is the result of a team, rarely of a single individual. The car, the computer, social networks… are the result of great work made by teams of people.

Through this article series called “Minutes Mindset” I’m helping you build a solid mindset, writing my point of view on different subjects that we meet in our day by day life. I am a strong believer that once we can understand a subject, we can engage with the idea or refuse it all together. Both ways are helping us grow and develop our own way of seeing the world.

If you like my work, clap on it, share it with your friends and follow me.

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