Weakness - the state or condition of lacking strength.
Google's definition of weakness is rather vague, so let us take it a step further: weakness - lack of knowledge and skills, leaving one in a vulnerable state or a state of discomfort.
That is my definition, so take that Google!
Being as that we are human, weakness is nothing more than having common flaws.
Maybe you're not a good communicator and speaking to people makes you uncomfortable.
Maybe you're not the best driver and you dent your car every time you leave a parking lot.
Or maybe you lack emotional intelligence and don't know how to sort out your own feelings or put them into comprehensible words to help yourself understand why you feel the way that you do.
Whatever it is, we all have weaknesses and we all have strengths.
It is very common for us to lean on our strengths because our strengths will often have a better chance of keeping us out of trouble.
Moments of vulnerability leave us exposed, like we are in a theater full of people butt naked.
Oh wait, I have done that before...
Either way, these vulnerable moments often make us uncomfortable and we naturally tend to shy away from these moments of vulnerability.
Maybe you have experienced trauma before in your past and it hinders your ability to open up about your past traumas to other people, which is extremely common.
However, when things like past trauma effect our thoughts and behaviors in real time, understanding how to communicate these experiences will allow us to better understand the roots of our problems, and better understand ourselves.
The ability of identifying our weaknesses is the first place to start.
As I stated above, having weaknesses is having a lack of skills or knowledge about something that we are trying to make sense of.
It is important to note that not everyone will truly understand their weaknesses and this is often how people end up with the victim mentality.
The thought that the world or other people owe you things because x happened to you is an irrational thought.
With that being said, being able to identify your weaknesses will allow you to search for those strengths in others, and this is how quality teams are built.
When you are a part of a team, your skills and knowledge make you a valuable asset to that team based off of what you are best at.
Maybe you are a great critical thinker and you have the final say in being able to make decisions for your team, but you lack in the field of creativity.
On the flip side of that, you could be extremely creative and lack the ability to make critical decisions.
This is why being able to identify your weaknesses for the purpose of building a team can be one of your greatest assets in life.
Whether it is personally related or professionally related, building a quality team is the key to success.
Your personal life matters just as much as your professional life, so it is important that who you choose to surround yourself with has your best interests at heart because you are working together to achieve a common goal.
Think of it in terms of having a relationship with a partner - finding the person that gains where you lack and lacks where you gain, I believe is the key to having a long, healthy, and successful relationship.
This is exactly why men and women were made for each other - to work together to create and sustain human life on earth.
Where men lack, women gain, and where women lack, men will gain.
It is a matter of being able to identify your weaknesses and choose the person that excels in the areas that you don't.
Take me for example, I work extremely hard at anything I put my hands on or put my mind to because I am diligent and willing to go through as much pain as I have to, but I am also extremely mental and lack the ability to just turn my brain off.
So I know that whatever woman I choose to be a part of my life will have to provide a space for me to turn my brain off when my work for the day is complete.
Being hard on yourself is a double-edged sword because on one side, it can be a great source of power, but on the other, you can push away people that genuinely care about you.
The ability to distinguish the difference and turn your weaknesses into strengths is the true meaning of self-mastery.
The work is never truly complete because there are always going to be new challenges that arise, more people to serve, and more knowledge to gain.
Work hard, be diligent, work on harnessing your weaknesses as strengths, and you might just end up liking the person you become in the process.