How many times have you caught yourself trying to
blame everyone and everything else for your shortcomings, when in reality, you
just couldn’t sum up the courage to face your weaknesses head on? In order to
fulfill our goals, we don’t need to “conquer the world” and be better than
everyone else. All we have to do is master ourselves and work on becoming the
best version of ourselves by overcoming our weaknesses.
In working towards self-improvement, we often turn
to finding inspiration in others who have made it. There is something
comforting in knowing that today’s leaders in their niche were once a
work-in-progress just like ourselves with many personal obstacles and struggles
to face.
Looking at Richard Branson’s life right now, it may
seem like he is one of those lucky ones who made it in the tough world of
entrepreneurial competition, yet you would be surprised to hear the personal
struggle he went through to get there. And the only competition he faced was
himself.
With disabilities such as dyslexia, shyness, lack of
academic education and experience, Richard Branson could have decided to give
up and give in to his weaknesses, but he decided to persevere in his fight for
self-betterment, and that’s what has made him the man he is now.
Let’s take a look at Richard Branson’s formula for
success and how he has used his weaknesses to his advantage to make himself
stronger.
Dream
big
Starting a career can seem daunting for most people
and a lack of experience can make any goal seem unattainable. Starting out in
the publishing business, Richard Branson didn’t have much experience. However,
instead of letting his lack of experience stop him, he found a way to shift the
focus on the goal and learned and improved himself along the way.
Rather than being paralyzed by fear of the new, you
have to keep in mind that dreams are realized by action. If you don’t set your
bar high you will never know how far you can go. Therefore, before giving up,
dare to dream big and work on yourself in the process.
Surround
yourself with the best people
Believing we are alone and that we have to do all
the work ourselves in order to be successful won’t get us nowhere. This is
something Richard Branson realized early on. In order to achieve your goals,
you need to know what you are best at and to focus your energy on that, leaving
other experts to do the rest. Not having advanced computer skills, Branson
realized that he should assign those tasks to people much more qualified for it
thus building an amazing team of experts. Without losing time or energy feeling
bad about ourselves for not having certain skills, we should rather focus on
cultivating our talents and work on teaming up with other exquisite individuals
to uplift and complement us.
Make
your own way
Another excuse people make for not living up to
their potential is their inability to follow through with formal education.
Most would just give up thinking they were not meant to achieve great things in
life and surrender to a mediocre life full of regrets. Not Richard Branson.
After quitting school he realized that he wasn’t feeling comfortable following
someone else’s rules, so he made his own. He was brave enough to follow his
passion and find work that felt meaningful to him. The success that followed
came as no surprise.
This particular story from Branson’s life is
probably the most powerful one since it speaks of great things being achieved
through shedding new light on one’s weaknesses and transforming them, so, in
order to truly live your dreams, you must embrace your weaknesses and turn them
into your most powerful assets.
Learn
by actively listening
If the listed challenges weren’t enough, Branson had
to struggle with dyslexia as well, which makes perfect excuse for many to quit
studying. Once again, he rose above it by using it to his advantage. Branson
started cultivating his listening abilities instead, which was of tremendous
importance to his career. Firstly, it gave him the opportunity to really hear
the needs of customers which benefited his businesses greatly. Additionally, he
learned how to dissect the information he was receiving from others by taking
only advice he considered good and learning the rest on his own.
There is always a way to make the best of our flaws
only if we stop regarding them as such and make them work in our favor.
How to fail
So often, when thinking about successful people’s
careers, we tend to focus on finished products of their struggle and ignore the
many failures they encountered. That is why so many of us give up trying after
the first fiasco feeling disappointed with ourselves. Yet, we should remember
that failures are our best teachers, as they ultimately lead us to success as
Branson himself has learned through many such experiences.
Even he has had failures, but he learned early on
that they are part of the journey and that we should take our time and learn
our lessons to build ourselves up and be stronger than ever.
Have fun
In order to avoid stress from trying to juggle work
and fun that many people are facing today, we could take Branson’s advice and
make both equally enjoyable.
The trick is to choose the profession we are
passionate about. Then we would gradually lose the line between work and play
as both become fun and make us feel great. Additionally, by doing the work we
enjoy, our confidence level increases making us more eager to face our
weaknesses. Branson has set great example for all of us by finding creative
ways to overcome shyness and fear of public speaking. He learned how to make it
more fun and natural by imagining he was speaking to a friend. Branson decided
once again to not let his shortcomings stand between him and his dreams
teaching us that anything is possible when we start embracing our personal
weaknesses and realize they are actually our best motivators.
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