In Section 22 you made a list of personal ‘weaknesses’. Note that I’ve put the
word in inverted commas, since some may not be weaknesses at all, just your
perceptions.
Weaknesses come in three types:
■ Important traits which can be worked on, perhaps even eliminated if you want
to and are willing to put in a little time and effort. These include those which
originate in conscious attitudes or beliefs, are the result of flawed condition-
ing, or are basically down to lack of resolve, such as lack of patience or
persistence, or laziness.
■ Those which make little difference to your life, or are relatively unimportant. For
example, I have never learned to draw but it doesn’t bother me because I have
other priorities and little interest. It hardly affects my life at all.
■ Those which are impossible to change. These must be accepted or circumvented.
For example, a person prone to congenital depression can learn to live with it
and still have a successful and relatively happy life.
It’s important to know which of your so-called weaknesses fall into each category.
Then, like Benjamin Franklin, you can develop an active, systematic programme
which will lead to steady improvements.
(^36) Overcoming weaknesses