The other day my friend was telling me about her acting woes. She’s auditioning a lot, she said, but none of the roles felt “right.”

“It’d be better if I wrote my own parts,” she said. “But I can’t see myself actually writing. And I’m not a self-starter. I just know myself – I’d never actually do it. I don’t work well without structure.”

That reminded me of something I read years ago:

Don’t spend much time trying to improve your weaknesses.

Instead, pour time into building up your strengths.

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If you’re naturally good at something – acting, research, managing a business, etc – chances are you’re better at that thing than most people.

You’re probably about as good as your competitors.

If you’re naturally bad at something – time management, writing, etc –then pouring energy and time into will probably get you up to about average.

Meanwhile, your competitors will be pouring energy into their strengths, and outsourcing their weak parts. They’re getting better than you in the thing you’re good at, while you toil away the hours at becoming average at something else.

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Time and energy are finite.

If we lived forever, then sure, it would be cool to transform our weaknesses in strengths and become an all-around super-talent.

But our careers are only a few decades long. Our projects, usually months or a couple years.

Working on improving a weakness is not (usually) the best use of time.

So:

Focus on building on your strengths.

Spend your time doing the thing you’re best at – weather that’s acting, closing deals, or conducting experiments.

And collaborate with people whose strengths are your weaknesses.

For my friend, that means collaborating with a self-starting writer (me!) while she works on acting and developing ideas about the acting parts she wants.

(Which is awesome, because it means we get to work together while doing the things we love.)

Build a team of people whose strengths supplement your weaknesses, whose vision complements yours.

Have you ever outsourced a weak spot in your project? What were the results?

If you’re looking for a self-starting writer who can help bring your book to life this year, let’s talk. I have an opening starting in March 2025 as either a ghostwriter or book coach.