When Passion Meets Weakness

In yesterday’s post, I made the assertion we should focus on areas of personal strengths, not areas of weakness, when we are looking to better ourselves. That goes against our natural tendency. We usually see areas of weakness as a barrier to excellence. I suggested pouring more time and effort into our strengths, so as to push us past a threshold we’ve been bumping up against, into an elite status of functioning.

I’m sure you are thinking of exceptions to this or asking the question “Is there ever a time when it’s OK to focus on improving a skill you simply don’t have?”

I believe so, if this is the case - when you discover a new passion. Then I could see the logic in starting from the ground up and pursuing that passion with full intensity. This would be all the more appropriate if the newfound passion connected in some way with another segment of your life - like what has happened to me with Luke1428.

I’ve been blogging now for almost 18 months, publishing over 200 posts. This adventure has developed into a passion of mine but clearly, from my perspective anyway, I’m still grossly inadequate at many things blog related. I’d put myself at maybe a 3 on 1-10 scale, with ten being someone who possesses the complete package of knowledgeable and skill necessary to run a successful blog.

Yet I love to write and express ideas. It excites me to see people excel with their finances and reach their dreams. I believe in sharing uplifting and inspiring ideas about life and family and faith. These are natural life passions that blogging seems to naturally intersect with as a means of expression and fulfillment.

So in this case, I’ll work really hard on my blogging weaknesses. The odds I reach an 8 or 9 on the awesome-blogger scale are remote. But if my blogging skills can be raised to a 5 (maybe a 6) while still working to improve the strengths I already posses, I believe Luke1428 will make a small mark in the personal finance blog world.

Have you ever discovered a passion that you absolutely were terrible at in the beginning?

Image at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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A special thank you to Mom and Dad Money, Dreams Cash True and FI Journey for including Luke1428 posts in their weekly roundup.

Here are some Luke1428 posts that were mentioned in a recent blog carnival:

”5 Common Rental Real Estate Mistakes You Will Make” was included in:

The Carnival of Financial Planning at The Money Principle

The Carnival of Financial Independence at Your PF Pro

The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie at Digital Personal Finance

“ATTN Men: A Women Values Security. Get It For Her!” was included in the personal finance carnival at Aspiring Blogger.

Thank you to the carnival hosts for including my posts!

http://modestmoney.com/ Simon | Modest Money

I think you are much better than the 3 range you rate yourself on

Personally, I like programming, I like making code come to life but am rather bad at it. I might spend hours trying to fix something! I enjoy it though and keep pouring more time into it and once in a while everything will come together so beautifully that it amazes me.

I have embraced failure and that has made all the difference: http://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  Thanks Simon! I appreciate the vote of confidence. I view my strengths as being my writing skills and the type of ideas I present. I enjoy making people think and offering inspiration. I’m know I’m weak in the technical areas of blogging like site development, SEO and monetization. I’m also weak in the social media aspects in that I haven’t built a big following yet. In those weak areas, I’m just shooting in the dark sometimes to figure out what works.
http://prairieecothrifter.com/ Daisy @ Prairie Eco Thrifter

I was TERRIBLE at blogging to begin with. I’d write 100 word posts (paragraphs?) all about myself and publish them and then wonder why nobody was reading. I’ve improved a lot, and learned a lot of new skills along the way. It’s been an enriching experience.
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  I can relate to that. Blogging is definitely a growing process. Like anything else though, if you have a passion for it, you will find a way to get better at it.
Peter

Thanks for the encouraging post. I was pretty bad at preaching in the beginning… well still am, but I’ve gotten lot better and have a better grasp of it. It was a terrifying proposition at first, but I’m very thankful to see how God is at work in molding me into a preacher. I’m sure it’s the same with you.
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  Didn’t Paul say that God works through our weaknesses….”For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I’m sure He is doing that with you.
http://www.debtroundup.com/ Grayson @ Debt Roundup

I was terrible at creating websites when I started in college, but then I just took time to learn and I built a website that sold over $1 million worth of merchandise. I think you can certainly push yourself to excel.
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  Thanks Grayson…I appreciate the encouragement. I really need some type of tutoring course to expose me to the things I need to do better. As I mentioned to Holly, I don’t have a great understanding of what all those things are yet. And with limited time, it just makes it tough to move forward in that area.
http://www.youngadultmoney.com/ DC @ Young Adult Money

I would say I was pretty terrible at Microsoft Excel when I first started. I was so limited in what I could do compared to other people. I worked hard at it the past 3+ years though and now I’m one of the best at my work and continue to learn more every week. I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about investing in something you have a passion in. I am all for focusing on strengths, but if it’s something you love it make sense to put time and effort into improving a skill that you completely lack. But this is coming from a guy who says he has a “passion for spreadsheets” so maybe you should disregard my comments
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  Haha…This formula is for you DC! =SUM(E10/($E$3+$E$4))*100 (That’s about as complicated as I get in my Excel budget spreadsheets.)
Holly Johnson

It is really easy to compare yourself to other bloggers. I know very little about computers and technology so I always feel like I’m kind’ve out-of-the-loop. When something on the site breaks or goes wrong, I have no idea what to do.
- http://luke1428.com/ Brian @ Luke1428
  
  I feel the same way about blogging Holly. At this point, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to know.