You’re good at some things. You’re not so good at others. We have strengths and, of course, we have weaknesses.

How do we respond when we realize that we’ve got a weakness? Many of us react by attempting to improve our weakness. We see it as a failing, and we go to work.

Case in point: I know a lawyer who has been working on building his network of contacts and referral sources. He establishes a networking goal each month and sets out to meet it. He fails. Month after month, he develops a plan, writes it down, and pushes himself to get it done. It doesn’t happen. The month goes by, and he never gets to his project.

I’ve suggested that he give up. I think he should move on to something that he’s good at, that he enjoys doing, and that he will actually accomplish. He pushes back against my advice. He thinks he should overcome his resistance and master networking. I don’t think it’s going to happen. My belief is that he would have done it by now if he were going to do it.

Which Gets You More: Improving a Weakness or Exploiting a Strength?

Instead of working on his weakness, I think he should go with his strength. When it comes to marketing his practice, he’s really good at marketing on the Internet. He has a good website with some clever videos and other excellent content already published. He’s creative, and he brings energy to his website efforts.

In this situation, it makes more sense for him to exploit his strengths rather than attempt to overcome his weaknesses. He has more to gain by doing more of what he’s good at doing. Realistically, he’s attempted to overcome his networking weakness, and his efforts aren’t working. It’s markedly more efficient for him to go with his strengths and abandon his effort to correct his weakness.

We’re all monitoring ourselves constantly. We see the victories, and we see the defeats. Instead of spending your time trying to fix the things that aren’t working, let yourself choose to do more of the things that are working. Win more by going with your strengths.