What’s with self-help, anyway? Is it about your weaknesses or your strengths?

Far too often, self-help asks, “What’s wrong with me?”  This is only natural, we most often seek help when we see a problem.  And if we see a problem, it is a good thing to want to correct it or manage it.

But self-help should also be about asking, “What’s right with me?”  It should be about finding our strengths and building on them – about finding ways to leverage our strengths to live happier, more fulfilling lives and make life a wonderful experience  for everyone.

That is what any coach would tell you.  Yes, look for the weak spots.  Yes, try to correct as many weaknesses as possible.  Yes, find alternatives when you can’t correct a weakness sufficiently.

But you don’t win a game by just not being weak.  You win by being strong.

Self-help should focus on your strengths at least as much as your weaknesses.  What do you do well?  What could you be doing more of?  How can you use your strengths in new ways, in creative ways, to get the things out of life that you crave? How can your strengths bring the best out of people around you?

Look at both your weaknesses and your strengths.  You just might find a lot of exciting opportunities for a better life in both areas.

George Carlin: “I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, ‘Where’s the self-help section?’ She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.”

Vera Nazarian: “A fine glass vase goes from treasure to trash, the moment it is broken. Fortunately, something else happens to you and me. Pick up your pieces. Then, help me gather mine.”

Henry Ford: “If you think you can or you think you can’t either way you are right.”

Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”