Utilising "Unknown" Strengths
Can everything be used for “good” or “bad”?
Can anything be utilised for a “positive” or “negative” outcome?
Let’s take something as simple as water for example. Water is essential for everyone and all things living. We as humans need it to function and should ideally drink 1.5 - 2 litres every day.
Though whilst essential, we also know that overconsumption can lead to water intoxication.
Like water though, our personality traits can be used in a way that’s either good or bad. They can create benefits for ourselves and others as well as set up drawbacks.
We all have personal characteristics in which we operate from. While they can be changed by our actions and reactions, each of us tends to have ways of being that’s innate and shapes who we are.
Me for example, there’s two traits in particular that I believe to be strongest in my personality:
Curiosity
Stubbornness (I think others will tell you this one before anything else!)
Let’s use “stubbornness” as the example though.
Prior to my injury, the gym was a big part of my life. Driven by insecurities and comparisons, I wanted to be the biggest guy around.
Training and eating to the point of throwing up, it wasn’t a pretty picture.
Though it was through keeping stubborn and an image/goal in mind that I wanted to achieve that drove me.
Despite many people who loved me telling me to stop or at least settle it down a little; I kept going further and further. Pushing more and more every day.
Gaining 30kgs in 8 months and dropping 20kg in 4 all for one photo and I achieved my goal a week prior to my injury.
Reflecting on all that though, because I was driven from my insecurities and comparisons, things didn’t result as a positive.
Though, it is that same trait I had of stubbornness that I can utilise now in other aspects of my life.
Whether it be my career, dreams, education, skills, goals, etc.
Being stubborn will help my in my efforts towards those things.
Take basketball as the example. End of 2021, I bought a basketball and began shooting hoops at my local half-court for an hour or two everyday - I loved it.
I watched games of wheelchair basketball and thought it looked crazy fun, I wanted to see if I could play!
Being the end of the Sydney lockdown, most places hadn’t opened up skills training sessions though locally there was a session starting up in December - I was excited!
I arrived feeling eager to learn more and practice my skills. The coaches didn’t quite understand how to navigate the wheelchairs and the other 5 attendees were children under 12 - I was 22.
Nevertheless, I kept going to those sessions and began coaching basketball to able-bodied children to upskill my knowledge and basketball skills.
Consistently doing this for 3 months, as well as training in my own space at the local half-court, I found out state trials were on for a junior under 23 competition - The Kevin Coombes Cup.
I arrived on the first day and gave it my all. Asked each of the coaches before we left the first tryouts what I could improve on and they all gave me their piece of advice.
I went home that evening and watched Paralympic games for hours, doing my best to understand what they were doing on-court and what I could do also.
Arrived the second day and apparently had a noticeable difference.
There was even a third trial a month later, and with all the work I had done, I thankfully made the team and represented NSW in early 2022.
Not long after, I was consistently training with a national team in Wollongong that accepted me as one of their players for the 2022 season.
For my rookie season, I got 1:30 on court and made one bucket as a “low-pointer”.
I don’t think any of that would’ve been possible though if I wasn’t stubborn.
I took a trait that worked for me previously towards my insecurities, utilised it in a more meaningful way by using it towards my goals and dreams and created a great outcome.
Being stubborn can be used in negative ways though definitely can be used for a lot of positives.
Moving forward you’ll see me continue to use my stubbornness in basketball and many other dreams, goals and ambitions that I have. This is only just the beginning.
This is just one trait though, there are many others we could speak about and setup examples for though my question to you is the following:
How do you conduct yourself? And how can you best use that?
Just as we can enjoy waves at the beach to surf and ride, a tsunami is dangerous and can destroy lives - So choose which wave you surf carefully!
