Flaws Help Reveal Your Strengths

We all have flaws. You can use your flaws as an excuse, or you can use your flaws as a springboard for achievement.

Muggsy Bogues was the shortest professional basketball player in history. Standing at just five foot three, he had no business believing he could play in the NBA.

But Muggsy didn’t care. He loved playing basketball. And he had some compensating strengths:

• Speed – Muggsy was often the fastest player on the court and he used his speed as a weapon against his opponents. Because of this speed, Muggsy ranked firth in the league in assists and tenth in the league in steals.
• Athletic – Muggsy had a 44 inch leap – that’s nearly four feet. No one in the NBA had a higher leap than Muggsy.
• Tenacity – Despite everyone telling Muggsy he would never make the H.S. varsity team, he did and dominated the competition. His team, the Dunbar Poets, went two seasons undefeated at 60-0. Despite everyone telling Muggsy he would never play college basketball, he played Division I basketball at Wake Forest. Despite everyone telling Muggsy he would never make the NBA, he was a first round draft pick by the Washington Bullets in 1987. But his coach, like most, didn’t believe Muggsy would succeed in the NBA and traded him to the Charlotte the following year. Muggsy had enormous success at Charlotte.
• Hard Work Ethic – Muggsy would practice his shooting, dibbling and passing, often eight hours a day. He’d even practice his dribbling while taking the trash out, as a kid.
• Focused – Muggsy studied the game, individual player basketball habits and their strengths and weaknesses. His basketball IQ was off the charts.
• Fearless – Muggsy was physically pushed around by many of the much bigger NBA players he faced. But Muggsy never let them intimidate him. He even famously stripped the GOAT, Michael Jordan, of the ball during an important playoff game.

Don not let flaws stand in the way of pursuing success. Do not make excuses due to your flaws, defects or deficiencies. Instead, use those flaws as a springboard, propelling you, against all odds, towards achievement.

Let your flaws expose your strengths. Let them motivate you to improve those strengths.