Decline: Let go of a weakness

- The first choice you might make with a weakness is decline. Choose this for areas in which you're weak that have no value in your career and are completely avoidable. For example , it might be dealing with endless spam emails that arrive in your inbox, or it could be that people ask you to participate in tasks that have no real value in your career. It could be random ideas that distract you from what truly moves you forward in your career. When I say decline, I mean find a way to remove yourself from doing this type of task. The most important word when it comes to declining a weakness is no. You need to learn to say no, both to yourself and others. Odds are, if you've discovered a weakness has low value, you might find it easy to say no to yourself. Sometimes it's as simple as telling yourself, "I'm never going to waste time on this again." Sometimes you'll want to limit the kinds of media you consume and places you put yourself. If you're still struggling with saying no to yourself, try using a perhaps list. The perhaps list is where you put distracting ideas that you haven't committed to doing. When an idea comes to mind, put it on the list so you haven't lost it and then only review that list perhaps once a month. This way you use positive procrastination to avoid a low value weakness. When it comes to saying no to low value, avoidable requests from others, try slowing them down. Politely ask someone if they can email you the request or ask them to follow up with you again in a month. Obviously, you shouldn't do this with things that are required for your job or are necessary. Most people will forget to follow up with you, and if they do follow up, you can be more objective and craft a diplomatic reply. I wish I could do this, but unfortunately, I'm going to need to decline. Word it however you feel comfortable. Remember, when you say no to a weakness, you're saying yes to a strength. You're saying, "I'm going to devote more of my time "to the things that are high value "so I can advance in my career." There's strength in saying no to low value, avoidable weaknesses. Doing this will free you up to do your very best work.