Freak Factor

Here is a link to David Rendall's "Freak Factor." Please read this over before continuing with this week's blog.
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In David Rendall's interesting article, he goes over nine ways of discovering and dealing with your weaknesses to show your uniqueness. Finding your weakness, acknowledging your weakness, realizing your weakness makes you unique and flawless, not trying to fix it, building on your strengths, realizing you can't do both, finding the right fit, the power of being unique, and putting your quirks to work are all parts of david's interesting outlook. for each of these nine suggestions, I have come to find that agree with them all. I think, for the most part, all of them are valid. I may disagree with just a touch of each, but overall I do agree.

The three suggestions I plan to respond to are What's My ProbleM?, Forget It: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses, and Fit: Find the Right Spot.

What's My Problem? deals with taking all the weaknesses you have accumulated over the years and realizing that those weaknesses can actually help you. They can do this by being the clues to your strengths. For example, he used the facts that he was hyperactive and not able to sit still as a way to get him to stand up and talk as a professor, speaker, consultant. I think this is an extremely valid suggestion. I think I can very well use this into my own creative life. This is just one example. I am no longer a media major, but a computer science major. I don't like working with others and I spend too much time on my computer. This is perfect for the long hours I have to spend in the computer lab working on a program such as checkers or something similar. Our programs aren't in groups, and I am able to sit on the computer. I'm not sure how much this will change getting into my career, but I still believe that I will be able to use them to my advantage. If I were to have stayed with video production, I think that this suggestion would have helped me there as well too. Many Media majors tend to be rebellious. Many media majors tend to be seen as different, whether it is with the clothes they wear, the hairstyle they have, or the way they talk. The thing about that is though, it makes them creative and unique. That in turn, will make for a more unique and creative outlook on their media projects. That is exactly what is needed when getting your degree in media. You aren't going to get far without new ideas.

Forget It: Don't Try and Fix Your Weaknesses deals with the fact that there is no point in trying to fix your weaknesses. I really liked the quote that was put at the top, said by Dr. Phil McGraw. "You can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken." He goes through and says that you shouldn't try and fix your weaknesses for reasons such as it is slow to do, it is painful to do, it distracts us from activities where we could make significant progress, and it doesn't actually work. Even if we were to fix a weakness, it still doesn't become a strength. I think this is extremely valid. I especially am fond of the fourth reason stating that it doesn't actually work. I have never really thought about the fact of even if you fix a weakness, it doesn't become a strength. Therefore, it didn't actually do anything. It's such a simple idea, but it blows my mind kind of. I think fixing your weaknesses is not what you should spend your life doing, but rather use them as an advantage to get farther in your career. A video production major can use their unique flaws to bring something new to the table. A fresh and creative outlook is needed to go far, especially in that business, so why would you try and change what can help you achieve that? It just seems silly to me.

Fit: Find the Right Spot brings forth the example of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He talked about how Rudolph was a freak. I mean, let's face it, his nose glowed. His nose was a very obvious and huge flaw. He became unpopular because of it. He tried to fix his flaw, and his parents helped by trying to put black rubber on top of his nose. Clearly, trying to fix this flaw didn't work. However, soon he came to find that he would be destined to be such a huge helper, and even become famous. His situation changed. His legacy became a perfect fit between his unique qualities and the situation. Rendall goes on to say that you don't need to wait to find that perfect fit, but rather seek it out. In college especially, with the media major, you are encouraged to try new things. Go behind the camera, direct, work editing, and more. This enables you to find that perfect fit. This enables you to find what works for you, as well as what you love to you. You may be flawed with some areas, but those flaws may get you farther in other areas. It is all about experimentation. As for going farther into your career, you can experiment with different genres, or different types of movies. You may have more of a creative mind with one over the other. You just need to use your unique thoughts to your advantage, and that will help you to find your perfect fit.

As for my strengths and weaknesses, I really dont' think that I have come to find them to be as strong as they are discussed in this article. I really think that dealing with those types of things really come into effect when you get out of college and start your career. For example, my sister just recently got her first nursing job in a hospital. She had told me that she learned more being at that hospital for five minutes than in her entire college career. I think that once you actually get into a real career, your strengths and weaknesses will really be a huge part. IN college, we are still experimenting with what we want to do. The most our weaknesses will cause is a failed test. My strengths now are my writing skills and my ability to communicate with people well. My weaknesses now involve procrastination and my love for junk food. However, those weaknesses are not going to make or break me right now, and I am still strong enough to control those weaknesses. Once I get into the real world, I will really allow my strengths and weaknesses to come into play, and I will really see where they take me.