I am average in most things. Most people are.
Most of the time, just being average in most things is fine, because being average isn’t without benefits. For example, I was an average marathon runner, with my best time only 4:06, and an average mountain climber, with my most challenging summit being Mount Rainier, but both of these activities did bring me significant joy.
Yet as I get older, I find myself more focused on the parts of me that aren’t average: my 4-5 deep weakness and my 2-3 superpowers.
Now, in 2022, I want to spend most of my time working within the domain of my 2-3 superpowers, but to do this, I need to spend a sufficient amount of time (just enough time, but no more) ensuring that my 4-5 deep weaknesses don’t torpedo these superpowers.
This will require consistent self-reflection and honesty. I tend to overestimate my superpowers and underestimate my weaknesses. So to help counter this trend, I am find writing them down is helpful.
Explicitly writing down my superpowers and deep weaknesses does give me a minimal level of clarity on what they are and that means I have less room to fudge. It also gives me a working document that I can edit in the future as my self-reflection (hopefully) becomes increasingly refined.
Also, this exercise helps me with time management. I want the ratio of my superpower work to working on my weaknesses to be about 20:1 (provided, of course, that the “1” part of this ratio allows me to achieve an acceptable standard), and to make sure this happens, I need to track what they are.
Bottom line: I don’t want to spend a lot of time being average.