ITEM #5: Weaknesses

In David Rendall’s “FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness”, I have found that 2 of his suggestions for success are valid. I believe that Rendall’s suggestions of Failure and Fire are very good methods to follow when trying for success.

Fail: Allow employees to be the worst, so they can be the best.

From reading Rendall’s article, I have found that failure is the key to success. If no one ever failed, we would have a very messed up world. With failure comes motivation and determination. When you fail, you want to get back up and try again. If everyone succeeded at everything they tried, everyone would be lazy and not want to do anything. Failure is what makes us unique. Everyone is good at their own thing and has their special talents and interests. I can implement Rendall’s suggestion into my own creative life through the media classes that I am taking. If I struggle with a class or project and do poorly, it only motivates me and inspires me to try harder. With this motivation, it will help me to become a greater thinker, student, and eventually employee.

Fire: If you love them, set them free.

            I find that this suggestion from Rendall is valid because I believe that you should do what makes you happy. In Rendall’s article, he says “We waste far too much time trying to turn people into the person that we need.” (Rendall). We cannot control people and make them into something they aren’t. I believe that we must help people come into who they are and encourage them to be themselves. If we really care about them and their success, we must not be selfish and help them discover who they are, not who we want them to be. I can relate to this suggestion to my own creative life because it teaches me to not give up and do what I really want to do. Personally, I have found that there is a lot of competition for what I want to do in life. Sometimes I let this factor control me and persuade me to change my career path and goals in life. Rendall’s suggestion has helped me because I realize that if I love myself, I must give myself the best and work for what I really want to do. 

As far as the creative process is concerned, I believe that my weakness is inner strength and intimidation. Sometimes I find myself being negative and I often believe that I will fail. I believe that this field is very competitive and sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. I know that this is not true because deep down this is my passion and what I want to do. Although these are my weaknesses, I use them to help me. When I find myself being negative I stop myself and try to encourage myself that I can do it. I truly love everything with the creative process and I am constantly working hard to get where I need to be to make it my career. I believe that I can overcome my weaknesses with determination and drive to reach my goals.