10 Areas of Weakness That are Holding you Back from Your Dreams

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• The Syllabus Study Planner

• The Pomodoro Planner

• A Confidence Tracker

• A Q&A planner

• The “Get Organized Checklist”

• and more!

This workbook is full of super useful resources that can be applied to every aspect of your day.

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Weaknesses, we all have them.  Our kryptonite, if you will. 

Maybe you can’t focus in the morning without a shot of espresso.  Perhaps you allow stress to get to you, or you are hot-headed.  There are as many examples as there are people on the planet. Regardless of what your weakness is, you can overcome it.  Be it something monumental or a mere inconvenience, we can make a blueprint to mitigate the effects. We all have dreams, plans, and goals, but we don’t all achieve them.

So, what is the difference between dreamers and achievers? 

Well, firstly, all achievers were once dreamers too.  However, they didn’t let their weaknesses impede them one bit.  They identified weak areas and made a plan to overcome them. Then, they created an achievable plan to chase that dream and achieve it.

These are 10 areas of weakness you should identify that are holding you back from your dreams.  And we even give you some tips on overcoming these obstacles so you can build the life you want.

10 Areas of weakness that you should identify

We are often extremely self-conscious about our own weaknesses.  Even though everyone has areas that they could work on.  For some reason, we allow ourselves to believe that having a weak point somehow makes us less than everyone else.

This isn’t true.  We seek out and identify our weaknesses so that we can make a plan to compensate.  If your weakness is spiders, I’m not going to tell you to adopt a tarantula.  Instead, let’s make plans that don’t involve befriending an arachnid.  Knowing you have this weakness allows you to make a plan to avoid it or arm yourself with the best in spider-fighting technology just in case we have to face one.

Identify your weakness in learning styles?

If you know what learning techniques you are weak in, you know what activities you need to avoid during study time.  If you can’t escape these exercises, supplement them with extra tasks. 

If you know that just hearing a lecture is not enough to fully understand a concept, you also need to seek out visual examples. 

Discourage yourself from just listening to a tutorial.  You know that you will learn better if you watch demonstrations. If you do choose to listen to a lecture or an explanation on the subject, supplement this by taking notes as you listen. Creating diagrams or concept maps of the information you were given can also help ensure that you’re retaining the material, thus making up for your weakness. 

What is your weakness in the subject matter?

The most popular misconception in school is that there is such a thing as a “math person.”  This, of course, is just an example.  While some people may be more inclined to think mathematically or scientifically, no one is just born with an innate ability to excel at these subjects without putting in the work.

Anyone can be great at any subject if they are interested in it and put forth the effort.  In saying this, there will be different subjects that you will struggle with more than others.  These might be subjects that you have little interest in or have had limited past exposure to.

If you are aware that you are weak in a particular area and want to do well in it, you have to be conscious of this and plan accordingly. Be patient with yourself and construct a plan. 

Adding a little extra TLC to your study plans, and doubling your usual efforts, will be beneficial.  Budget your time accordingly.  If you have a semester where you need to take a class that you are especially weak on, you may want to plan the rest of your course load accordingly. Filling your remaining blocks with subjects you find easier will allow you the extra focus for this problematic class.

Discover your weakness in concepts

Even courses that you are comfortable with can contain incredibly complicated concepts.  Be mindful of these intricate models so that you can plan your study efforts accordingly.

If you have reached a complex topic in an otherwise simple course, don’t be afraid of it.  On the flip side, don’t be overly confident either.  Add extra time to your study schedule for that class. 

Plan some extra study sessions or activities for this theory.  More likely than not, this topic will be further built upon.  Addressing any misunderstandings early will ensure that you stay on top of the content.  When new concepts are introduced that develop upon the original idea, you will be less likely to struggle with them as well.

What is your weakness in teaching styles?

Some professors you will just vibe with, and some you won’t.  This has nothing to do with personality or how you get along with them on a personal level.  Sometimes you just have a difficult time adapting to a particular professor’s teaching style.

This is okay.  As long as you are honest with yourself and aware of how you plan to compensate for this. You will be okay. 

If you have difficulty with the way a professor lectures, make sure that you are coming to classes extra prepared. 

• Read the topic in the textbook before arriving at class. 

• Write out any notes on confusing concepts.

• Put vocabulary in your own words. 

• Make questions about the core premise of this concept before you go to class. 

If you do not know the answer by the end, ask the professor before they proceed to the next lesson.  If there are any questions left unanswered after class, bring them to the professor or ask them aloud.

Taking these few extra precautions can ensure that you are not left cluelessly flailing through classes and hating the entire experience. 

Identify what stresses you out.

If you know what your stress triggers are, you can make a plan to avoid them. If deadlines push you to the edge, use your syllabus to plan out all the due dates for the semester. This will allow you to budget your time accordingly from day one.  If studying stresses you out, make a plan for creating study guides to schedule your time and vary the activities. 

As long as you can identify what stresses you out, you can either avoid it. Or make a plan to mitigate it.

Taking a pre-emptive approach to lessening or avoiding stressors can help to save you from burnout. Once the stress is triggered, however, you should seek immediate action to address and deescalate it.  Taking time out for regular self-care can also help to relieve stress.  And walking away from stressful situations and taking a breather is not selfish. It is necessary. 

Do not feel guilty for taking time out for yourself.  Sometimes you have to say no and prioritize your own needs when you are overburdened.

Pinpoint what causes you to procrastinate.

Procrastination has many faces and even more triggers.  If you know that one quick youtube video can quickly turn into a 3-hour long binge-fest, it is probably best to wait until after you have addressed your obligations to open the app.

Being honest with yourself and aware of procrastination triggers can pre-emptively save you time and stress. Take care of your obligations first, then procrastinate. It will feel so much better, not having the nagging weight of everything you are supposed to be doing pressing down on you. 

First, figure out what kind of procrastinator you are.  We have an excellent video for this.  Next, make a solid plan on how to avoid procrastinating.  Finally, make a contingency plan on how to exit the cycle once you have noticed yourself starting.

Uncover your distractions.

Some people study best with music or their favourite TV show playing in the background.  Others get distracted at the slightest noise.  Knowing what kind of interferences can completely pull your focus is essential in setting up your study session.

Identify what kind of distractions pull your focus the most.  Is it people walking around? Or the view of someone watching a movie out of the corner of your eye?  Realizing what distractions pull your focus is a critical first step in overcoming them.

If you have trouble with auditory distractions, try wearing headphones or earbuds when studying or doing homework in busy areas. 

You don’t have to have anything playing.  The noise-cancelling properties of these gadgets should muffle the voices enough for them to be indistinguishable.  Sometimes this is enough to avoid distraction and turn intrusive talking into white noise.

Be alert for triggers.

Whenever you pick a location to settle in and get some work done, do a quick survey for distractions or triggers.  Is the area too loud?  Do they have a tv directly in your line of sight?  Are people continuously walking around you or bumping into you?

Being alert for these disturbances can help resolve you to push through them before becoming a problem.  It is not always necessary to find a completely silent space devoid of any diversions.  This study location can have its own benefits when trying to hunker down and push through the temptation just to give up and socialize.

Schedule around your weaknesses

Sometimes the time of day can be your weakness.  Are you a morning person or a night owl? 

If you notice that you are incredibly productive in the morning but drag in the evening, do not force yourself to study at night.  The same logic applies if you find yourself alert late at night. 

Plan your homework and study time around when you are most alert and productive.  Plan your leisure and self-care time around your slumps.  It’s often like walking through quicksand to motivate yourself to do something against your body’s clock…. Daylight savings, anyone?

Make a plan to conquer each.

Create strategies and backup strategies that can work around or compensate for your weaknesses.  There is no shame in having a weak point, just as long as you are honest about it and ready to address it. No one is perfect, and being conscious of where you can, and want, to improve is a terrific first step.

Often, simply being aware of areas of weakness is enough to counteract them.  As long as you are mindful of shortcomings, you can make a plan to compensate.

Knowing the areas in which you are weak is not meant to diminish your confidence or make you feel bad. Identifying the areas in which you are vulnerable will help bring awareness to improve your efforts or take extra precautions to make up for deficiencies.

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of our free study session planner.  This tracker has a list of more than 20 study activities and templates to help you plan your study sessions for the entire semester.  Just click this link to download.

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