When I look back at my racing career, I can see where my natural talents gave me an edge. For me, it was my track speed, my technique, and my explosiveness out of the gate. These weren’t just small advantages, they were the foundation that I could build everything else upon. I made a conscious decision to leverage those strengths to separate myself from the competition.
But here’s the catch: no one is perfect, and I certainly wasn’t. I had weaknesses that needed attention like my start technique, my endurance, my overall fitness. If I ignored those areas, they would hold me back. So yes, I worked on them. I trained hard, pushed myself to improve, and closed those gaps. But I never lost sight of my biggest assets. I knew that my best chance at winning races wasn’t just about fixing every weakness,it was about making sure I was continually finding ways to leverage what I did best.
Too often, people make the mistake of putting all their focus on weaknesses. We’ve all heard the advice: “Work on what you’re not good at.” And while there’s truth in that, it can be dangerous if it causes you to neglect your strengths. If you spend all your time trying to turn your weaknesses into average skills, you’ll end up being average across the board. On the other hand, when you leverage your strengths, you double down on what makes you unique, the talents and abilities that already set you apart. Essentially, what makes you, you.
Think about it in the context of business. If you’re a natural communicator who can inspire and connect with people, that’s a strength worth leveraging. Sure, you may still need to work on your spreadsheets or systems, but your competitive advantage lies in the ability to influence, motivate, and lead. If you ignore that to spend all your time trying to become a spreadsheet wizard, you’re not only wasting time, you’re ignoring what already makes you great.
Or in leadership: maybe your strength is vision and strategy, but you aren’t naturally detail-oriented. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t improve your organizational skills, but it does mean you should leverage your vision while building a team that can support you where you’re weaker. That combination of improving weaknesses while amplifying strengths is the real formula for peak performance.
In my own career, the times when I was at my absolute best were when I leaned hardest into my strengths. When I leveraged my explosiveness out of the gate, I often took the holeshot and the lead before the first turn. When I leveraged my track speed, I was able to hold off any challengers. And when I leveraged my technique, I minimized mistakes under pressure. That’s what led me to the Olympic podium, not trying to be flawless in every area, but being relentless about maximizing the gifts that gave me the best chance to win. I ultimately won with trackspeed and technique, not my start technique. Ironic.
Here’s the takeaway: you should absolutely work on your weaknesses. Improvement is important. But don’t let that come at the cost of neglecting what makes you great. Success in sports, in business, or in life comes from the ability to leverage your strengths, again and again, until they become your unfair advantage.
The question you should ask yourself is simple: What do I do better than most? What comes naturally to me? Once you’ve identified that, the challenge becomes finding ways to leverage those strengths in your career, your relationships, and your personal growth.
When you commit to that balance, improving weaknesses while relentlessly leveraging strengths, that’s when you give yourself the best chance to reach peak performance. And that’s when you discover what you’re truly capable of.
– Connor Fields
