The balance of duality, the whiplash of humility

Why is it that our greatest strength tends to become our greatest weakness?

Why is it that excellence inverts when it exists in an overabundance?

One theory is, it’s the fundamental duality of life. The yin and the yang. There is some kind of cosmic balance in this chaotic universe, where opposite and contrary forces are interconnected and mutually dependent, and they give rise to each other in turn.

Take the corporate account manager whose greatest strength is being a gifted salesperson. Every day, he expertly persists on phone calls until his prospects either buy or die. That skill is quite useful to boost bottom line revenue for the firm.

But the downside is, he annoys everyone in the office. Because he never shuts up. That’s where his strength becomes a weakness. He closes deals all morning, but nobody wants to sit with him during lunch.

We used to have a salesperson like that on our team. The guy could sell water to a fish. Truly a masterclass watching him close deals.

Meanwhile, he drove most of the other employees mad. In fact, our founder used to say, if that guy wasn’t such an amazing closer, we would have fired him years ago.

Wow, would you want to your boss to say that about you?

Another theory as to why strengths become weaknesses is moderation. Meaning, the process of eliminating or lessening extremes. You overplay something good and you risk a diminished capacity on the opposite pole. Because even good things can become bad if they’re excessive.

Imagine a freelance designer who insists on upholding her cherished ideals in every project she accepts. She refuses to work with clients whose brands don’t sell socially conscious products and services.

Now, this level of integrity earns her a notable reputation in the industry, along with a portfolio that makes her proud. That is, until times are tight. Like when the economy hits the shitter and the demand for her creative services dries up, except by companies who sell junk.

Now her crazy high standards are blocking her from earning a living and isolating her from being touched by life.

Looks like the quality of something is relative to its quantity.

Here’s one final theory as to why strengths can become weaknesses. It’s the humility of recognizing our limits.

Life reminds us that, despite our many gifts, none of us are invincible. We all have gaps in our strategy. And the sooner we learn that, the better.

When I first showed the pitch deck of my software company to a colleague of mine, he said something that still sticks with me.

Scott, your biggest strength is, you’re okay if you fail. But that’s also your biggest weakness. Because when you pitch a software idea to investors, they’re only going to give money to you if they smells the killer instinct. Someone who absolutely has to win.

The humility of his feedback was powerful. It reminded me that my spiritual strength of contentment might be the very reason nobody backs my idea. The fact that I’ve done the hard work of becoming whole and complete and okay with myself as a creator, that could turn on me.

The fact that I wouldn’t be devastated if my software only had a hundred users, that could hurting my bankability.

Lesson learned, it’s not enough merely to know that our greatest strength can become our greatest weakness. We also have to understand why.

The balance of duality, the specter of moderation, and the whiplash of humility, these cosmic forces are much bigger than any of us.

And they deserve our respect.

What cosmic forces can you no longer afford to ignore?