13 Minutes That Will Change How You Think About Growth

Are you spending more time fixing your weaknesses than building your strengths? In this episode, I share the 80-20 strength rule that changed my life and helped thousands of students unlock their potential. You'll learn why trying to be average at everything keeps you from being extraordinary at anything, plus a simple exercise to identify what you should actually focus on. What if the key to your success isn't fixing what you're bad at, but amplifying what you're already good at?

What is The Unstoppable U Podcast?

The podcast that teaches tweens and teens necessary life skills to achieve their goals, develop unconditional confidence, cultivate positive habits and become UNSTOPPABLE in all areas of life!

Will (00:00.654)
What's good y'all. Welcome back to another episode of the Unstoppable You podcast. Don't know why I said it like that, but I'm just feeling happy. Okay everybody. So take it easy on me. I've got a Bath and Body Works candle next to me. It's the perfect autumn candle. Okay. I'm not sponsored, but it's really nice. I've got a fresh cup of decaf coffee because we all know I don't need more caffeine in my favorite Porsche mug, big Porsche guy. And I've even got a fake

fireplace on my TV behind me because if you've done this before, you know how great this feels. You know, when, when October rolls around November and you're able to play, you know, some 4k fireplace on your TV or on your computer while you're studying or whatever, it's a good feeling. All right. So I have one question for you in this very cozy environment. And that question is this, do you feel like you spend

more time trying to improve on your strengths or fix your weaknesses? Good question. I know that's why I asked it. That's why I did a podcast episode. I had somebody ask me this the other day, kind of roughly the same question. And I was like, dang, I got to do a deep dive because I have a very bold, I think opinion towards this. I'm very convicted. I will stand on business on which one I feel like is better.

And I hope that this adds value to if it does. I'd really appreciate if you guys could leave like a nice review. If you hate this, then you know, don't do that because that would be lying and lying is bad. Okay. But I hope that this adds value to you. I feel like when I was growing up and definitely when I was in high school, I felt like so many people were trying to tell me you got to fix this. You got to fix that. You got to fix that. You're bad at this. You stink at that.

this person's better than you at this. You guys might feel the same way. I mean, we've got culture, we've got social media, we've got parents, we've got teachers, we've got coaches. I try not to do this, but we got other coaches, okay? Trying to tell you that you have so much that you need to fix. And I'm not saying in this podcast that fixing and improving on your weaknesses is bad. I'm obvious. mean, hey, improving weaknesses is really, really good.

Will (02:19.424)
This episode is more about like your hobbies and your skill set than it is about your character. An example of what I mean by this is if someone says, Hey, Will, you need to really improve your listening skills, then I'm not going to say, remember I made a podcast about that being like, Hey, I need to improve my strengths, which is talking rather than improving my listening, which is kind of a waste of time, according to coach. Well, that's not what I'm saying.

Okay, so whether it's listening, maybe it's something to do with like your school, like you have to pass your math class in order to go, you know, and graduate like don't skip over trying your best to improve math. Okay, that's not what I'm saying. But I'm talking like, if you play instruments, if you play sports, if you are naturally skilled, talented, or even curious about video games, whatever it is that you know,

you kind of do with your time and that you enjoy doing, I'm talking more about those things. Okay, so here's what I feel like happens mostly with students and people. We identify what we're bad at, whether it is maybe math or public speaking, time management, maybe it's, you know, a sport or an instrument. And we spend most of our energy trying to go from bad at those things to average, because we feel like we don't want to be bad at things.

So we grind away, we try to patch up every single weak spot thinking that that is what success looks like. But here's the truth chat, while you're busy trying to fix everything and improve on everything and be average at everything, you're ignoring the things that you're really good at, that you're naturally inquisitive about. Good word from Coach Will. Naturally skilled, naturally curious about, naturally passionate about. The more time you spend on something that is, you know,

something that you aren't naturally good at. I have thousands of those things, by the way, right? We all do.

Will (04:19.33)
the less time we can spend on the things that we're really good at. so that's kind of the point that I'm making here on this podcast. I really just want you to walk away being like, how can I invest more time into the things that I'm already good at, then trying to improve things that I'm really, bad at, or maybe that I really struggle in. Okay, one thing that always comes to mind is Apple. And not like the like a green apple or like a red apple. Like usually, I think when I say Apple, like everyone at least,

younger than me and the same age as me. I'm not unk yet. I'm only 27. Okay, everybody. I'm about to turn 28 though and that's really sad. I feel like that sounds really old. But anyways, when I say Apple, the company Apple is always really inspiring for me. Not that I love Apple and all their products or whatever, but I love the focus that they have. Steve Jobs,

rest in peace. He was the founder of Apple with Steve Wozniak, who I did have the beautiful blessing to to to me. I don't know why I called it a beautiful blessing. That's kind of weird, but he was a really cool guy. And when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, when he started Apple, the company was making so Steve Jobs basically got so so Steve Jobs, everyone kind of turned on him when

So the story of Steve Jobs and Apple, everyone turned on him because he was like a ruthless leader. Like he told people what needed to happen and if they didn't make it happen, then he was kind of, I'm just going to say D bag, okay? That was before 1997. In 1997, he came back to Apple and during his leave, the company was making like dozens of products with very little direction.

And that's kind of how I've lived my life when I was in high school. Like I was doing a dozen things, but I was doing them with very little motivation, very little confidence, just because I felt like I should have been doing them, right? Because my friends were doing, my parents want me to do. That wasn't that great. In one of his very first moves, Steve Jobs slashed 70 % of the products out there. mean, think about like, and I mean, think about this. When they were

Will (06:42.754)
And I mean, think about this. Y'all were probably too young to even know like right around 2000, right? So many opportunities in the technology world was, you know, was right there. And y'all are probably too young to even like know this, but and y'all definitely weren't alive at this time, but right around 2000, so many opportunities in the technology world were available to, to Apple, right? But

He just wanted to focus on the 80-20 rule. And this is really what I want to talk about today. The 80-20 strength rule. Spend 80 % of your time improving and amplifying your strengths and 20 % of your time trying to improve on your weaknesses or patch up your weaknesses. In 2001, they released the iPod. Rather than diversifying across a ton of different categories,

They poured all of its energy into perfecting one product, which was the iPod. Y'all don't even know what the iPod probably is, but they created this amazing team that combined, you know, the hardware, software, the music industry, and they created an unbeatable combination. They were unstoppable with the iPod.

And Steve Jobs, I was doing some research for this episode. Yes, I actually do research. Okay, everybody. They he had this quote that said, people think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not at all what it means. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas. This approach. I think that is I mean, that that is exactly what I'm trying to. That's exactly why I wanted to make a deep dive on this podcast, because that approach right there.

really encourages us to not try to fix all of our weaknesses, but instead channeling most of our energy towards amplifying strengths. And in your own journey, right? Very similar. Apple didn't try to compete on every single front. They identified their strengths.

Will (08:59.67)
And this is, and this is

Will (09:07.118)
When Apple did that, the result obviously wasn't just improvement, it was exponential growth. And that transformed Apple from this smaller computer maker to the world's most valuable company. So here's exactly what I want you to do today, taking into account the 80-20 strengths rule. Remember, spend 80 % of your time amplifying and investing in the things that you're naturally passionate about, curious about, skilled at, 20 % trying to improve your strengths.

and 20 % trying to improve your weaknesses. Okay, take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left side, write energy gainers. Okay, these are things that give you energy. And if you don't want to write things on a piece of paper, I don't remember the last time I used a piece of paper, if I'm being completely honest. I've got like, you know, Notion. If you guys ever use Notion, it's like a note taking app. I've got my notes app as well. However you want to do this on your iPad, okay, shout out Steve Jobs and Apple. Maybe you're just kind of like,

you know, drawn a line down, down the middle of the screen on the left side, write down the things that give you energy on the right side, write down things that drain your energy tasks that deplete you. And I'm not talking just school. Like these are things that you kind of choose to do. And yes, you can include tick-tock and whatever you want to include in both of these.

Choose one of those items in your energy gainers list and schedule 30 minutes this week to specifically develop that strength. I'm just gonna, you I don't know if you made this connection, but a lot of the things that give you energy are things that I'm talking about. They're your strengths. They are naturally something you're good at. Maybe you're skilled at it. Maybe you are just, you know, passionate about it and you have a desire to do it. Do more of those things. Do less of the things that you.

feel like you're just doing just because you feel like you should do them. All right?

Will (11:06.774)
And the more you amplify your strengths, promise you, you're going to be able to look back like, you know, Unc Will is doing right now. And you're going to be able to say, I am so glad that I doubled down on that strength versus spending so much time wasting it on improving something for people that I actually didn't even care about.

Will (11:38.862)
So here's exactly what I want you guys to do. So here's exactly what I want y'all to do when it comes to, so y'all, here's exactly what I want you guys to do today to kind of put in action this 80-20 strengths rule. Take a blank piece of paper or maybe you've got an iPad, you know, because of Steve Jobs and Mr. Wozniak, write down a line, so draw a line right in the middle of the center of the page.

the center of the page. Okay, you got this. Well, you got to finish this podcast strong. On the left side, I want you to write down energy givers. Or you can just like do like a little battery, you know, full emoji. You can also on the right side do like a depleted battery or energy drainers. On the left side, I want you to write down activities that energize you and that you're naturally good at or that you're naturally passionate slash curious about. Okay, so if you are good at soccer,

then write down soccer. Pretty simple. If you're good at video games, write down video games. If you're good at a specific video game, if you're good at a specific instrument, if you're good at talking to people, and if you're good at asking questions, write down all those things. Take like five minutes to actually do this, okay? And if you don't feel like you're good at things, you gotta think really hard because I promise you, are. You are. You're just not naturally remembering the things that you're good at because everyone's telling you the things that you're bad at and that's the case.

I'm really sorry that stinks because I was in that same boat. The right side is energy takers. Write down things that you do and you spend time on that you don't feel like give you joy that don't give you energy. And what I want you all to do at the end of this little exercise thingy is find something on the left side schedule 60 minutes just go like for an hour to deep dive into that one specific thing. And if it says if you say video games,

If you say video games, for example, I'm not talking about play video games for 60 minutes because that's obviously something that you probably do. But I'm talking like study how the video games are made. Study why the storyline is the way that it is. Right. Study maybe how to create content around that video game. Those are kind of the things that I'm talking about when it comes to doubling down on things that you're naturally good at. Remember, chat, the path

Will (14:02.21)
to an extraordinary life isn't fixing everything that's ordinary or that's average or mid. It's maximizing what you're already extraordinary at. That all came from a very cozy setup everybody and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you guys

did, then please leave a review. It always helps me. You know, we're doing more podcasts here. So make sure that you're following and go and maximize your strengths, everybody. All right, you guys are so good at so many things. Now start investing in them. Okay, amplify them. Peace.