Make Weak Areas Strong

We all have areas where we are weak and areas where we are strong. Perhaps, you have difficulty with math, while I might struggle with social skills. Your strong point may be leadership, while someone else has the ability to keep an immaculate house. While these strengths and weaknesses seem to be simply part of our natural makeup, there is a way to make weak areas strong. And that is what self-improvement is all about -- overcoming the difficulties of life and re-making these challenges into strengths. If you will work at it long enough, your weak areas can become your biggest strengths. Just ask Bill Porter.

Forty years ago, the Oregon State Vocational Office declared Bill Porter unemployable. Yet, in 1995, he was recognized for being fourth in the nation in Personal sales at Watkins Products, one of the nation's largest direct sales companies. Porter does not suffer from lack of motivation, he suffers from cerebral palsy. Born with a serious birth defect that severely affects his speech, his fingers, and his motor skills, Bill Porter refused to give up on life as many encouraged him to do. "They said I had too much motivation for my own good. They said I was unemployable and they wanted to give me monthly payments. I wouldn't take them. I wanted to work," he recalls with determination.

Finally, the Watkins company gave him a chance to sell, and sell he did. Working in a job that many would find distasteful, Porter hits the streets every day selling his products door to door. He has worked and struggled to develop his presentation skills to the point where he has been referred to as "a vital backbone of Watkins distribution." Bill rises daily at 5:30 am to begin the painful task of dressing for the day. Unable to use his hands, he takes the bus to the nearby Hotel Vintage Plaza where a shoe-shiner ties his shoes for him and the bell man buttons his sleeves and ties his tie. Then he hits the streets. Most people say no; walking is a struggle; the suitcase is heavy. But occasionally, someone will buy something. Since he can't use his hands, Bill has the customer fill out the purchase order. One winter day it was snowing so hard that the buses weren't running. Porter said he should have quit early but didn't. He finally got a ride home but had to crawl on his hands and knees up his icy driveway to get to his house.

Bill Porter's disability has been a serious challenge for him, yet his determination to live independently has made his physical challenge into an advantage. Because of his disability, people look at him, they admire his courage, they are inspired by his tenacity -- and they buy. His ability to make lemonade from the sourest of lemons allows him to live a full, productive, and independent life. "My work is my life," Porter says, " I love it. I enjoy meeting people. I get to know them very well. I can remember what they bought three visits back!"

We all have areas where we are weak. Take a lesson from Bill Porter and work on it until your formerly weak areas become your greatest strengths. Pick a weakness, work on it, study, practice, step outside your comfort zone, enlist the help of others, and rise to a new level. Face your weakness with the determination of Bill Porter and pretty soon, like a beautiful butterfly emerging from an ugly cocoon, you will find reservoirs of strength where before there was only frailty and doubt.