Best Lesson My Father Taught Me: Think of the Whole Pie

When I was younger, math made me feel worthless. I have a vivid memory of my 6th grade classmate drawing a “Z-” on my math test because my score was so low. I often went home in defeated tears because it seemed no matter my effort, each test was another example of how I missed out on math everyone else seemed to easily understand.

After a particularly bad day, my dad sat with me in his office. “Draw a pie chart,” he said, handing me a piece of paper and a green colored pencil. “Write everything down that you excel at.”

I wiped a few tears and began to write. Words like ‘theatre’ and ‘singing’ came easily, but with my dad’s encouragement, I began to write down more strengths like ‘writing.’

 “Now write a few things you need help with” he said, and I immediately penciled in ‘MATH’ next to all my strengths. After a few minutes, my pie chart was full.

“Look at all these things you’re great at” he said, holding up my finished chart. “You have an entire chart filled with things that you are outstanding at. You’ve got to look at the whole pie.”

He then pointed at the tiny sliver I left for math next to all my strengths. “Don’t let one tiny slice make you feel any less than you are.”

This conversation took less than twenty minutes, but I never forgot my dad’s lesson with that pie chart. It’s carried me through every difficult ‘No’ and encourages me to believe in myself, my whole self, when I reach for new goals and set the course of my professional career.

I’m not sure how I got so lucky.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.