Never Allow Your "disability" to Hold You Back

I met a friend of mine who happen to be a girl. If you are wondering why I phrase it that way, it is just a precautionary measure in the event my wife read this article. But anyway, I met this friend who I did not see in ages, but I remember her silent, shy and very soft-spoken, wearing these big glasses and who did not command much attention from many boys in school. So when I saw her, I was amazed at her change; I really hope my wife don’t read this one.

 When I spoke to her, we discuss the good old school days and reminisce on some of our classmates who I did not see since school. However, in all my encounters with my old classmates, one particular guy name always comes up, the trouble maker. The boy who never settled down in class, always giving the teachers a hard time, never focus on his work and always up on his feet.

In school, this student was labeled slow, and according to the teachers, 'that boy will not amount to anything". But it turns out that same student who was supposedly giving all that trouble in school and who was labeled slow became very successful and established many very profitable businesses. 

 It is interesting when many of these so-called slow and troubled students turned out to be very successful. But the reality of the situation is that some of these concerned students carried some form of "disability" according to some of the teachers. But unknown to their parents, teacher and the very said student; these children do not have any type of disability, their gifts and abilities never fit into the traditional role of our educational system obsess with passing an exam.

Many of these students found it extremely difficult to accept and fit into the standard mode of going to school, getting good grades, focusing in class, listening to the teachers, etc. So what is the result, the child is “labeled” in the worse way since their educators and parents who do not understand the student’s behaviors and found it difficult to comprehend their actions.

At some schools, teachers are trained to recognize such differences in their students, but sadly many schools don’t have that type of systems. Some people understood their strengths, moved away from the traditional model and pursue a career that fit their interest. But some people found it tough to break away from the status quo and never cultivate a fulfilling career base on their personality, interest, likes, strengths, weakness, etc.

I read an interesting article on theguardian.com on dyslexic entrepreneurs – why they have a competitive edge, and it is so amazing to read about people who knew they were different from an early age and focus on a career that fits their interest while becoming very successful at their work. Take for example the CEO of FXecosystem James Banister.

From the age of seven, Mr. Banister was diagnosed with dyslexia and found it difficult to fit in at school. In the years since his diagnosis, Banister discovered that he was good at talking to potential customers and soon realized his strength in oral communication, people management, problem-solving, strong reasoning, formulating business strategies, delegation, etc. and as a result, Mr. Banister became a very successful entrepreneur.

 A successful entrepreneur who is dyslexics learns many coping skills in their formative years that help them to become very successful in business. Someone who fails a standardize tests must become comfortable with failure and is forced to trust and rely on others to get things done, an essential skill for anyone working to build a business. A lot of people who has dyslexia start their own business simply because they understand what environments suites them, create their work to suit their skills and delegate things that are difficult to them to a core team of people. 

 There are many success stories of people with some form of "disabilities" who became very influential by virtually changing the way the world operated. But it all started with their personality and the acceptance of their unique self to stand up and acknowledge their weakness while leveraging their strengths for their personal and professional development. If you have that knowledge in hand and you start with understanding who you are, it will go a long way to help you build and choose a career, job, etc. that fits you. 

When Time magazine interviewed Richard Branson, the media mogul and founder of Virgin, whether his dyslexia hindered his businesses abilities, Mr. Branson had a pointedly candid response. "Strangely, I think my dyslexia has helped," he said. "When I launch a new company, I need to understand the advertising. If I can understand it, then I believe anybody can. Virgin speaks in ordinary language instead of using phrases that nobody understands.

 Our school system is some cases are pretty “mess up, ” and a lot of students are forced to take these standardize exam to judge their skills and abilities. It's sad because our society is creating zombies who believe that their sole purpose in life revolves around passing an exam to get into a so-called good school.

These standardize test alone can never be used to adjudicate on someone gifts, abilities or competencies. Our education system was created for students who can pass a test and don’t take into consideration students who are not inclined to pass these type of exams. In many cases, this standardizes exam limits the student potential and remove the natural creativity abilities from the students in their most creative years. 

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