I’ll Never Be a Drummer

People in rock bands are cool. The instruments they play are cool. Drum solos are cooler than guitar solos. Drums are the coolest instrument. I want to learn to play the drums.

This was my thinking growing up. I’ll learn to play the drums and I’m absolutely sure I’ll be good at it. It never happened as a kid, so it went on my someday list as an adult

I could really see myself as a drummer. It seemed fun and cathartic, and much easier than it was when I got a taste of it.

I got to try proving myself with the Rock Band video game and its drum set “controller” (an electronic drum set with 3 drums, 2 cymbals, and a foot pedal). Early songs I was okay at, but things quickly became very complicated and I was a mess.

Many hours of trying made me realize I would never be strong at, even if I really wanted to be. See, I was lacking two important things: rhythm and good coordination.

I’d always dismissed my wife’s comments about my lack of rhythm and things like not being able to clap to the beat at music performances. Also, I downplayed my more than occasional clumsiness.

My desire to be something I never could be caused me to overlook the evidence that was there.

I had the same experience when discovering my strengths from StrengthsFinder 2.0. When I took the test, I found the strengths that I really hoped I had were not what I was strong in.

In fact, my top 5 strengths sounded pretty disappointing. Until I actually read about them and saw so much of myself in their descriptions and examples. Now, I had finally found my true strengths I was born with.

It’s had a big impact on my life. It gave me confidence in what I brought to the table in the new career I had already started and it helped me stop wasting so much time trying to be someone I’m not.

Much of what I learned was from attending an Activate Your Strengths workshop. It helped me understand my strengths much better and see where they’re most beneficial. It also helped me see contradictory strengths found in others as strengths, not weaknesses. This lack of understanding caused many conflicts due to my judgmental attitudes of how other’s strengths expressed themselves.

So, I’ll never be a drummer and I’ll never be strong in COMMAND. That’s okay, I know I’m strong in INDIVIDUALIZATION, EMPATH, IDEATION, STRATEGIC, and INPUT.

Be okay with knowing what you’ll never be; it’s part of finding and making the most of who you really are.