Listen to the article.

I cringe when I look back at it.
I’ve spent so much time trying to fix things that never needed to be fixed. Not because they were broken, but because I didn’t have the confidence to believe in the direction I was taking. I knew what I wanted to do - write, I just wasn’t strong enough to block out the naysayers.
See, the world teaches you early: close the gaps, correct the flaws, patch the leaks. It sounds like good advice. Honest. Grown-up. Responsible. But the truth? Sometimes that urge to self-correct becomes a trap. A slow, noble way of staying stuck.
Let me explain.

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The truth is, we don’t rise by dragging every weakness up to neutral. We rise by amplifying the gifts that were already trying to break through.
I’m not saying ignore your flaws or even to specialise. If your weaknesses are setting fire to your future, put the flames out. Be functional. Be just enough. But then get up and do the ‘damn thing’. The thing that feels like home. The thing that doesn’t feel like work, even after sixteen hours.

Because here’s what I’ve learned from years of living outside the box as a Black Caribbean man writing stories that bend genre and challenge expectation: when you own your strength unapologetically, the world adjusts.
You don’t need permission.
You just need momentum.

We live in an age obsessed with the illusion of being everything to everyone. As a self-published author, I have to wear many hats and be good at them, but the creative process is my forte, hands down. What people do we remember? They’re not good at everything. They’re exceptional at something. They don’t scatter. They laser in.
And that’s the secret. Focus isn’t limiting—it’s liberating.

You weren’t built to be average at everything. You were built to be brilliant at one or two things and humble enough to leave the rest. So get good enough at your weaknesses to survive—but spend your life sharpening the sword you were born with. You know what your thing is. You’ve felt it. It’s where you lose track of time. Where you don’t need to be told to care. That’s your edge. That’s your magic.
And when you find it, double down.

It’s tempting to “balance” yourself. To round out the edges. To fix what they say is missing. But let me offer you this—maybe your rough edges are sacred. Maybe your imbalance is your power. Maybe what you call a flaw is a strength pointed in the wrong direction.
Don’t waste your life polishing parts of yourself that were never meant to shine, Gentle Reader.
Strengths aren’t loud. Sometimes they whisper. But they’re always waiting for you to choose them.
And when you do? Everything changes.
Because while everyone else is playing defence—fixing, adjusting, tweaking—you’re building something with fire in your belly and wind at your back.
That’s how you change your world.
That’s how you change reality.
 

Peace, love and power.

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By a Black Speculative Fiction Author, Living, Not Just Dreaming