Inspired on the books: The obstacles is the way from Ryan Holiday and the Unfair advantage from Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba.
The other day I saw a video from Abi Abdaal about the success formula:
HARD WORK + LUCK + UNFAIR ADVANTAGES = SUCESS
"Being a mom is my unfair advantage as I fully optimize my time due to the schedule my little one requires."
UNFAIR ADVANTAGES
We all have unfair advantages. Knowing yours is vital to leverage them and exponentiate your career’s goals.
But, then, What is an unfair advantage?
Unique conditions that used strategically will help you excel your game
Imagine you and 100 other people have the goal to be a known and successful basketball player. And suppose you are the son of Michael Jordan.
You would have an unfair advantage; your father can teach you, mentor you and connect you with the right people. You would not only become the best in class but would network with the right circle to achieve your dream.
That is an undeniable example, but the remarkable thing about unfair advantages is that what society may classify as a drawback, it can play in your favor.
When we have everything, there is not much motivation to exceed ourselves. For example, if left on their own, the self-made millionaires’ children usually lack of outstanding creativity (unless their parents create an environment to challenge them). Vs. the children of middle or low-income households that are frequently pushed to be creative to generate income for their families well-being.
“Being a mom is my unfair advantage as I fully optimize my time due to the schedule my little one requires.”
Many people may say that being a mom is a disadvantage for your career as you have to choose what to prioritize (your family or your job). In my case, I am a working from home mother. My baby is almost 2, and I do not want to miss any of his great conquests or milestones accomplished. Plus, he demands a lot of my attention as any healthy toddler of his age.
However, since I am a mom, I am more productive. As my time is limited now, I do not waste as much time as before I was a momma.
I can confidently say that being a mom is an unfair advantage as I am more efficient now, and I can juggle so many things in my head at once and produce great results.
Another unfair advantage many of us have now, thanks to the pandemic, is that we can easily access remote work. Work from home allows us to gain more time to reinvest in our family, personal growth, side hustles, and use the geo arbitrage to maximize our resources.
Living in a third-world country with a cheaper living cost also allows me to offer very competitive prices to first-world clients.
Just be creative. With the correct strategy, many of the circumstances others may tag as impediments to thrive can be utilized as unfair advantages.
Find your unfair advantages and leverage them!
HARD WORK
To keep a hard work pace, you need to be motivated and passionate.
When you enjoy what you do, inherently, you will work hard.
When we love our job, our business, our mission, or feel a genuine interest in what we do, we will stand out from the crowd.
We are fully invested in it because it is our passion, not only the means to get income.
When everyone else is off partying or binging on Netflix, you will dedicate your time to study, research, and become a subject matter expert in your field.
LUCK
There is an essential part of the equation, luck.
If we are wise, have a great strategy to utilize our unfair advantages fully but have no luck, we will not get as far as we would with a little bit of star alignment in our favor.
Increase your luck by showing your work, connecting with people, making use of the internet; make yourself findable.
PIVOT CHALLENGES TO BENEFIT YOURSELF
Tackle challenges to your advantage and mold obstacles into gains.
We will face a lot of difficulties along our way. Be clever, and instead of playing the victim for your bad luck, grow from the experience and use it in your favor.
A couple of years ago, The recruiting team of a great company reached me to become part of their treasury department.
At that moment, I was too focused on my business. I wanted a low-level job to concentrate on my baby and business ideas. The recruiter, with great intentions, pitch me their company as the best company to work for moms. She told me its core values were to respect its employee’s family and personal time.
I took the job, and to my surprise, the job was the most demanding – intellectually- I have ever had.
To honor my commitment to the company, I had to leave many of my projects. On top, my time was incredibly constrained with a baby on its way.
The position was exciting and highly intellectually stimulating. Nevertheless, each time I tried to focus on my business ideas, I could not move at the required pace due to my new life as a mom and a very challenging job.
I realized I was not able to excel at everything at once. I decided to focus only on my job, learn the most from it, and use all the knowledge from this rich experience for business benefit down the line.
Embrace obstacles, learn from them, and think about how you can pivot the experience to use it in your favor.
Author: Ruth Valverde A.
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