11:11 Waves Blog 35: Disadvantage
- Giulia Lucchini
- Aug 28, 2023
- 4 min read
Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.
This week’s topic is: Disadvantage
An incredible week of sport concluded yesterday as the curtain came down on the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. The competition included many thrilling performances and my personal highlight was the 100m women final where, in one of the most stacked races of all-time, American Sha'Carri Richardson emerged as the world champion. Sha'Carri raced at the end of the track in Lane 9, an unfavourable outside lane which was a consequence of her coming through the semi-finals as the fastest among all non-qualifiers. In Athletics, Lane 9 is considered a tough spot as there is no way to see or feel how the top contenders (usually positioned in the middle lanes) are doing and an athlete needs to set their own pace without any reference. Sha'Carri turned that disadvantage into an advantage as she solely focused on herself and her own race, determined her own pace from start to finish and maintained the calm and attention she needed to run at her best to become the fastest women in the world. Her attitude towards Lane 9 was what propelled Sha'Carri to the top of the podium. Her story and performance truly inspired me and made me think that when you learn and choose to turn every disadvantage to your advantage you become unbeatable.
One Question for you
To every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage.
Discuss the question here.
One Idea from me
Inspired by Sha'Carri’s performance, this week I am sharing one challenge, one concept and one practice on how to run your own race and turn disadvantage into advantage.
The challenge: This week I invite you to run your own race. In a world full of perfectly curated lives exhibited across various social media, the endless pressure to compare yourself to others can be overwhelming. Whether it’s at work or in our personal lives, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in what other people are doing and one can easily feel like they have to compete. This week I invite you to notice situations when you spend too much energy comparing yourself to others or you allow other individuals’ races, speed, goals, progress or statuses to determine your objectives and your perceptions of success and feelings of self-worth. Once you have identified these situations, reflect on the following questions: What could be possible for you if you would approach the race of life from Lane 9 in the way Sha'Carri did? What would need to shift in your mindset for you to live your life at your own pace? What is the most meaningful next step you can take to truly run your own race?
The concept: 2500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War, an ancient book of military strategies and tactics which continues to hold meaning today in politics, business, sports, leadership and everyday life. In the book, Sun Tzu writes that “knowing the terrain is not enough, knowing the weather is not enough, knowing your troops is not enough, knowing the enemy is not enough, knowing the tactics is not enough”. The wise leader must not only have knowledge but also know how to use it and, an important part of this, is to plan ahead considering advantages and disadvantages. “If you pay close attention to these, you will have the opportunity to shore up disadvantage and grasp the moments of advantage”. In the example of Sha'Carri, Lane 9 gave her no opportunity to see or feel her competitors’ pace and location in the race, but this was the same for her competitors who only focused on the other runners in the middle lanes and did not notice at all the speed of Sha'Carri who went on to win the race. This week, I invite you to pick a situation, get very familiar with it, identify and list all the advantages and disadvantages you can think of and accept their presence. Now focus on the list of disadvantages and consider what are their advantages. Once you have done that, I invite you to reflect on this exercise and make a note of one thing that surprised you, one thing you learned and one thing you will do with this learning.
The practice: Approaching a race unexpectedly from Lane 9 requires a flexible and growth mindset. Your mindset is the set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation. People with fixed mindsets view their talents and traits as fixed, inherently stable and unchangeable over time. Those with growth mindsets are more open to learning and view intelligence, abilities and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort. This week I encourage you to learn more about your own mindset by picking a situation and identifying your mindset voice (fixed or growth). If you notice negative self-talk or self-limiting statements try to replace them with positive affirmations and incorporate “yet” into your vocabulary to remind yourself that you simply have not mastered the task yet.
One Quote from others
“Within every setback or obstacle or disadvantage there is the seed of an equal or opposite or greater advantage or benefit”. Napoleon Hill
One Inspiration for us
Enjoy the clip of Sha'Carri Richardson winning the 100m global title from Lane 9 in a championship record of 10.65 seconds.
Very interesting as always. There's an inherent conflict between "the challenge"and "the concept" I'd say. In "the challenge", there's a tendency to overthink things and find issues that are obstacles but don't actually materialise. In "the concept" we are encouraged to plan and therefore identify the obstacles to be overcome! Of course the answer lies in what we can do, and not all the things that constitute obstacles. On a personal note, I'm currently involved in selling my house and buying another so this is an ideal opportunity to put this one into practice!