Dan Sullivan: You’ve Got An Unfair Advantage – Use It!

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Everyone has “unfair advantages” — ways of thinking, communicating, and achieving that no one else can comprehend or copy.

When you use your advantages to transform yourself in creative and productive new ways, you make everything better for the people around you and open up opportunities for them to discover and use their own unfair advantages too.

Why “unfair advantages” are good.

Your unfair advantage can provide a source of leadership, relationship, and creativity that others value far beyond any products or services you may happen to offer. And a sincere commitment to helping others realize their personal capabilities has a distinct advantage over competitors who are focused on commodities.

Master these three things, and master your advantage.

So how do you do this? By focusing on three things: morale, momentum, and motivation.

Morale comes from your past. It lets you maintain a high level of energy no matter what the external circumstances are. The key to keeping your and your team’s morale high is clearly recognizing and focusing on the achievements that have been made rather than the work that has not been finished. This fills you with a sense of pride.

Momentum comes from the present. It means that certain things you’re working on as a team are moving forward with some force, and you’re alert to how promising they are. If you focus on these, you stand to gain something, and that makes you feel confident.

Motivation is the sense that something in the future is going to be much better than it is now. This gives you a feeling of excitement.

People tend to think that entrepreneurs are unusually good at thinking about the future, but most of the great business leaders I’ve met are especially good at dealing with their past and present too. They’re constantly going back and transforming their past victories into fuel for the present, then using that energy to propel themselves forward.

When you master focusing on your morale, momentum, and motivation, you establish a foundation for yourself and your team members that just keeps getting bigger and more powerful. Who wouldn’t want an “unfair advantage” like that?