Being an underdog can at times be frustrating because many people do not believe that you will succeed.
We see it almost every time in sporting events, especially in championship games where a team is heavily favored to win while many write off the other.
Of course, being an underdog happens in real life outside of sports as well.
Like when people label someone as not having a chance to succeed in life if they drop out of school and not obtain a college degree.
The truth of the matter is if you are an underdog, you are in a prime position to prove the doubters wrong.
Those same people who are saying negative comments about your dreams might believe that you don’t have all the resources or skills to succeed.
And at times, you might believe the naysayers about not having the necessary resources to succeed.
The truth of the matter is that if you are a small business, a solo-preneur, the overlooked employee, etc, you really don’t need a lot of resources or skills to be successful because you have two important things that many corporations do not have: A Loyal Following And Tenacity
1. They Have Built A Loyal Following
A small business owner or solopreneur can interact with their fans or customers through social media and build genuine relationships with them.
They do not have to worry about getting approval from the top-tier executives to tell their story of how they overcame their struggles to be successful and also share their “secrets” with their audience.
That is why Gary Vaynerchuk was able to build a loyal following because he gave people a behind the scenes look about the different type of wines on his Wine Library TV.
That is something that a huge company will never do because they are so paranoid that someone will copy their product.
Newsflash: IF YOU ARE AUTHENTIC WITH YOUR AUDIENCE, THE COMPETITION WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COPY YOU.
2. They Have Tenacity
Sure you had the drive to be successful before you heard the naysayers said that you could not succeed in your career, business, etc.
However, those negative comments gave you the extra motivation to work towards being successful in the same way that it did for these people in the examples below:
THE 2014 SAM HOUSTON STATE FOOTBALL TEAM
The Bearkat football team had a huge turnover in personnel leading up to this year’s season.
Most of the players who were apart of the most victorious team in program history had graduated.
The architect of the team who led the squad to two consecutive Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National Championship appearances, Willie Fritz, accepted the job at Georgia Southern.
With a new head coach in K.C. Keeler and a majority of the squad being new including 17 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) transfers, the Kats were selected to finish third in the Southland Conference (SLC).
It seemed as if the predictions were going to come true as the Bearkats had a 1-3 start, including a loss to the eventual Division II National Champion, Colorado State-Pueblo, which ended a 22-game home winning streak at Bowers Stadium.
Even I gave up on the team for this season.
However, the Bearkats kept a positive mindset, believed in each other and won seven out of the final eight games in the regular season to clinch a share of the SLC title and the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
Sam Houston kept their momentum going with three consecutive victories over three-top 10 ranked teams before falling to three-time FCS National Champion, North Dakota State at the FargoDome in Fargo, North Dakota during the semifinals.
The Bearkats are more optimistic about their chances at making it back to the playoffs and even winning a national championship.
DARRIN BENTLEY
Darrin Bentley is someone everyone should pay attention to.
Mr. Bentley is the founder and host of Big Wig Nation, a weekly show that showcases highly successful people in different industries.
The podcast has been on the air for 6 months, but is close to 100,000 downloads.
What is really amazing about Mr. Bentley is that he is very transparent and authentic.
He shared in his bio of the podcast’s website that he is a high school dropout.
Now if a person don’t graduate high school and move on to college, they have a slim chance at having a successful career according to a report by The Atlantic.
However, Mr. Bentley overcame the odds and worked his way up from the mailroom to a 6-figure salary on Wall Street and now as an entrepreneur.
So if you feel that everything is not going your way or feel like no one believes in you, celebrate.
Because once you achieve success, the ones who doubted you before, will all of a sudden applaud you for overcoming the odds to be successful.
Have you ever felt like an underdog? You can share your comments below.
Article First Appeared In Vallano Media
