The list of people converting disadvantages into great successes is endless and inspiring. Now turn toward yourself. Write down one great success you’ve had in your lifetime. Then write down the disadvantages or challenges that you had to overcome to achieve that success. Then identify how those disadvantages forced you to look at your situation differently and ultimately help you achieve success.

Many great achievements can be traced back to overcoming disadvantages. Many great failures can be traced back to a lack of disadvantages. Be careful before complaining about your disadvantages and about assuming that your advantages will guarantee you success in life. Disadvantages can help propel you to see your situation from different perspectives and find approaches to succeed that you might not otherwise have found. Advantages can blind you to the necessity of keeping on searching for better ways to pursue success.

In the 1770s, American colonialists had several disadvantages. They were being excessively taxed, they had virtually no representative voice in how they were being treated, and they had almost a non-existent military to protect them from the British military. They lost battle after battle in the Revolutionary War. However, their disadvantages forced them to focus on what they could do. When the British military attacked them in America, they kept running away. The size of their country and their commitment to outlast the British became two of their greatest advantages. Eventually, the British got tired of spending money and hurting their own men while chasing the Americans in a land so far away from their main homeland. When the early Americans were piecing together their form of government, the last thing they wanted was to be under the rule of a small handful of people. So they created something truly revolutionary: representative government. This new form of governing a nation has spread around the world in the past 235 years.

When Ralph Lauren started his business in 1967, he had certain disadvantages to overcome. Namely, he had no money, no store, no name recognition, no experience, and one client. Bloomingdale’s agreed to sell his ties. However, these disadvantages allowed him to steadily focus on one part of his business at a time: 1968 first full line of Ralph Lauren menswear, 1969 first Polo Ralph Lauren store, 1972 first Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, 1972 first full Ralph Lauren womenswear line, and 1978 first Ralph Lauren fragrances.

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