Self-improvement

Being Behind in Life Is a Superpower — Here’s How You Use It to Outperform Everyone

Realising this will put you miles ahead

The only thing I’ve been ahead of in life is being behind.

If that sentence seemed confusing it’s because I’m probably behind in my writing ability. Apologies.

I used to have a negative view of being behind in things. Considering I was behind in almost everything, it didn’t help much.

If you don’t believe me, here’s a small list of things I lagged in:

• I was born a few weeks late (see, I was at it before I was even born!)
• I had a speech impediment and was one of the last people in school to speak properly
• I was behind in maths, English and science since I needed to take a lot of time off (thanks, swine flu)
• I was the last to upgrade from pencil to pen in school (saddest on the list)
• Puberty — I finally started growing at 16 (at which point I was still 5ft 3 inches lol)
• Job — I got my first job when I was 20 (isn’t too bad but still not great)

Being behind is like a personality trait of mine now. And not one of those self-deprecating, look-at-how-cool-I-am-at-hating-myself types of personality traits.

One I see positively. One that’s starting to feel like a superpower.

The superpower of being behind

Being behind everyone else presents you with a unique opportunity.

To see what everyone ahead of you is doing.

Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is specifically your own

~ Bruce Lee

You can gauge what works for people and gets them ahead when you’re behind. Then you can copy them while learning from their mistakes (instead of wasting time making them).

Also, you can avoid the things that aren't working for people. When people are barely ahead of you or slowing down considerably, ask why.

Then make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

I used this method of awareness whilst I was at an all-time low — when I was incredibly unfit, depressed and drowning in self-destruction.

What can I do to improve and live a better life, I’d ask. Where do I start?

The hardest step is always the first one — especially if you feel you're in the dark.

So look to those who are where you want to be. For me, I wanted to be healthier and happier.

I saw people around me who were happier and healthier than myself share a few things in common:

• They worked out with dogged consistency,
• They were mindful of what they put in their mouths, and
• They slipped up often, but never let it stop them.

These were some simple observations I first made on my journey of self-improvement. Soon after, I joined a gym, fixed up my diet and refused to let small setbacks become permanent ones.

Progress would have been extremely slower without those realisations; a few weeks passed and things were already looking better.

Once you’ve heightened your awareness of what is and isn’t working, you can start to put in the first few steps with some solid momentum.

The next step is always the most important one in life.

Do what you can to get it right.

Life is a marathon

It’s not uncommon to hear people refer to life as a marathon instead of a race.

Being behind in life makes this an exceptionally important distinction to make. Seeing people ahead will make you eager to catch up or overtake them — something that is likely to cause you to burn out.

If you try to jump ahead instead of pacing yourself you’ll end up putting yourself further behind.

It’s best to be sustainable forever rather than exceptional for a few days.

So be careful of seeing the people that are ahead of you. As tempting as it is to mimic their speed or exceed it, you might be setting yourself up for failure.

Being behind gifts you the awareness of seeing how quickly other people are going and what they did to get there.

It only becomes a curse when you try to compare and match.

“Comparison is the thief of joy” — but it’s also the thief of realistic expectations.

A fast pace is as good as its ability to be maintained.

The bigger the dragon, the greater the hero

It’s easy to be blinded by the negatives of being behind.

This makes it feel more depressing and cumbersome when you want to get ahead; you end up placing more strain on yourself.

Creating a bias for positivity and flipping the negatives to positives make it easier to cope with the negative situation and more likely for you to take action.

After all, why would you want to keep thoughts that don’t serve you? If you revere the chains that hold you back then you’ll never be free.

Here are some negatives flipped to fix your mindset:

• My life sucks; I’ve got nothing -> You’ve got nothing to lose and more to gain than anyone else. There’s no reason not to try; the only way is up.
• God/Universe/The world hates me -> The world puts adversity in your way because it wants to make you stronger; it’s honoured you by giving you a chance to prove yourself — to earn your rank and wear it. You’ve been granted the chance to be stronger than everyone else.
• I’m too far behind/I’m a failure -> The most epic heroes are the ones that slay the greatest dragons. Being further behind allows you to forge the most distinguished identity; the biggest failures and obstacles create the biggest winners.

What should you say if you’re far behind?

Good.

You’ve been honoured; you’ve been chosen to face a greater challenge than anyone else, like the most valiant knight would.

The knights that are adored and respected the most are the ones that have slain the fiercest dragons.

So don’t be fooled by hardships — they’re chances for the most important lessons to be learnt. They’re a chance to prove yourself and evolve your character into something formidable.

Through the trouble, you will find triumph.

Conclusion

Being behind is a superpower

It gives you better vision, increased awareness and the ability to become an epic hero that people respect.

What’s not to love about that?

Once you remove non-serving beliefs and create a bias towards action, momentum is easier to build. When you start to sustain it you’ll inevitably have consistent progress.

That’s the goal — consistent progress.

And being behind is something that can help you get there.

If you want more awesome superpowers, check this out: