How to Gain an Unfair Advantage

A lot of people hear the term "unfair advantage" and immediately think that someone is cheating or not playing by the rules.  That would be the furthest from the truth.  In fact, a common definition used for the term is Your "unfair advantage" is the skill you have that is your unique talent. 

Once you understand what a true unfair advantage is, it makes it easier to create one.  And there are specific elements you need to do so.

First, as the definition says, you do have to take the time to really understand yourself and the skills or knowledge that you have that is your unique talent.  Once you know these things, you can use them to your advantage.  Unfortunately, most go through their lives without discovering their unique talents or gifts and putting them to use.  Whether it is because of fear of stepping out and taking the risk or confusion of what these things are, they end up going to waste.  Your job is not to let this happen to you.  The best way to find these things out is to go deep on yourself and ask who you are and what you are best at.  This exercise will take some time and you need to go much deeper than your 1st level answer.  But, if you are willing to go the distance, you will arrive at the right answers and have true understand of yourself and your gifts.  Once you have them, ask others what they think your unique gifts and talents are and see if they confirm what you have found.  

Second, once you know what sets you apart and what you are really good at, then start putting it to use.  Find ways to use these gifts and talents in your life and your business.  See ways to maximize them and innovate!  Yes, you have permission to innovate and use them in different ways or to provide solutions differently to set yourself apart.  A great example of this is my friend Daniel.  Daniel has a natural, unbelievable talent for connecting people.  He's better than anyone for finding ways for people to find opportunity together.  So, years ago, Daniel decided to focus on and maximize this talent as a business.  He started connecting people and taking 10% of any deals that were done between them.  Nowadays, Daniel has a worldwide network of thousands and he travels the country setting up shop in a restaurant or venue for 1 day at a time and people come in every hour to be networked and introduced to potential partnerships by Daniel.  The business is a multi-million dollar business - all because Daniel recognized his unique gift, focused on it, and innovated to create a new type of business with it.  Daniel definitely has an unfair advantage because of his unique talent.

Third, never stop working on your unique gift, refining, honing it, and finding opportunities for it.  It's one thing to have an unfair advantage in a situation or two, it's another to have it all the time.  The key to having a consistent unfair advantage is to continue working on it and getting better.  Never stop.  How does Tom Brady still win at the highest level at over 40 years' old?  Have you seen his health and fitness routine, his approach to understanding the game, and how he lives?  Tom recognized a long time ago that his unique talent was his knowledge of the game and longevity to play at the highest level, so he has done everything possible to maximize it and squeeze every ounce from it.

When you put all 3 together - Understanding your unique gifts and talents to the core,  putting them to use at the highest levels while innovating to find unique ways to maximize them, and never resting in your pursuit to refine and make them better - you can see why you can have an unfair advantage.

The question is, "Will you take action and put yours to use?"