How Undervalued Individuals Succeed

Underdogs win more often than we think. History and current events give us plenty of case studies. Often, these achievers succeed merely because they refuse to give up.

Persistence is an incredibly powerful attribute. It’s easy to have dreams and plan to put them into action. It’s harder to keep pushing for those goals as time goes on.  The road to the finish line if often paved with roadkill, potholes, bumps, and other setbacks.  

Undervalued people know what it is to press against outrageous odds. That may be what helps them to stay in the race when they’re in last place during the beginning. They may actually finish ahead of other, more confident people who slowed down—kind of like the tortoise and the hare.

Ant Man

This is a blockbuster action movie from Disney and Marvel comics. It’s all about broken, undervalued people being given second chances.  The hero, Scott Lang, is a newly released convict; a thief. In the beginning, he has challenges with reforming himself.

Dr. Hank Pym, a scientist who developed some amazing technology, recruits Lang to help save the world. Pym, himself, is less than perfect. He has been forced out of his own company, and he’s estranged from his daughter. His former business colleagues don’t expect much from him at all.

Lang and Pym work together with Pym’s daughter, Hope, to bring about the downfall of a powerful man. This opponent wants to use Pym’s technology to further his own cause. He gravely underestimates the team until the very end, even while they are accomplishing amazing feats.

I won’t give you any spoilers. You have to watch the movie to see what happens in the end.

Quotes from Goodreads about Underdogs

“Even when you have three strikes, you’re still not out. There is always something else you can do.” --Tony La Russa, One Last Strike, Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and one Final Championship Season

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“A winning mindset can transform an underdog into a champion, conqueror, and achiever. You’re a mindset away from winning your battles!”—Assegid Habtewold, The 9 Cardinal Building Blocks : For Continued Success in Leadership

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“If you’re an underdog, mentally disabled, physically disabled, if you don’t fit in, if you’re not as pretty as the others, you can still be a hero.”—Steve Guttenberg

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“Sometimes it takes a lowly, title-less man to humble the world. Kings, rulers, CEO’s, judges, doctors, pastors, they are already expected to be greater and wiser.”—Criss Jami, Venus in Arms

My Conclusion

Mark 10:31 says, “Many who are first will be last, and the last first.” We find many such examples in the Bible and the modern sports and entertainment industry.  Movies about them are popular, whether they’re fictional or real.

What sets these achievers apart? Often, it’s not their beauty, intelligence, or resources—it’s their determination to succeed at all costs.

Are you prepared to fight the odds?