Being Overlooked — The Greatest Motivator
It’s undoubtably been a common theme in my life:

- The kid who had excema so wore gloves to school
- Too small
- Too nice
- Not academic enough
- Not good with numbers
- Too emotional
- Too quiet
- Not got what it takes
- Doesn’t fit in
That’s how it has been for 29 years. Of course there have been some nice things said along the way, which are always received with a traditional British awkward side glance and mumbled gratitude…but the overriding theme of my life has been of being overlooked at the key moment.
Each time I wasn’t made captain; or didn’t make the higher set for Maths; or was cheated on; or some bigger guy started a fight with me, picking off the smallest guy in the class; or I was made to feel inadequate.
Each time, I bottled the energy.
When I was younger it overflowed sometimes. I moved schools 5 times growing up — always trying to fit in. Sometimes I found my rhythm, I found teachers who believed in me, friends who lifted me up. But other times, I was overlooked, always second best — never quite having the confidence to shine.
The truth is, there is always going to be someone better than you at something. You will never be all things to all men. All you can be is you. You are the only ‘you’ in the world, so you owe it to yourself to find exactly who that person is, and what they are capable of.

In each weakness lies your strength.
In each moment of inferiority lies your power to be the greatest you can be.
In each time you are overlooked, you will find an opportunity to shine bright.
Shine so bright you can’t be ignored.
Nick Kershaw is CEO & Founder of the Impact Marathon Series — a race series set all over the globe with the goal to empower everybody through the #powerofrunning.
To find out more about how we do this head to www.impactmarathon.com and see what makes the social enterprise such a remarkable endeavour…
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