The Ideal Way to “Take Advantage”
You’ve identified your advantages and given yourself permission to use them. Now comes the crucial next question: How?
This is where the phrase “taking advantage” usually gets its bad reputation. When we hear about someone taking advantage, it’s often followed by a story of harm, selfishness, or exploitation. But that’s not the only way to use an advantage. There’s a constructive, ethical way to do it — one that benefits you and strengthens the world around you.
Three Constructive Uses of Advantage
1. Create Value
Your advantages are not just for you — they’re also for what you can build, solve, or contribute. When you use your skills, insights, or network to create something meaningful, everyone benefits.
Example: You know someone who’s hiring and a friend who’s looking for work. You connect them. You’ve just turned your network advantage into a win for two people.
2. Open Doors (and Hold Them Open)
When you use your access to gain opportunities, you model courage. And when you hold the door open for others, you multiply the impact.
Example: You get invited to a conference, use it to grow your expertise, and then share what you learned with your team. Your advantage becomes a ripple effect.
3. Build Bridges, Not Walls
When used well, advantages bring people together. They create shared benefit rather than competition.
Example: You have knowledge that could make a colleague’s project stronger. Instead of guarding it, you share it — raising the bar for both of you.
What Constructive Use Is NOT
Constructive use is not about manipulating, hoarding, or keeping score. It’s not about “winning” at the expense of others. It’s about making your advantages work for good — for growth, progress, and contribution.
The Mindset Shift
When you see your advantages as tools for building, not weapons for winning, you start using them with confidence. You stop worrying about whether it’s fair to use what you have, because you know you’re leaving situations better than you found them.
Momentum Move
Pick one advantage from your list and use it to benefit someone else this week. Make an introduction, share a resource, pass along an insight, or use your access to make progress for a team or community you care about. Notice how using your advantage constructively actually expands its value.
