Illustrations by: LDR + KidIllus

Disregarding the measurement of skill, strength, and know-hows, everyone is evenly free to dream big and set their goals – however, not all of us are equal when it comes to our means and capability to perform and/or achieve our objectives, and I guess this is one of the main reasons why we love underdogs – because every time underdogs prevail, they exemplify how they capitalize on that slim chance they have and beat the injustice that determine the odds.

An underdog is believed to be someone who is likely to squander or fail because of the conflict or adversary that comes before him; a character or personality who is widely foreseen and expected to lose. Even so, we have high regard for underdogs because they tell the tale of captivating success stories; like the ever-famous bout of David & Goliath in which young David defeated the Philistine giant Goliath.

It’s amazing to see how one persists and eventually gain the upper hand when he or she is originally recognized to break down and fall. How they overcome their struggles and land on top of their game is incredible, and it’s these kinds of things that move and motivate us to battle through difficult times, because they convince us that we too can find a way to win or gain.

Now imagine living in a world where everyone has his or her own special skill and superpower… everyone except one. Despite that, this guy never shied away from working and focusing his efforts to achieve his ultimate dream, which is to become the greatest hero of all time.

Even if the people around him think that he was too ambitious given that he couldn’t even become a hero to start with, his unparalleled determination granted him the opportunity to gain his own superpower. Although it comes with a catch, he was eager to improve and yield it properly. He then proceeds to defy his doubters and prove that his dreams are achievable. If you guys are interested to know how things unfold, go and watch this anime series that got us hooked – My Hero Academia.

Prod. by: Josh Tiu

The next in our list is known as one of the greatest boxing icons in the world, Cassius Clay Jr. or otherwise known as Muhammad Ali found success at early age as he was already a Olympic gold medalist when he was 18 years old. But during the later part of his professional career, he was facing a back-to-back loss from Joe Frazier and Ken Norton who his next opponent knocked out in just two rounds.

It’s clear that he was the underdog in this bout. Being 32 at the time, everyone expected George Foreman to takeout Ali easily but the persistent champ never backed down and was able to win back the heavyweight title from the exhausted Foreman with a knockout during the 8th round of the fight.

The moral lessons from these stories allows us to ponder upon the actions we make and assess whether or not it gets us to where we want to be. It reminds us to keep instilling the proper discipline and focus needed so we can make actual progress and develop our present skillset.

Another factor is patience and consistency, we can also learn from the experiences of these people that greatness will take time, and even though Muhammad Ali was able to achieve a lot during his younger years, the quest to stay on top and continue prolonging his prominence required him long hours of training and he even proved to the people that he can still finish strong after facing a loss.

A positive can-do attitude, conviction and strong will power may not always produce immediate results but with making it a constant habit will eventually take us to greater heights and allow us to do more even if everyone around don’t think that we can do so. We can always find inspiration from certain something or someone but let’s remind ourselves that we’re doing this for ourselves, and we don’t take action just to please others.