Artwork for podcast The Demartini Show
How to Come Back from Being The Underdog - EP263
Episode 26329th November 2024 • The Demartini Show • Dr John Demartini
00:00:00 00:18:13

Share Episode

Shownotes

If you perceive that you are the underdog in a relationship and are inspired to bring your relationship into balance, then Dr Demartini offers some valuable insights to balance the powers in your relationship.

USEFUL LINKS:

To Access the Show Notes go to:

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/kZPZPwbUG0o

Learn More About The Breakthrough Experience: demartini.fm/experience

Learn More About The Demartini Method: demartini.fm/demartinimethod

Determine Your Values: demartini.fm/knowyourvalues

Claim Your Free Gift: demartini.fm/astro

Join our Facebook community: demartini.ink/inspired

Transcripts

Speaker:

Because if you're in an underdog position

and you're too humble to admit what

Speaker:

you see in others inside you, you're

going to sacrifice for them initially,

Speaker:

and then you're going to build

up unconscious resentments

in order to get your

Speaker:

life back.

Speaker:

Where are you in relationship

to your relationship?

Speaker:

Are you the underdog? Are you the overdog?

Speaker:

Or are you in a state of equanimity and

have a fair exchange with the person

Speaker:

that you care about, and

in relationship with?

Speaker:

Sometimes people get

infatuated with other people,

Speaker:

and for whatever reason, they're

infatuated with their attractiveness,

Speaker:

or infatuated with their intelligence,

or infatuated with their business savvy,

Speaker:

or their wealth, or their social skills,

Speaker:

or how they seem to be a

stable person for marriage,

Speaker:

or maybe they're infatuated with

their inspirational capacities,

Speaker:

how inspired they're about

their life. Whatever it is,

Speaker:

it can be one or more of those seven

areas of life that you could be attracted

Speaker:

to, and everybody, believe it or not,

Speaker:

is looking for the best

package they can get out there.

Speaker:

But if you meet somebody that you think

is a really amazing package and you're

Speaker:

infatuated and you're kind of googoo

eyed and you're kind of dopamine

Speaker:

driven and you're blind to the downsides,

Speaker:

well you're going to play

the underdog position.

Speaker:

And if you're in the underdog position,

Speaker:

you're going to want to

sacrifice yourself for them.

Speaker:

Almost everybody who's been in underdog

position will start doing things they

Speaker:

don't normally do in order to fit into

the other person's life because they fear

Speaker:

the loss of them because they don't want

to lose that which they infatuate with.

Speaker:

Anything you infatuate,

you fear the loss of.

Speaker:

So you'll sacrifice what's important

to you to keep that relationship going.

Speaker:

Those individuals will

eventually, you know,

Speaker:

kind of let you know that

you're minimizing yourself,

and they don't want that.

Speaker:

They want somebody that's an equal.

Speaker:

So what happens is you're sitting

there afraid of telling them anything

Speaker:

negative, because your

fear of losing them.

Speaker:

They're afraid of telling you something

positive for fear of misleading you,

Speaker:

but they intuitively know that this

isn't a long-term relationship,

Speaker:

it's not quite it, but it's

convenient. And so you're the underdog,

Speaker:

they're the overdog. And

whenever the underdog,

Speaker:

you're looking for monogamy and one

person, you think you found that one,

Speaker:

special. The one that's the overdog

is keeping the options open,

Speaker:

because they know they don't really have

a mate and they're somehow not respect.

Speaker:

So they're afraid to

say anything positive.

Speaker:

You're afraid to say anything

negative, if you're the underdog.

Speaker:

So this is sort of an incestral dynamic

because you're like playing this

Speaker:

juvenile dependent, and this independent,

precociously independent person,

Speaker:

one's like the adult,

one's like the child.

Speaker:

My advice if you're going to be in

a relationship is don't go and get,

Speaker:

try to get married to somebody that's,

you know, bigger than you and you think,

Speaker:

oh my God,

Speaker:

I better hurry up and grab them

before they find out I'm a loser here.

Speaker:

Don't play underdog

like that. I assure you,

Speaker:

you're going to eventually

develop resentment. You're

eventually going to say,

Speaker:

I've done all this for you.

Speaker:

You're eventually going to crack

the fantasy of who they are.

Speaker:

Because time will do that.

Speaker:

You're going to bring them

off the pedestal and now

you've been sacrificing and

Speaker:

now you're starting to lay out your

resentments on them. And by the way,

Speaker:

when you're the underdog,

Speaker:

you're going to accumulate resentments

until you speak up and get things back

Speaker:

into balance.

Speaker:

If they come into balance and they

still are there and now they respect you

Speaker:

because you're respecting yourself,

well that's more of a healthy dynamic.

Speaker:

But if you're sitting there playing

underdog and you're wanting to come back

Speaker:

from that, what I advise

is to go and find out,

Speaker:

the reason you're playing an underdog is

because you're too humble to admit what

Speaker:

you see in them is inside you,

Speaker:

and you're thinking they have something

you don't. And the thing is, you do,

Speaker:

as it says in Romans 2-1, whatever we

judge in others, we do the same things.

Speaker:

But we sometimes are too proud or too

humble to admit what we see in them inside

Speaker:

us.

Speaker:

So what you do is you go and identify

what it is that you admire about them and

Speaker:

make a list of those things you

admire about them. Once you do,

Speaker:

you now ask yourself, alright self, go

to a moment where and when I display,

Speaker:

I perceive myself displaying or

demonstrating the same behavior.

Speaker:

And go find out where you

have the equivalent behavior.

Speaker:

It may be slightly in a different

form because of your values,

Speaker:

but find out where you have that,

Speaker:

because if you can see that you have

everything that you see in them,

Speaker:

you level the playing field, you're not

sacrificing altruistically for them,

Speaker:

you're actually standing up for

yourself and having a fair exchange.

Speaker:

When you do, there's banter,

Speaker:

that means you can say positive and

negative things and keep them in check,

Speaker:

which is what makes them

drawn to you and respect you.

Speaker:

If you're afraid to say negative

things because you're the underdog,

Speaker:

they don't respect you because

you're not respecting yourself.

Speaker:

But if you're able to say positive and

negative things and keep them in check,

Speaker:

they are drawn to you,

Speaker:

because they finally have somebody

that's keeping them authentic.

Speaker:

And they want to be

loved for who they are,

Speaker:

and the authentic self is who they are.

But if you've got them up on a pedestal,

Speaker:

they know that's not who they are and

they're looking for somebody that's a

Speaker:

little bit more up to keep them in check,

to get them back to be who they are.

Speaker:

People don't want to be put on pedestals

or pits. They want to be put in hearts.

Speaker:

So if you put them on a pedestal and

you minimize yourself and you're the

Speaker:

underdog, go find out what

you see in them, inside you.

Speaker:

Now I had a very interesting

case many years ago, ,

Speaker:

this is over 30 years ago.

Speaker:

I was out in San Diego and I was

speaking to a Mary Kay cosmetic group.

Speaker:

There were hundreds of women

at this function there.

Speaker:

And afterwards a lot of them

wanted to do a private consult.

Speaker:

So I had a big load of girls over the

next two days that wanted a consult,

Speaker:

an hour consult or two hour consult.

Speaker:

And there's this one young lady that

came to me and she said Dr. Deartini,

Speaker:

I really would love to have your feedback

and advice on this. I said, all right.

Speaker:

She says, I've met this guy and I just

know he's the one, he's just amazing,

Speaker:

and he's just everything I've

ever wanted and everything else,

Speaker:

and I just want to know what you think,

should I marry the guy? And I said,

Speaker:

well, if you're asking the question,

you're obviously not certain.

Speaker:

And there's a part of you

that's hesitating on that.

Speaker:

So here's what my recommendation

is. I want you to go to make,

Speaker:

go sit over there in the other room over

there and write down all the things you

Speaker:

admire about this guy, and make

sure it's an exhaustive list,

Speaker:

everything you admire about him, go

make that list. So she said, okay.

Speaker:

So she went over there

and spent about two hours,

Speaker:

and I did a couple other

consults in the meantime,

Speaker:

and she wrote down two hours worth of

benefits, and there were a lot of them.

Speaker:

I think she had like 78 benefits of

this guy. Things she liked about him.

Speaker:

And she came back and brought

it to me and I said, great.

Speaker:

Instead of doing another

portion of the consult,

Speaker:

I'm going to have you go

do another project now.

Speaker:

Now go write the same number of

things you dislike about him.

Speaker:

She says, well, I don't have that. I said,

Speaker:

then you have a fantasy about who this

guy is and you're going to find out the

Speaker:

hard way once you go

and try to pin him down.

Speaker:

So let's go make a list of all the

things you dislike and when the amount of

Speaker:

list that you dislike is

matching the one you like,

Speaker:

you now have a real understanding

of who this person is.

Speaker:

So go dig and come back when you're done,

and make sure if you got 78 positives,

Speaker:

I need 78 negatives about this guy.

Speaker:

So she went there and she worked on

that for about another two hours.

Speaker:

She comes back and she said, wow, that

was really intriguing. And I said,

Speaker:

it was humbling, wasn't

it? She goes, yeah, it was,

Speaker:

I was blind and I didn't want to look

at those. I said, why? She said, well,

Speaker:

because my parents fought a lot and they

used to yell and bitch at each other

Speaker:

about the things they didn't

like about each other,

Speaker:

and so I was going to make

sure I didn't do that,

Speaker:

and I was only going to see the

positives. And I said, well,

Speaker:

the reason why your parents probably did

that is because they probably started

Speaker:

out the same way as you,

Speaker:

and they eventually found out they

overlooked the obvious. So right now,

Speaker:

can you see you still have the negatives,

and you saw the negatives in him,

Speaker:

you see that they're equal? She goes, I

do. I said, how you feeling about them?

Speaker:

She says, I still love him. I said, great.

Speaker:

That's a healthier state than when you

started here. Now I got another question.

Speaker:

Now this one's probably not going

to take but two hours again,

Speaker:

we're going to be here all

day. And she says, well,

Speaker:

I didn't know I was going

to do that. I said, well,

Speaker:

I'm asking you to do it because you

asked me a very important question,

Speaker:

it's about marriage, you

need to think this through.

Speaker:

So now I want you to do is go and find

out where and when you display and

Speaker:

demonstrate all those 78 traits you like

about him and go write down where you

Speaker:

did it and when you do it until that you

can see that you do the same behaviors

Speaker:

as him, so you're not missing something.

So you're not desperately needing him.

Speaker:

You're wanting to be with him

because you're choosing to,

Speaker:

not because you're feeling I've got

to have him because you're missing

Speaker:

something. Because

desperation pays a price.

Speaker:

And then go and find out where you

have every one of those traits.

Speaker:

So she went again, and now she's pushing

herself and making sure she's doing it.

Speaker:

And I noticed that I'm looking over at

her from a distance and she's got kleenex

Speaker:

there because she's crying on many of

them, because she's realizing, oh my God,

Speaker:

I got these traits. And she's calming

down the infatuation with him.

Speaker:

And of course when she came back she knew

I was going to send her to go do the,

Speaker:

do I need to go do the other side? I

said, quickly go do the other side now,

Speaker:

go find out we have those traits,

the things you like and dislike.

Speaker:

And she came back with those traits and

she found out the drawbacks of those,

Speaker:

the benefits of those traits she disliked,

Speaker:

and I had to ask her the drawbacks

on the traits she admired,

Speaker:

until I level the playing field.

Speaker:

And she finally came back and

it's about six o'clock at night,

Speaker:

she spent the most of the day there.

And luckily she had the time for it.

Speaker:

And she came back and I said, now

when you think about this guy,

Speaker:

what are you thinking about? And

she goes, I still have love for him.

Speaker:

I said, can you see you have everything

you see in him? Yes, in my own way,

Speaker:

I have it my own way. Can you

see you're now not the underdog,

Speaker:

you're not in the underdog position,

you kinda see him as an equal now?

Speaker:

She goes, yeah, I do.

Speaker:

I feel like I can be myself

around him right now,

Speaker:

I can speak up to him and not worried

about what he feels and upsetting him,

Speaker:

and I need that. I said, now

you're, you're now ready for it.

Speaker:

Now I got a question.

Speaker:

Do you even have to ask me whether or

not you think it'll be wise to marry him?

Speaker:

She goes, no, he's the guy. I said,

great, the reason I did this exercise,

Speaker:

I wanted you to discover you had the

power to make that decision yourself.

Speaker:

I didn't want you to use me as that,

and then if it didn't work out,

Speaker:

if I told you, oh great,

Speaker:

you got a guy that's great and then you

end up having to go through the lessons

Speaker:

and it didn't work out, then you'd

blame me for that, and then you think,

Speaker:

well I'm now going to go out and

try to find another infatuation.

Speaker:

I wanted you to love the

person for both sides.

Speaker:

People want to be loved for both sides.

You do too. She goes, I do. I said,

Speaker:

can you see you have both sides, he

has both sides, and you still love him?

Speaker:

And she said, yeah. And I said,

well that's what my intention was.

Speaker:

So right now you don't need to ask my

opinion. You have your own opinion.

Speaker:

Trust your own heart now. And

she had tears in her eyes.

Speaker:

She gave me a big hug

and she said, thank you,

Speaker:

that was not what I expected today,

but that's what I needed today.

Speaker:

I said, great.

Speaker:

Because if you're in an underdog position

and you're too humble to admit what

Speaker:

you see in others inside you, you're

going to sacrifice for them initially.

Speaker:

And then you're going to build

up unconscious resentments

in order to get your

Speaker:

life back. Because When you sacrifice,

Speaker:

you take the things that are important

to you and you push them aside for doing

Speaker:

things that are important to them.

Speaker:

And there's a necessity to be able to

communicate what you want in terms of what

Speaker:

they want, but not sacrifice.

Speaker:

Complete sacrificing and

minimizing yourself as an

underdog is not going to work

Speaker:

long term. And they're going to be

looking for somebody that's a mate,

Speaker:

that's a match.

Speaker:

And they're probably going to end up

having a fling if you don't get that in

Speaker:

order. So I say, go and find out

what you see in them inside you.

Speaker:

Go level the playing field.

Speaker:

Go find the drawbacks of all the

things you're infatuated with.

Speaker:

Find out where they have the other

side, find the benefits of that,

Speaker:

so you can handle both the positives

and negatives of both sides of them.

Speaker:

Because there is no one sided individual.

Speaker:

They very trait you admire

in somebody as downsides.

Speaker:

And the very trait you despise

in somebody has upsides.

Speaker:

If you look very carefully,

Speaker:

theboth of them are going to be guiding

you and helping you as a feedback,

Speaker:

to help you become more authentic in

your own life and more empowered in your

Speaker:

life. And if you sit and

minimize yourself as an underdog,

Speaker:

the way to come back is to realize

that what you see in them, you got,

Speaker:

nothing's missing in you.

Speaker:

At the level of the essence of your

authentic self what the theologians called

Speaker:

the soul, nothing's missing,

it's fulfilled, it's pleromic.

Speaker:

But the level of the existence of your

senses, things appear to be missing.

Speaker:

The things that be appearing to be

missing are the things you're too proud or

Speaker:

too humble to admit that you think

they have, that you don't have.

Speaker:

And as long as you're playing

where I'm superior, inferior,

Speaker:

you're going to have volatilities

in the relationship, not stability.

Speaker:

But if you can see that you have a

reflection of them and whatever they have,

Speaker:

you have in your own way and it's equal,

Speaker:

and you can realize that they're both

worth speaking up, they deserve to speak,

Speaker:

you deserve to speak and you have

sustainable fair exchange, it'll help you.

Speaker:

And also find out what they value most,

Speaker:

because that's what they're committed to.

Speaker:

Their ontological identity revolves

around their highest value,

Speaker:

their epistemological area of expertise

that's interesting to them that they

Speaker:

want to go and talk about

is their highest value.

Speaker:

Their very purpose in life

is their highest value.

Speaker:

If you can't see how their highest value

is helping you fulfill yours and you

Speaker:

can't see how yours is

helping them fulfill theirs,

Speaker:

you're going to have an alternating

monologue. You're going to be talking,

Speaker:

they're not listening, they're

speaking, you're not listening.

Speaker:

But if you can see how what your

values are is helping them with theirs,

Speaker:

and theirs are helping you

with yours, the top three,

Speaker:

then you'll end up having a

dialogue and communication.

Speaker:

And that's one of the keys of a

healthy relationship is dialogue and

Speaker:

communication. Willing to say both

positive and negative things equally,

Speaker:

but not necessarily, you know, derogatory,

in a way that just is constructive.

Speaker:

So having the courage to be yourself and

having integrity in a relationship is

Speaker:

what you want in a relationship.

Speaker:

So by going and owning the traits

and going and linking the values,

Speaker:

you can take your underdog position

and use it to empower your life.

Speaker:

But don't sit there and rush somebody

to get married and put pressure on to be

Speaker:

some fantasy person that you think

they're going to be and then end up

Speaker:

sacrificing yourself for them and then

eventually resenting it and then turning

Speaker:

around and being demanding of

them and go the other extreme,

Speaker:

because now you're going to end up with

the volatilities and by then you might

Speaker:

have had some children and you may have

put some chaos in your life from that.

Speaker:

And if you put yourself and make sure

you have a stable relationship and then

Speaker:

have your children, they

win, you win, the world wins,

Speaker:

and not whirlwinds, but the world wins.

Speaker:

So my advice is to not stop at the

Speaker:

underdog position and want to immediate

gratification and try to manipulate

Speaker:

somebody into getting married before

you're actually in a equal footage with

Speaker:

them. Get the thing back in order.

Speaker:

The way you know you have

it is you've got bantering,

Speaker:

you've got a fair exchange,

Speaker:

you feel like you're not having

to sacrifice to be yourself,

Speaker:

you're able to be yourself around them,

Speaker:

they're able to be around

you and be themselves,

Speaker:

and they can be nice and mean and kind

and cruel and positive and negative and

Speaker:

show out all their sides and you can

still love them. If you can do that,

Speaker:

you're on your way to having a stable

relationship. So those are some tips.

Speaker:

Those all those things are the things

I teach in the Breakthrough Experience.

Speaker:

That's why I tell people to come to

the Breakthrough Experience each week,

Speaker:

because these are the things I teach them.

Speaker:

I teach them how to stabilize

a relationship and how

to empower themselves and

Speaker:

how to empower each area. And by the way,

Speaker:

when somebody wants a

relationship with you,

Speaker:

they're looking for somebody

who's intelligent, that's fit,

Speaker:

that's got some ambitions,

Speaker:

that's got some financial resource that's

not going to drain them and depend on

Speaker:

them, somebody that basically loves

them and really wants to be with them,

Speaker:

not a fantasy person, and then

trying to get you to be that fantasy,

Speaker:

somebody that's socially connected and

savvy and somebody that's inspired by

Speaker:

something. So the more

areas in life you empower,

Speaker:

the more valuable you are

to other people's lives,

Speaker:

and the more they're going to be able to

endure the challenges that it takes to

Speaker:

manage a relationship. And

if you can link the values,

Speaker:

own all the traits you see in them,

Speaker:

realize reflective awareness and

stabilize your dynamic with them,

Speaker:

you can have a stable relationship.

That's why I tell people,

Speaker:

come to the Breakthrough Experience,

Speaker:

because I'm going to give you tools that's

going to help you in not only in your

Speaker:

relationship but in

all areas of your life.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube