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August 13th is International Left-Handers Day! There’s even an official website, www.lefthandersday.com, wishing you a happy left handers day and encouraging you to celebrate being left-handed!

Left-handers often feel disadvantaged navigating through a right-handed world of products and settings. But, being left-handed does have its advantages. Here are some of them:

1. Adapt to changes more quickly

The majority of products on the market today are designed for use by people who are right-hand dominant. If your dominant hand is the left, you’re used to coming up with creative solutions in order to function as effectively as possible, and in a variety of situations that may not come to you as natively as someone who is right-hand dominant. Because of this, you’re better adept to adapt (see what I did there?) – you’ve had more practice adapting.

2. Better at multitasking

With a ready-to-adapt foundation in place, left-handers are primed for multitasking. You’ve had to think about things from a different perspective to get things done as efficiently as possible your whole life. In your world, multitasking is a piece of cake (*drool*). You’ve had much more practice while most right-handers are just starting to get the hang of things.

3. Presidential qualities

Apparently, lefties are pretty good at becoming president. In an article on The Telegraph, Jonny Cooper explains that the last five US presidents have been left-handed (excluding George W. Bush, but not his dad!). There are many theories around why this might happen. One is that left-handers train themselves to think more critically and problem-solve at a younger age, skills that come in handy for many intellectual fields (politics included).

4. Athletic excellence

In terms of competition, the lefties tend to have the advantage. As Cooper puts it when he discusses tennis, “the majority of players are right-handed, they’re less accustomed to the angles created by someone who holds their racket in the opposite hand, giving the lefties a natural advantage.” When looking at two subjects with similar levels of intrinsic talent, the one with more practice tends to come out on top – this is one of the theories as to why left-handers excel.

5. Intelligence is on your side

You’ll find a lot of lefties on both the Nobel Prize winner list and in Mensa. According to Cooper, the Nobel list disproportionately favors left-handers and Mensa says 20% of their members are left-hand dominant. 20% is apparently double what you would expect to find based on the rate of occurrence in the general population.

6. So is money

Potentially due to the proclivity towards intellectual fields, left-handers also tend to be higher earners. In a BuzzFeed list, Katie Notopoulos cites a recent study in which lefties were found to earn 10-15% more than righties among college-educated people. No income difference was found in the normal population.

7. Lefties are out of this world

Literally! In their left-handed fascinating facts, the Left Handers Day site mentions that on the Apollo Space Mission, 1 in 4 of the astronauts were left-handed. If you thought Mensa was impressive by simply doubling the expected amount, then astronauts will blow you away! 1 in 4 is 250% more than the normal level!

8. Swimming underwater is a cinch

Well, seeing while swimming underwater is a cinch. For some reason, left-handers tend to adjust to seeing underwater faster and more easily than right-handers. It could simply be more practice at adapting quickly and multitasking, but an article on anythinglefthanded.co.uk mentions that “scientists think it has something to do with a different part of the brain being dominant in left handed individuals.” Still, we’re not clear on why this occurs.

9. Driving comes easier

Cars may be made for right-handers, but left-handers seem to excel here too. According to Notopoulos’ list, one AA driving school found that lefties passed their driver’s tests on the first try at 57% while only 47% of righties could claim the same. Cooper cites this driving school in his article as well, but mentions it could be because, in the UK, the gear and clutch are located to the left of the driver and require precise motor skills.

So, left handers rejoice! It might be hard sometimes (or maybe not if you’ve already adapted), but don’t despair – it turns out you have a lot going for you and in your favor! Happy Left Handers Day!