It’s rare to come across an extremely successful person that does not mention “luck” as one of the reasons for their success. But how much of the so-called luck is self-made and how much is a random occurrence?
People who create more opportunities in their lives are likely to experience more luck. I’m drawn to think of the successful people in my network.
Left on a train in a tiny wood basket, my mentor entered the world abandoned by his biological parents. Adopted by a blue-collar family that struggled to make ends meet, he had a tough decision to make at the age of 9. Stay at home and wait for something magical to somehow happen, or get his hands dirty in the nearby cotton fields to help bring home enough money to keep the lights on?
My close friend grew up with a learning disability. He had a tough decision to make: settle with his circumstance or put in double the time to keep up with and even exceed his classmates in the classroom?
My former colleague considers herself an introvert, yet it seems like she is one of the best connectors of people that I know. Despite her predilection to keeping to herself, she makes a conscious decision (repeatedly) to take herself out of her comfortable shell to meet new people and build her network.
Now, life could have turned out very differently for each of these individuals if not for their attitude towards life.
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Not only are lucky people creating more opportunities in their lives, they are working on being ready for them.
How many people spend an hour every day reading a riveting book, so they can have more ideas, broaden their understanding and be a lot more interesting during a conversation? Being more useful helps to build a better and wider network of friends and acquaintances, which brings more great opportunities in your life.
Is it luck if you spend thousands of hours building a sales funnel, continually learning how your business works and contributing value to your prospective customers to eventually earn the status of sales club?
Is it luck if you consistently find the right business to invest in, or is it a skill honed by years of business experience and looking at hundreds of charts and financial statements every day?
How many people know their exact strengths and have chosen a career that maximizes their natural strengths? How many have chosen to work in an organization that is most likely to reward them for their strengths?
How many people make a conscious effort to laugh every day, so they are happier and therefore more productive and creative?
How many consciously pick the people they spend the most time with because they understand the impact of their closest friends on their overall lives?
Everyone has bad days in their lives. Not everyone approaches bad days with a positive attitude, an understanding that challenges are the spice of life, troubles are temporary and eventually, everything will end up well. #positivenews
Key takeaway: lucky people take practical steps to reduce the impact of bad luck in their lives. What looks like luck is often the result of attitude towards life.
Action steps:
*You can complain how hard the current job market is or how much you dislike what you’re currently doing or you can write an email to someone you admire and suggest five ways to improve their business and make money. You give before you ask. That’s how life works. In most cases, you don’t even need to ask for a favor back. When you give first, the people who you actually want to work with will provide back without you even asking.
*You can complain about how a friend is not being a good friend to you or you can express gratitude to that person for all the positive contributions they make to your life. Developing an “attitude of gratitude” is one of the simplest ways to improve your attitude towards life- you won’t be disappointed by the effort.