Fuel for Thought
Are You Lucky?
Are you lucky or skilled? To put it another way, do you seek opportunities or hope they find you? Do you rely on luck or work to create an atmosphere of success?
Successful people will be determined to win. Luck has no part in it. Everyone has their own definition of success, but no matter how you measure it, a plan and effort are usually a huge part of reaching that goal, not luck. If luck is in your business plan, you are sure to fail. If blaming others for your misfortune, rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, you are sure to fail.
There are a lot of old saying about success, and here are a few that I like as they ring true with me.
- If you want to soar with the eagles, you cannot hang out with turkeys.
- Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.
- The harder I work, the luckier I get.
1. Your environment matters. To paraphrase something that Dave Ramsey has said for years, “Why would you take financial advice from your broke friends?”
2. Inspiration to accomplish your goals can be the easiest step on the path to success. Then the work begins. Instead of waiting for something to happen to you, go out and make things happen.
3. That last one has long been my “go to” response whenever someone says that I am just lucky. I do not win at the lottery. I do not win at the casino. The lottery is chance, not skill. Any successful gambler will tell you it is a skill and not luck that they win more than they lose, if you do not understand how to play the game, odds are you will lose. A seasoned blackjack player will probably win more playing blackjack than at a slot machine. As you hone your skills at your trade, you tend to “win” more often.
If you have worked hard to achieve your level of success, is being called lucky an insult? Whether intended to be or not, whenever I am told I am just lucky, and I respond with Ol’ Number 3, they usually get insulted. I guess they truly believe luck makes you successful, or maybe that is their plan and it isn’t working out very well.
If you believe luck is your path to success, and it is working for you, that’s great, but it leaves a lot to chance. Sharpen your skills, develop habits that directly contribute to your success, stay focused on your goal and before long you will be accused of being the “lucky” one by those who do not see all the work you have done to reach that level.
See you down the road,
Greg