Get Lucky- The Art Of Creating Your Own Luck
| posted by Buhle Dlamini One
of the exciting books I have read in recent years is “Lucky or Smart”
by Bo Peabody, a successful entrepreneur who made a lot of money by
starting several businesses that he sold and made him rich. In the book
he looks at why he became so successful, was it luck or was it his
ingenuity? He admits it was a bit of both but mostly luck which he
created as he went along.
We
often hear people saying that to succeed we need to be creating our own
luck. Sounds great, but does one actually go about doing that. And hey
isn’t luck all about chance anyway? Well if that is so, how can some
people be repeatedly lucky in different areas of their lives while
others hit the dead end? There must be something that these lucky
people keep doing that makes them lucky more often than not. Wouldn’t
you want to be one of them instead of just observing from the distance?
If you are serious about creating your own luck as you go
along then you need to consider the art of creating your own luck.
Let’s take a look at what lucky people do consistently to set
themselves apart from the herd:
• Take The Plunge- Seize Opportunities
Lucky
people take the plunge while others dither and tap dance on the edge of
opportunity. Every single day we are presented with opportunities to do
things that could easily lead to other bigger, better things. But,
because many of us undermine or completely neglect these opportunities
of chance, we rarely ever see where the rabbit hole leads. We continue
on with our merry little lives avoiding anything out of the ordinary
instead of looking for a chance to do something or go somewhere
different. If you ask the so-called lucky people what brought about
their lucky break you’ll often hear them say things like: “I just
happened to be talking to this stranger who turned out to be so-and-so
and the rest is history”. Opportunities are created out of chance
meetings, chance conversations that turn out to be vital in roads to
something bigger.
People who create their own luck often take
a plunge in starting businesses that seem like a big risk. They attend
functions where they might meet people who hold a key to their luck.
They often talk to strangers or risk humiliating themselves, which they
often do, but the newspapers only capture the moment of their
luck/breakthrough.
You can choose to be one of the lucky
people by deciding to take the plunge more often in your life. Not all
the plunges you take will lead to great opportunities but the more
often you do it the more likely you’ll hit the mark. Decide to take
more opportunities that come your way to do something different,
something a little risky and see what happens to your luck factor.
The best definition of luck is "luck occurs when preparedness meets opportunity"
• Play Your Strong Cards.
Know
your strengths and try to use them. Know your weakness and try to avoid
having to use them. Most of us spend our time trying to improve on our
weaknesses instead of perfecting our strengths. At school if we were
bad I math but good at everything else, we were encouraged to spend
more time on Math. This kind of thinking has left many of us average
because we do not have any area that we really excel in. If you really
want to create your own luck you need to start focusing on your strong
cards. Don’t pretend to have strengths that you don’t have. You can
develop strengths and overcome weaknesses. But make sure you identify
your specific skills, aptitudes, knowledge, and contacts and use them
wherever you can. This will increase you chances of getting lucky.
As
you develop and play to your strengths your reputation spreads as well.
When I decided to develop my strengths as a communicator it wasn’t long
before people were referring me to perfect strangers and people I
probably would never have met. When you play to your strengths and
excel you open up opportunities for yourself that remain closed who are
happy with being average.
• Give More Than You Take.
Stingy
people constitute of the unluckiest bunch around. If you want to
attract lucky people to your life and business, you need to be prepared
to give. You need to go the extra mile for others without worrying too
much about keeping score. In my experience the old saying “what goes
around comes around” is definitely true in business and in life and
“it” comes around when you least expect it believe me. The Bible is not
mistaken when it says, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
When you constantly look for ways to give to others instead of taking,
you’ll be amazed at how much you get as a result.
There are many
ways to give: Give more compliments than you receive; give more value
than what you are paid, give a little expect a little, give more expect
more. The hand that is already full cannot receive anymore but the hand
that is able releases easily also receives easily. Consider some ways
you can give more than you take to those around you. If all you do is
take from others you quickly become someone that others avoid. If you
never pay for the coffee when invited by friends to coffee, your
invitations become fewer.
So are you ready to create your own
luck? The art of creating your own luck becomes easier the more you
practice it. When the above become part of your everyday life you’ll
start hearing people talk about how lucky you are and they’ll be right.
So take every opportunity to get lucky, no one is going give you piece
of good fortune; you’ve got to create it yourself.
************************
Buhle Dlamini
is an Entrepreneur, Speaker and Writer as well as the Founder of Young
& Able Youth Advisory Services cc, helping individuals and
organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every
area of their lives and achieve their dreams. Buhle is also a
consulting Project Manager to Heartlines a values-based Mass Media
Initiative. Get Buhle’s FREE monthly Success Newsletter by visiting his website at www.youngable.com
