If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and get lucky all the time. If you like an article, please StumbleUpon it. Thanks for visiting!
Jerry Seinfeld has a bit about how winning a bronze medal in the Olympics is better that winning a silver medal in the same event.Everyone knows that gold is the best.It means that you are the winner and you beat everybody.The bronze medalist is happy because he at least won something.The silver medalist gets depressed because what he really is, is the first loser.Of all the losers in the event, he was the first.He is the head of the losers.
There is a lot of truth to Seinfeld’s bit.When winning the silver medal, the person always thinks to themselves, “If I was only a little faster”.“If I worked a little harder and shaved that .2 seconds off my time, I’d have the gold medal”.The bronze medal winner is happy because they think to themselves “wow, if I was just .2 slower, I wouldn’t have won.Look how many people I beat.
Without consciously knowing it, people think about what could have been.In the case of the Olympic medalists, each one thinks about the “what if” scenario closest to their situation.Lucky and unlucky people alike use this same “what if” thinking in every aspect of their life.Most cases are not like the top winners in the Olympics, there are so many possibilities that could have happened and they are right in the middle.Lucky people think that things could be worse and unlucky people think that things could be better.
Image a person getting into a car accident and coming away with whiplash.The unlucky person would think that their whole life is ruined while the lucky person would be thankful that they are still alive.The lucky person will celebrate and the unlucky person will sulk.
Now which of these people will find more luckortunity?The person sulking in his misery or the one telling everyone the story of how happy he is to still be alive?
David spent his whole childhood dreaming of joining the army as a fighter pilot.Everything he did in school and his social life was specifically for the purpose of enhancing his chance of achieving his dream occupation.He worked hard at school and got top grades.He studied everything there was to know about the air force and being a fighter pilot.David even attended summer camps run by the army to help him along with his dream.
When David graduated high school, the first thing he did was enroll in the army and start the process of becoming a fighter pilot.He went through all of the army’s training and then went through all of the army’s testing and passed everything with flying colors.David was ready to take his first step into the air force.For the specific role that David wanted there was additional testing to make sure that he would be able to handle the high speeds and altitudes required for the position.Once again David went through the testing with a breeze and passed everything, except the last test.David only had 70% usage of his left nostril.Something that nobody would ever know if they didn’t take that test.In a split second, David’s dreams were crushed.
Being so focused on his goal, David never looked around to see what else was out there for him.Once he found out that he will never be able to be the fighter pilot that he wanted to be, he decided not to give up on everything and he looked around for other alternatives.Every department in the army wanted David because of his strong background and excellent test results.David got many offers from the army and even from companies who tried to recruit him.David was able to write his own ticket and he created a new dream job which looking back, he feels is much more enjoyable and rewarding than being a fighter pilot.
David never would have had this opportunity without a little bad luck first.In fact, David doesn’t even call it good luck vs. bad luck.He says “things happen, it is what you do from there that determines whether it is good or bad”.Many people miss opportunities because they are so focused on one thing. Sometimes it takes a little bad luck to have good luck.But really, maybe you can have more good luck and less bad luck if you just open yourself up to more options.
Picture is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ms_abitibi/1462557669/
Sociologists estimate that the average person knows 300 people by name.Thinking about this, I probably know a whole lot more than that factoring in the different schools and camps I went to over the years, the communities I lived in, the activities I participated in and the people I have worked with throughout my life.I can’t say that I speak to all of them on a regular basis but I can say that I can get in touch with almost all of them if I need to.
Lucky people know more people by name and are in touch with more people than the average person.Just knowing more people and being in touch with them gives you exponential amounts of luckortunity since each person may bring you your lucky opportunity.Imagine looking for a job.For the average person, if they ask their network of people they know if anyone knows of any positions available, immediately, they have 300 times the chance of when they started looking for a job.Even better, each of the 300 people probably also know 300 people who may know of a job.That is 90,000 people that can help the average person find a job.
Increase your luckortunity by keeping up with your personal network.The closer you are to them, the closer you are to their networks and the luckortunity they can offer.
1) Friend all the people you know on Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and any other social network that you are a part of. If you don’t have social network profiles and accounts, go create them.
2) Keep all of your profiles up to date including your current employment.
3) Send messages to your contacts
4) Call old friends from time to time. Try calling a different old friend each week.
5) Socialize and make new friends and contacts.
6) When going to a party or social event, mingle with different types of people each time.
7) Follow up with new friends and contacts by inviting them out for a coffee.
Throw a dinner party and invite people you haven’t spoken to in a long time.
The main thing is to take advantage of the contacts that you have instead of just accumulating names in your phone book.
I just want to give a quick apology for not posting over the last week and a half. I have spent a few months posting about luck, luckortunity and how to get lucky and I decided that it is time for me to put it all to work.
Ever since I discovered that you can make your own luck, I have become a luckier person.I see more opportunities because I know how to look for them. I take more little chances because I know I will more likely regret not taking them more than I will regret taking the chance if they failed.I also have a much better outlook on life because I know, no matter what happens, I am in control of how lucky I will get in the future.
Now it is time to put everything together and take the big chance.Like many people out there, I have ideas all the time for new businesses that I can start.I rarely start them because they take a lot of time, effort and startup cost which I don’t usually have available.I finally decided that if I don’t start something up now, I may never start something up.After all, I will never be younger than I am now and the younger you are, the easier it is to take a risk.
I will document the process of starting my business as I go through many steps involved.The idea is still a secret for now but as soon as I am a little further into the process, I will reveal the idea and introduce the business on this site.I will tell you that it is an online service though.
The First Step
The first thing I did was a little research to see if a business like my idea exists anywhere and if it does, can I do it better?As far as I know, my business idea does not exist, at least the way that I want it to.
I looked into the potential for the idea.I don’t want to put all of my effort into a business that has a low cap on how much return I can get on my investment.I want a business that can continue to grow and bring me a bigger return every year.
Step Two
I planned out the basic site.I wrote down how it would work and designed a preliminary system that will enable the business to succeed.I made notes of what is needed on the site and where everything should fit in.
The next step is finding the right person to design the site and then discussing the structure and functionality with him.
When you are stuck in a situation and you just can’t think, whether it is writer’s block or a high amount of stress, there is always something that can calm you down and give you perspective.Everybody has their own way to start their creative juices flowing.Some people know what theirs is and some people don’t.In case you don’t know what yours is, here is a list of things that might help you get lucky.
1. take a walk around the block
2. go for a drive
3. listen to music
4. stand outside and listen to nature
5. go for a jog or run
6. lift weights
7. shoot some baskets
8. hit some tennis balls or baseballs from a machine
9. move to a different room
10. brainstorm on a piece of blank paper
11. listen to classical music
12. read the newspaper
13. take a shower or bath
14. paint
15. draw a picture or doodle
16. look through picture albums
17. clean your desk drawers
18. organize your desk and/or office
19. stretch or do yoga
20. change into more comfortable clothes
21. breath deeply
22. close your eyes and wander around your happy place
23. go fishing
24. meditate
25. do a puzzle
Doing activities that involve some thinking such as reading the newspaper can increase new ideas while activities that do not require much thinking help clear your head and focus on problems at hand.Very often when you have a problem and you take a shower, go for a walk or exercise, even without thinking about the problem, solutions start jumping into your head.Most of these activities are best performed alone so that you are alone with your thoughts.
If you have a special activity that helps you, leave it in the comments.
A while ago I wrote a post “Stop Trying So Hard to Get Luck” where I spoke about people concentrating so hard that they miss details such as missing the forest because the trees are in the way. I just found this video as I was catching up on some of Seth Godin’s posts and I thought i would share it.
To continue writing about the “Get Rich” seminar that I attended in Atlanta, I’d like to give some of my thoughts about “get rich” types of seminars.At the seminar, a nice gentleman whom I met at the beginning of the seminar came over to me during a break and asked me what I thought about the seminar so far.This is what I told him:
All of these free seminars are the same.There is no such thing as a free lunch and these seminars are no different.The goal of any of these seminars is to get people interested enough in what they have to say to sign up for their really expensive full day or weekend seminar/workshop where they will learn everything that they need to know to get rich.To get people interested, they give over a few facts or pieces of information for people to see that there is something to it and then they offer a lot of fluff and a lot of motivation.The motivation that they offer is partly to get people excited about their potential, possibilities and opportunities but mostly to get them to come to their paid seminar.
They convince people that if they come to their paid seminars and workshops that they will have everything that they need to make it rich but the truth is that all they will get at these paid seminars will be a few more facts, a lot more fluff and some more motivation.At that point, the speakers will offer more of their expensive services such a coach who will send them deals and walk them through each step to make them rich.
In these cases, the only people getting rich are the speakers who are charging for their motivation disguised as promises to get rich.They continue to promote their services and encourage people to continue paying them for more and more.As I see it, the only real value that these seminars offer is a kick in the pants.I mean that in a good way though.To get lucky and rich, you must be motivated and go after opportunities.Just by going to one of these seminars, people get motivated and the lucky ones, take that motivation and turn it into luckortunity.They use what they learn, research what they still need to learn, network and move full force ahead to get rich.The unlucky ones don’t see the opportunity at their fingertips so they sign up for the next class and keep coming back until they either give up or see the light.
Each seminar is a kick in the pants to wake up and do something for yourself.Some people need that kick, some people need a few kicks before they start moving.But if you want it enough, one of the kicks will eventually work.I needed a couple myself.
If you can kick yourself in the pants, youmay be saving yourself a lot of time and money.So go ahead, kick yourself into action, get motivated, get lucky and get rich.
On a side note, there are two things I do like about these seminars.One is that they are an extra place to get out of your routine, see new things, network and get lucky.The other is that however little information they do give for free, it is still something and you can always learn something even if you’ve heard the same thing 100 times already.
In my last article I mentioned that I was at a “get rich” seminar in Atlanta.One thing that the speaker repeated over and over was that now is the only chance to capitalize on the foreclosure market.They said it has never been like this before and it never will be like it again.They said that there is a 2-4 year window that we can take advantage of and if we don’t, we will never have an opportunity like it again.If they want to get rich, now is their only chance.
They may be right that the foreclose market has never been like this before and will never be like this again but I don’t agree that this is their only window to get rich.Over the years, decades and centuries, we have seen many people get rich.Some got rich in real estate, some in the stock market, some with their own businesses and some in completely different ways.The speakers at the seminar tried convincing everyone that it is now or never but the truth is that opportunities to get rich are all around us and always will be around us.
There are some people that walk around complaining that if they only bought that stock when they were thinking about it, they would never have to work again in their life.Pretty much anyone who thought about buying a house many years ago looks back at what they would have paid for it and what it is worth today and wishes that they would have made the purchase.These same people today say that it is too late and everything is too expensive now to make it big or make a nice profit.
The truth is that opportunities are all around us and if the foreclose window closes, another window will open.The trick is, never get stuck in the past and blame yourself for not moving because it will do you no good.You just have to make sure that you don’t get stuck in the present by not doing anything. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “the best thing to do is the right thing, the next best thing to do is the wrong thing and the worst thing we can do is nothing.”Don’t feel that you have to jump on an opportunity just because someone tells you that it will never happen again and now is your chance, but also, don’t feel that you can just let life pass you by without doing anything because then you really will lose.
Lucky people find something that they like, look for opportunities and jump on those and that is how they get rich. If it is right, they will win by profiting, if it is wrong, they will win with experience but if they do nothing, they will for sure lose.
I just got back from Atlanta, GA where I was working at a tradeshow that my company produces.The show took place at the GeorgiaInternationalConvention Center by the AtlantaInternationalAirport.As always, wherever I go, I look for opportunities to get lucky by wandering around and paying attention to what is going on around me, especially in new environments.
The convention center is a big place and when I had some free time, I decided to walk from one end of the center to the other to see what other conventions were taking place while I was there.It just so happened that once of the conventions taking place was a free “Get Rich” Seminar.Although I believe that most of these “free” get rich seminars are just commercials for a paid service or seminar, I also believe that you can always learn something in every environment.If I read a book 10 times, I will usually learn something new each time.Sometimes it is something I missed, sometimes it is a better understanding of a topic and sometimes it is just a refresher of one of the topics that is not constantly at the top of my head.That being said, I decided to attend the seminar during my free time.I was in and out of the seminar all day going back and forth between my tradeshow and this seminar.
By the end of the day, I didn’t learn much that I didn’t already know but I did have many ideas come to me while listening to the speakers.Many of the things that the speakers said triggered something in my brain that started a flow of ideas for my blog, my business, my life and my future.
I have been interested in starting to invest in real estate for a while now and one of the speakers happened to speak about real estate.He mentioned many different ways to make money in real estate such as the regular foreclosures, REOs (real estate owned), tax liens and some others.Although he mostly gave teasers to what we will learn in the paid seminar that they were promoting, I did pick up enough information to do some research on my own.That brings me to my next point, the gift of Google.Google can be one of your best friends in the world.Anything that you don’t know, Google can teach you.Just type it in and he will give you thousands of answers and explanations.This past week I stumbled upon a site that made me laugh called www.justfuckinggoogleit.com. On the site there is a picture of Bart Simpson in front of the famous blackboard and he is writing over and over “I will use Google before asking dumb questions” and underneath it says:
Someone thinks you are an idiot because you were too stupid to check Google before asking a question. They gave you a link to this site as a joke. The fact that you followed it pretty much proves the point.
It is true.Although I am a strong believer in asking questions until you understand everything, we are blessed with resources such as Google which can answer our questions for us, give us more questions and answer them too.
My next few posts will be about what I learned or took from the seminar as well as how to research a topic online.
This morning I was reading “Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message” By Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump on my subway ride to work.The book is basically these two great business minds writing about why they want people to be rich and why people getting rich is for the greater good of the country.
They talk about the economic situation in the United States and how the deficit is constantly growing and digging a hole that the country won’t be able to get out of.Kiyosaki mentions his favorite example that Baby Boomers are starting to retire now and are entitled to Social Security and Medicare but the government doesn’t have enough money to cover it all.
Don’t Wait for the Opportunity to Come to You
One thing that jumped out at me was when Donald Trump was giving advice to college students.He said that “There is a lot to know in this world… if you want to be a major player in the world arena, pay attention and go the extra mile – every single day.Don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you.”He quotes Louis Paster who says “Chance favors the prepared mind”.
The way to get lucky is to go the extra mile and find the opportunity.Every once in a while opportunity comes your way and it is up to you to grab it and take advantage of the luckortunity.But, to be a major player and get lucky every day, you need to go out and find the opportunity in the world – anywhere you can.
Trump suggests reading the newspaper every single day and keeping up with international affairs.Kiyosaki mentions that the first thing every morning, he needs to know how the foreign markets did and what happened while he was asleep.
Find your Passion
If you are very passionate about something, it is automatic that you will check up on it as often as you possibly can and maybe even more often.A student checks daily on his science fair project to see if his hypothesis was right.A blogger checks his stats every other hour.A successful businessman checks his financials regularly.I am not saying to obsess over your passion and check up on it more than you need to and thereby waste a lot of time.I am saying find a passion that will get you where you want to be and obsess on moving forward.
If the student sees his science project isn’t going as planned, he will do something about it.If the blogger’s stats start to drop, he will put more effort into building his blog.If a businessman sees a problem in his financials, you can be sure that he will jump to remedy the situation.
Go out of your way to learn and know what is going on in the world, become passionate about being informed and luck will start coming your way.
Throw a dinner party and invite people you haven’t spoken to in a long time.
