You walk outside your home, glance to your neighbor’s large fancy house with a Mercedes sitting in the driveway and say, “wow they are lucky”. Well unless they inherited money or won the lottery, that isn’t luck. That is called hard work and dedication. If you didn’t walk out of your house and say that, and haven’t won the lottery or inherited a bunch of money, then you know what I am talking about.
Too many people have the mindset that because people have nice things they are lucky. Maybe in a sense they are, but it probably had nothing to do with luck itself. Meeting that one person that gives you that big break and helps or mentors you to success isn’t luck at all. That is being aware of opportunities presented to you or creating an opportunity yourself to meet that person. It then comes down to what you do with that opportunity. I have squandered many of those opportunities in my life that came along because I didn’t recognize them or didn’t have the drive and dedication to pursue them. I am sure we have all done it.
I see so many young people in today’s society that are waiting for their big lucky opportunity to come along. I hate to tell them but that could be a long wait. We need to get out there and create our opportunities for great things whether that is stuff, a job or knowledge. Going after those things pro-actively puts destiny back in your own hands instead of waiting for luck to strike.
A fisherman never caught a fish sitting on the bank of a river without actively baiting a hook, and repeatedly casting said hook into the water of opportunity. You may catch a bunch of little ones, or you just might land that big one. You may not catch a damn thing. This is where the rubber meets the road. Are you going to quit if you don’t succeed at first and bank on luck that a fish will jump into your arms? No you keep trying in the same spot, or you move to another spot if you want to control your “fishing” destiny. A Chinese proverb says, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight”. I think many people forget that last step because it is hard. At times, I have definitely been in that category.
So how do we create our own so-called luck? For starters, we get off our ass and do something about it. We need to dedicate ourselves to what we want to accomplish. If we want to be successful at our jobs we need to be the expert in our field. If we want to start our own business we dedicate our time to building that business to someday reap the rewards that independence can bring. If it’s education, we find the right classes or books and we soak in the knowledge we desire. We need to surround ourselves with likeminded people that bring positive influence to us to be who we truly want to be. None of this is just luck.
So instead of sitting around waiting for luck to give us our “Mercedes” in life, let’s create our own luck and control when and how many we get. If there is one thing I have learned in life it is that very seldom something is handed to us and when it is, it isn’t usually all that worthwhile. If you want it, work for it. It means so much more. If you work for a million dollars, I can guarantee you will not spend it foolishly. If you win a million dollars in the lottery, statistics show because it came easy, it will be gone in no time unless you are extremely disciplined.
So do you want to be lucky or do you want to go get what you want with hard work and dedication? Ultimately, that is a choice we all have to make. Me, I’m not waiting for luck to reward me. I am rewarding myself everyday with what I do and the people I surround myself with. It makes it all so much more meaningful. So are you going to sit and wait to see if lady luck shines on you? The clock never stops ticking. The time is now to go get what you want in life and enjoy it.