WOW #031: Hard Work, Skill, or Luck?

Quote of the Week:
“It never occurs to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.”
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

If I told you that luck plays a significant role in every small business success story, how would you respond?

“What about hard work?”
“What about skill and expertise?”
“What about determination and experience?”

Yes, all of them play significant roles as well.

However, in the aftermath of the Academy Awards, aren’t they all competing for Best Supporting Actor while the Oscar goes to...Luck (again)?

Luck is necessary. 
Luck is the forgotten, improbable ingredient that spilled on the cutting board and transformed it into a gourmet meal.

Let's break it down a bit for Entrepreneurs and One-Person Business Owners:

1. Luck is Binary. There's good luck and bad luck. Behind every 4-leaf clover lies a broken mirror.
2. Luck is 100% governed by chance and randomness. There's an undeniable rolling of the dice in every case that delivers a positive or negative result.
3. Luck is triggered by movement, awareness, and intuition.

Let's stop at point 3 for a second.

Can you create luck? Luck for yourself, luck for your business?

I believe that through action, motion, networking, participation, and saying “yes more times than no,” absolutely…stirring the pots around you produces more chance events. 

More opportunities. 
More outcomes.

Now, here’s The Million-Dollar Question: Can you create good luck for yourself and your business?

I'd say no. Why?

Hard work, skill, and determination only take us so far. It’s a natural human response to inflate our contributions and believe that we control everything.

Except we don't. We only control how we respond to chance events.

2 Takeaways:

1. Shake the Trees and Agitate the Waters. Movement and participation creates friction, opportunity, and potential. In point 3 above I also mention awareness and intuition. In those moments, savvy business owners can connect strategic dots that weren't there before, see things unfold that others may not. It's a great skill, and it's helped by hard work and determination. At the end of the day though, you still need luck on your side.
   
   
2. Acknowledge Your Luck and Fortune from Time to Time. Everyone needs to catch a break. Acknowledging it leads to gratitude and gratitude leads to happiness. It also makes us infinitely more likable as individuals vs. those who don't acknowledge it. When our human default mode is to take more credit than we deserve, it creates more division amongst the haves and the have-nots.

1 Action:

Practice the 4A’s of Gratitude (credit to Brian Tracy):

1. Appreciation (thanking others at home or work)
2. Approval (offering praise for those around you)
3. Admiration (complimenting others)
4. Attention (listening quietly, patiently, and calmly)
   

You can express gratitude for the amazing work you’ve done and the good fortune that fell in your lap. Making it a practice pays big dividends.

Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone and Good Luck to all!

Hubert