How Lucky Are You?

Was it just luck that a young man happened to working on the pool one day at Hollywood director George Lucas’s house and got discovered, or was there something more to it than that? Oh yes, the young man was Harrison Ford. Do you consider yourself lucky, unlucky or somewhere in between? Let’s take a look at this trait and see if it really is a factor in your success.

Of course, most people would probably not argue with the saying, “The harder you work, the luckier you are.” Harrison Ford may have been honing his skills and when the opportunity arose to give a brief audition at the home of George Lucas, he was ready. 

Opportunity knocks all the time and the part that is important to us and in our control is if we are ready or not. You may add that it was very lucky for someone like Michael Jordan to be 6’ 6” and if he had been a mere 5’10’ like the majority of people, he would never been the great basketball player that he was. On the other hand, you could say that the he made the most of the hand that he was dealt and worked very hard with the size and talent he had.

Most people have something going for them that makes them stand out and the question arises, “What do you do with it. “ Everyone is different and I know that my skill set and interests would be very poorly utilized if I was to be an accountant. Details and number crunching are not my thing, so I would be foolish to think that, “Woe is me, I was born so unlucky because I cannot make a balance sheet look like anything but a disaster. “

If you consider yourself to be lucky, chances are you will be. Alternatively, if you think you are unlucky, you probably are. How many times I have heard people say, ”I am so unlucky, I never win anything.” If that is you, why not have a little bit of fun and see if changing your attitude can change your fortune. I always believe that I will win a raffle or drawing. And, believe it or not, many, many times, I do win. As a matter of fact, I am always somewhat surprised when I don’t win.

I am not talking here about going to the casino and spending your money that way, please don’t get me wrong. I am talking about the game of life and the hand that we are drawn. First of all, you and I are lucky because I am assuming that you are reading this in a first world country that you have a roof over your head and you haven’t missed too many meals in your life. Try telling the kid in a slum in India about how unlucky you are!

Don’t rely on luck to make you a success. Just let it be a perk that comes from your amazing attitude! In a recent study that was reported in USA Today, it was found that 41% of respondents were planning on winning the lottery to fund their retirement. That is a crying shame. Planning one’s retirement with sound financial strategies is far better than just wishing and hoping.

In so many instances, just trying harder can be seen as being lucky. I have an example of such an occurrence in my life. In my carpet cleaning business, I wanted to have the largest carpet retailing store in the area be a source of referral business for me. After practicing my sales skills at smaller stores, it was finally time to go to this big store and see if I could land this account.

On the day that I decided to go to this store, while I was getting close to the store one of the typical torrential Florida rainstorms began and by the time I reached the store, the rain was coming down in sheets. I went into the store and, because of the heavy rain, there were no customers in the store. Because of that fact, the manager not only gave me his full attention but asked his entire sales staff to come over and listen to my presentation. As they say, the rest is history and that store remains today as one of our most important referral sources, giving us lots of business.

Was it luck that it rained so hard on the day I finally approached the store or was it the fact that I had worked so hard planning and preparing to ask this store to work with my company that it all worked out so well? Again, I can’t say for sure that luck is merely coincidental but what I said at the beginning, I truly believe and that is that the harder you work (and with the right attitude) the luckier you become.