Comfort 2 Growth

Have you ever written someone’s achievements off as good luck or coincidence? Do you think it’s possible that some people are luckier than others?

This idea of luck is a comfortable excuse to explain away another person’s triumph. Luck is mostly a matter of preparation, skill and hard work.

If you really think about it, the idea that there is a magical force randomly granting some people luck or favor, while damning others, is outrageous. It all boils doing to statistics and probability. Fortunately for us, these chances can be influenced.

You may object by saying that sometimes people do just get lucky/unlucky and receive something they don’t deserve… and you are right.  There will always be a chance that something unforeseen goes wrong or right. However, the extent to which you can alter the outcome is greater than you may think.

Preparing for Success

Recognizing opportunities and effectively seizing them takes experience and skill. Conversely, walking through life not learning from the past or preparing for the future is a surefire way to keep yourself ‘unlucky’.

Putting your name in as many hats as possible is a habit that yields results over time. The more you are putting it out there, the more of a chance your idea, pitch, or plan has of making traction.

People often fail to put themselves out there in fear of social rejection. With zero risk, comes zero reward. I will elaborate on the art of putting it out there in the future.

Continuing on, the more people you interact with, the more opportunities you will have to connect. You will find ways to connect your goals to others, and others’ goals to your own opportunities. The creation of a mutually beneficial relationship is a beautiful and prosperous thing.

The most successful way of building this type of relationship is to actively seek out ways to help and connect other people. This may seem counter-intuitive; shouldn’t you be searching for ways you can gain?

The short answer is no, and is explained through the statistics of karma.

Statistical Karma

Karma is the eastern belief of cause and effect. Some schools of thought believe a divine force dishes out the fruits of one’s actions, while other schools believe a person is solely responsible for what their actions bring upon them.

From my perspective, karma and the good/bad events in your life boil down to statistics…

The more good deeds you do, the more positive relationships you form. Likewise with bad deeds; the more wrong you do, the less favor you will have with other people.

In other words, each interaction with another person  is an opportunity to create a positive or negative experience. How you chose to carry out that interaction will have a reverberating, or rippling, effect. Possibly unnoticed or realized until far in the future.

The more often you look to bring value to others, the more positive energy and favor you build. With each value-add, you increase the probability of good coming back to you.

This may seem like common sense, but common sense is rarely common and often is uncomfortable to practice.

Application

Recognizing the affects of karma and preparation, we should strive to take every chance to learn, grow and build positive energy.

Put your name in as many hats by actively speaking up when you hear of an opportunity that matches your, or others, interests

With enough practice you will begin creating your own good fortune and positive karma!