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!

Generally, poor decisions and failure occur  because of two controllable variables:

1. Over analysis
2. Emotional complication

Over Analysis

We often slow or halt our learning process by over analysis. In other words, we do not allow our creative  side to grow through abstract trial and error. The time spent researching and analyzing different technical aspects of the goal take away from the time that should be dedicated to practice…

The actual attempt and practice of a skill towards an objective has the most profound effect on your ability. Unfortunately, the fear of failure motivates many people to defer practice. The term used to describe this common affliction is Analysis Paralysis. It can take hold in any facet of life; work, play, or love.

Conversely, a true master of any skill does not think of how we will perform an action. It just comes naturally. All analysis is subconscious, almost as an instinct. This idea is called Flow.

Flow is synonymous with ‘being in the zone.’ You are fully immersed in the task at hand, successfully completing each goal smoothly.  There is total peace of mind, the opposite of panic.

Emotional Complication

Almost all decisions people make have a strong emotional base to them. The best salesmen know this, and have developed skills that build rapport and positive feelings.

The ability to remove your emotions while analyzing a situation is an important concept in personal development. You have to set your ego aside and truly see the environment for what it is. Recognizing the motivation behind your  own and others ego’s is very helpful in directing outcomes.

An action based purely on initial emotions is generally not the wisest. Often times a situation can be viewed in different lights. The mentality behind ‘is the glass is half full or half empty?’ idea.

Actively applying a positive frame on an experience also contributes to favorable outcomes. It puts you on a wavelength of success, pushing you towards your end goals,  keeping you motivated.

The caveat to this is when people shift blame or responsibility to maintain positively feelings. If the fault lies on you, recognize it, then analyze the steps to correct it next time.

Becoming Better

When you balance these two variables correctly in your quest for personal development, optimal achievement can occur. This is the idea behind the learning curve.

Initially you must build a working technical knowledge base to make an attempt (science). After initial analysis and learning, trials can occur. This performance of the skill provides the opportunity to apply creativity and experimentation (art). Learning from analysis and experimentation is a very efficient method on your path to proficiency (personal growth).

Ultimately, the achievement of any goal is the commitment to get it done. The commitment to continued action and subsequent improvement is the basis for achieving your dreams.

You must approach it two fold… as a scientist and an artist.

Are you doing what is necessary to make your personal development dreams come true?

Breaking the law is a pretty serious thing. When was your last time?

You may have broken it and not even noticed…

If you drive above the speed limit, even by a couple MPH, you are breaking the law. If you J-walk, you are breaking the law. If you text while driving, at least in NC, you are breaking the law. There are even laws that have been passed that restrict what sexual positions you can enjoy.

It is a comfortable thought that law enforcement and the government have our best interests in mind. Unfortunately, this complacent thinking could land you in jail. Learn to flex your rights!

Why Do We Have Laws?

Most laws have been enacted to help keep us safe from ourselves and each other. We are all required to follow the law or be potentially face punishment by jail time, fines, or mandatory community service.

We all have the ability and choice to break or not break the law. If you are arrested for something you did or did not do, the only thing that matters is what that jury decides. Innocent people do go to jail. Guilty people do get off. Your future and freedom is not something you want to leave up to chance.

Blind Faith

There are many people out there who blindly follow the law and what the government says. They do not question why there are certain laws. They simply believe that since the government said so, it must be right and in their best interest.

In a perfect world, these faithful people would be right. In reality, this is not a perfect world and the government does not always do things in our best interest. Police officers and government officials are people. People make mistakes. People can have ulterior motives. People can lie…

There is a common belief that most people out there are “good” or have the common interest at heart. This is an optimistic outlook, and I am all for optimism, but the power of positive thinking will not keep you out of jail if the jury or judge finds you guilty.

Why You Should Never Talk To The Police

Here is a 2-part video from a class given at a law school. In the first video, the law professor discusses why you should never talk to the police without seeking counsel from a defense attorney. The second video features a police detective discussing his tactics to obtain confessions from the people he has arrested.

Closing

I am not advocating that you break the law. We should all lead our lives in a way that causes minimal harm to others.

In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. If you ever find yourself in a situation where law enforcement is involved, be aware of  the potential repercussions of talking to the police. If I ever have to face such a situation, I know I will be using my 5th amendment right to silence.

Suggested Reading/Videos From Around The Web

• How Police Interrogation Works
• The Philosophy of Liberty
• Citizen’s Guide to Surviving a Police Encounter
• Traffic Stop Scenario

How much time are you spending per week reading the latest news or gossip about your friends? How many times a day do you check email or make yourself available to the world at a moments notice? How often is this information actually instrumental in achieving our goals?

The largest addiction that is afflicting America today is Information Addiction.

The internet is the single biggest waste of my time, followed closely by TV, and I am going to do something about it. This idea was inspired by the book 4 Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferris, and the blog 30 sleeps.

This C2G Challenge is aimed at ending the information overload and addiction that is consuming so many hours of my daily life…

Starting: August 24th, 2009
Ending: Septmber 23rd, 2009

I will be putting in to effect my limited information diet. I will live by the following guidelines:

• I will only respond to emails twice a day, unless it is of critical importance. Once in the morning and once in the evening.
• I will only allow 30 minutes of internet surf and chat time. This will take place after I have finished all my action items for the day.
• I will minimize my news reading and watching. To stay current, I will use face to face dialogue.
• No more TV reruns. There is no way you could ever convince me that watching reruns is not a severe waste of time.
• Limit all TV watching to 1 program per day and use DVR to cut out time wasted on advertising.
• I will focus the new time freed up by actively targeting and pursuing my short term and long term goals.

Ironically, this blog is a source of information that feeds the addiction. However, since it is helping me grow as a person and become more effective overall, the time spent  here is acceptable.

I will be updating my progress on this C2G challenge weekly along with my experiences with my Early Rising efforts.

Please share your methods and strategies to limit the time you waste on information consumption in the comments section.

Diminishing Returns

Doing what you’ve always done will always bring what you’ve always received. And when you consider the Law of Diminishing Returns, you may even begin to lose what you have come to expect.

The vice you continuously indulge in will  provide less and less of a benefit. Eventually requiring more to achieve the desired effect. Ramping up input to maintain the same levels of output can be disastrous.

If you are unable to drop your vices, attempt to moderate them… Do not let anything consume your mind or dictate your life.

It saddens and disgusts me when I see people take a vice or habit to the extreme. The results are not pretty; relationships, opportunities, and achievements can suffer or shatter.

Vices can range from drugs and alcohol, to shopping, or any other behavior taken to the extreme. Even emotions can be made in to a vice… do you know anyone who loves drama? In a twisted way they love the feelings of conflict and sadness. That drama-fiend, or Energy Vampire, will try to always look at things negatively.

Keep your life fresh. Attempt new things. Push your boundaries. Force your mind and body to adapt. Do not get caught in a downward spiral of complacent rerun activity.

Complacency

Complacency is the invisible grim reaper that delivers mediocrity and feeds the status quo.

Sitting comfortably on the couch while watching TV reruns is complacency. Taking your significant other for granted is complacency. Not taking a risk to achieve your dreams is complacency…

In order to grow you must be willing to risk pain, discomfort, failure or even a punch to the nose (figuratively and literally.)

The rising problem of obesity in America is a result of complacency. Many people are just too comfortable to recognize how dangerous it is to not exercise, to eat junk food and ignorantly pass down self-destructive habits to children.

We all must take a good look at our lives and recognize what we are doing to maintain a level of complacent comfort and faux security that is slowly dragging us down.