Ralph Waldo Emerson has famously said, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”
Similarly, Bruce Springsteen once wrote, “When it comes to luck, you make your own.”
Dan Sullivan put it perfectly: “Luck and God favor those with good habits.”
In other words, there is no such thing as luck unless you create it. It’s something that comes after you’ve done the work, not before.
Many people want and expect it to be the other way around. They want to know that what they’re pursuing is a sure thing before they do it. They want everything to be perfectly lined up or they don’t do it.
However, no change or progress comes effortlessly. You first must endure the hard stuff to get to the easy stuff. To quote Benjamin P. Hardy,
“You’ve got to work a few years like few people will so you can spend the rest of your life like few people can.”
Indeed, it is only once you start moving the right direction that luck and miracles become commonplace.
Hence, Jesse Itzler once wrote, “People are always waiting for something to happen before they change their lives. But they have it backward; when you change your life, big things are more likely to happen”
Also, why an unquotable source has said, “Have a goal so big that you will surely fail, unless God or divine forces intervene.”
Why? Because having a goal of such great demand forces you to rise to the occasion, and eventually, you become that person.
In every instance, you attract your goals and dreams not by luck, but by the person that you become. You become someone who can handle and obtain your future results, and then those results become yours. Said Jim Rohn,
“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.”
With that backdrop, the remainder of this article explain how to create your own “luck.” Here we go:
Bet on Yourself, Not the Odds
“If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” -Elon Musk
Unfortunately, most people allow statistics to dictate their life. Even if unconsciously, they are constantly searching for circumstances and opportunities where the odds are in their favor.
For example, 89.9% of college graduates go on to either get a job or further their studies. While there is only an estimated 0.03% chance of getting into the NBA.
The U.S has an employment rate of 54.6 percent. Meanwhile, only 20% of new businesses survive past their first 18 months.
Thus, most people will choose the former even if it is opposed to what they really want. Sure, it may not be their desired path, but at least it’s predictable. And hence, Tim Ferris has said,
“People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.”
What I’m challenging people to do is to not be limited by the odds of probability, but instead, drawn by the power of possibility.
When someone says something is impossible or unattainable, they’re not talking about what you can do, but rather, what they can’t do. As Scott Belsky has brilliantly said,
“When 99% of people doubt you, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history.” Similarly, Seth Godin argued, “If not enough people doubt you, you’re not making a difference.”
More important than the influence of luck is the power of faith and desire. When you truly care for a result, you’ll surely obtain it. If not, you’ll find an excuse. The next point will hopefully be the answer:
Here’s What Happens When Repeatedly Show up, Overtime
“When you show up and keep putting your work out there, good things start to happen. You make new connections, people reach out to you, opportunities start to present themselves.” –Ayodeji Awosika
Most people are waiting for good things and opportunities to just suddenly fall on their lap. They think ‘overnight success’ would be a whole lot easier than repeatedly putting in the work. Although Chris Grosser had it right when he said, “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.”
When you have a vision and truly believe in that vision, it’s not about wishing that you’d achieve it all to today, but instead, moving towards it each day. It’s about doing what seems minuscule today but eventually moves you towards your desired result. As James Clear wrote,
“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.”
When you really know what you want and why you’re doing it, however, you’re not worried about how long the process will take. Instead, you know the end result will be worth it, regardless. As Tim Grover has said,
“When you crave the end result, the hard work becomes irrelevant.”
In Conclusion
Jim Rohn has famously said, “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”
Luck and miracles should not be a limiting factor in your mind when setting goals. Instead, they should be a moving factor.
When you are committed to a vision and then show up day after day in pursuit of that vision, brilliant things begin to happen. Your daily habits start to attract beautiful things from the outside world, and quite suddenly, all your dreams become yours.
Some will call you lucky. Others might call you blessed or incredibly fortunate. However, you’ll know the truth.