“I’m increasingly becoming aware that despite the many hours of hard work that I’ve put into building up my business that many others work just as hard and are much more talented than I am but do not enjoy the success that I’ve been fortunate to have. While I don’t believe that luck is the main ingredient in my own story I am convinced that in combination with some of the other things I’ll talk about below it has been of real importance….”
I’ve been pondering ‘luck’ as a principle of entrepreneurship over the past few days and am increasingly convinced that someone should write a book about it (if they haven’t already) as it’s been so central in my own experience of setting up this business around blogging.
Of course other principles of entrepreneurship come into play – such as hard work, resilience (Jason C’s word of the week in this podcast), creative thinking etc – but in the case of most successful enterprises that I’ve come across there is a sprinkling of luck mingled amongst everything else.
My own luck has come in many forms.
- Timing – I came across blogging at an ideal time when the blogosphere was young, uncluttered and still forming.
- People – I kept ‘bumping into’ people who were willing to collaborate and who had skill sets that complemented my own so well.
- Coincidence – Time after time I’ve found myself stumbling upon products and services that just seem to ‘fit’ with where my business is at – that take things to the next level
- Chance Encounters – I just happen to have responded to the right email or comment in the right way or time that leads to profitable relationships.
Blogging is a lucky game. I was speaking with one successful blogger yesterday and he told me about how he can identify the exact moment his blog took off. It was when another well known blogger linked to him as a blog to watch after he’d written a total three posts. That other blogger had found him in a keyword search out of the blue. This happened on his first day of blogging and he’s had a dream run ever since. Lucky Guy!
So why do some people seem to be more lucky than others? Can luck be enhanced in some way? Is there something to the old saying ‘you make your own luck’?
Lucky Quotes
“Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Luck to me is something else. Hard work – and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” – Lucille Ball
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.” – Thomas Jefferson
“All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck – who keeps right on going – is the man who is there when the good luck comes – and is ready to receive it.” – Robert Collier
“Be ready when opportunity comes…Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet.” – Roy D. Chapin Jr
“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” – Brian Tracy
As I reflect upon my own luck over the last couple of years there are one or two occasions that do seem to just come out of the blue – perhaps they are true lucky situations – but most have arisen, at least in part, out of decisions that I’ve made that have put me in a position to be lucky. In essence – what I’m coming to believe is that there are things we can do to enhance our ‘luckiness’. In my next post I’ll examine some of these.
