The Role Of Luck In Our Life And How To Seize Opportunities
Posted by
eli
on 9/07/09• Categorized as Business Advice
image from www.sxc.hu
I have always been fascinated about luck and its role in human affairs, especially in people’s success or failure. Thus I have been reading much lately about luck, success and seizing opportunities, either in business, love, relationship, and in other dealings.
One of the thought-provoking articles I have come across recently was written by Hilarion M. Henares, Jr., a noted economist and a leading industrialist-businessman and author. Henares wrote that luck plays an important role in our daily lives, and it is up to us to seize it as well as the opportunities that luck brings.
It is luck that beckons to every man wanting success. Perfect control of one’s life is an illusion. To succeed, one must court Lady Luck herself, must increase the lucky breaks. And this means cultivating the qualities below:
1. A web of friendly contacts among people in the know, who are wise, aggressive and successful, and who like and care for you. They are the ones from whom good things flow.
2. Ideas and inspirations, and an eye for opportunities, especially in times of disaster.
3. The ability to learn lessons from one’s mistakes. The capacity to devise means (a fallback position) to save oneself if anything goes wrong.
4. The ability to cut your losses when the risks become high. The ability to take a small loss to avoid a big one, like selling an old favorite car or shares of stock before the value goes down precipitously.
5. A keen judgment based on experience, based on all available facts. The ability to measure your risks, even when all needed facts are not knowable. When success is a good possibility, take the chance. Don’t take unnecessary chances when bad is likely to come out of your action.
6. Setting your goals and acting decisively to achieve them. Don’t just wait for things to happen. Make them happen. Hunches and educated guesses can be of great help.
7. Accept a helping hand in the spirit it is given. As one philosopher once expressed it, “Go and find the sunshine of love, to brighten your way through life, to light up your mind, and to warm your heart always. But if darkness falls upon you, all alone, leaving you cold and lonely in the night of the last chance, reach out for the hand that is offered, and walk out of the darkness into the light.”
Good article. I’m in deep thinking after reading it. Is luck the same as fate? And what about the role of divine providence?
I definitely believe that chance or luck is important in anyone’s career. But one has to recognize the opportunity and be able to take advantage of it. Sometimes the greatest opportunities are what seems to be misfortunes in life. Many will complain about “bad luck” – others will turn bad luck into an opportunity.
Looking back on my life before retirement, I believe that as I grew older and more experienced in life, I was able to be more successful because I learned that bad luck was an opportunity in disguise.
This is a great article, Atty.! I found myself thinking hard after reading all the 7 items you’ve enumerated.
Connection or network of friends which topped the list is definitely very important. It’s all up to us how we use all these to our advantage.
Sometimes, all the opportunities are already right before our very eyes but we don’t know how to seize the opportunity. We let it go and have remorse thereafter. It’s because we failed to acknowledge that it’s Lady Luck who’s knocking at our doors.
@ Libby, thanks for your comment. People who believe in God always say that luck is actually Divine Providence, that it is God’s hands who are controlling all, and that there’s no luck after all, but God’s will.
@ Gray Spirit, thanks for visiting my blog and for sharing your insights and life’s experiences. I like your philosophy of turning bad luck into opportunity.
@ Lainy, thanks. I always value your comment. My post is always enriched and acquired added meanings because of your thoughts and ideas.
I think this summarizes your article quite well
“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” ~Alexander Graham Bell~
Have a great time and always some luck on your side!
Martin
One of the ‘isms’ (sort of the mission statement) of Quicken Loans when I worked there a few years ago was “What you focus on, you find.” Very much the same idea. If you think you have good luck, you do…
I am often left wondering whether there is such a thing as luck, or if it is just a series of coincidental actions or if it is part of a grand plan and fated to happen. Whatever someone calls that phenomenon it is there and what we do with it helps shape how our lives end up.
If someone follows those 7 “rules” to increasing luck, is it really increasing your luck or influencing an outcome in your favor, in which case luck had nothing to do with it?
Luck can make some impossible to become possible, but it does not mean that we do nothing but hopefully the problem will be settled by luck itself. Luck is when we put effort, seizing opportunity and finally we will success. God will not help those who do not help themselves. In conclusion, Luck is not necessary to success in life,love,business but it is just a bonus to you.
I think we make our own “luck” out of the coincidences that make up the fabric of everyday living. People who have “bad luck” tend to make self-damaging decisions in the face of those coincidences. People with average “luck” see the really outstanding opportunities, and those with perpetual “good luck” know how to take advantage of even the less obvious coincidences of life in which they are involved. However, I also believe that there is purpose in the universe, which means that random “luck” isn’t all that is going on.
Random thoughts:
Last night, Paul Bogush tweeted ” “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”- Thomas A Edison”
It seems like your post fits nicely with this. Opportunities come to us by chance, by luck, if we are lucky enough to have prepared for the opportunity, are wise enough to take the chance when it comes, and wise enough to let go if things fall apart.
Years ago, I was at some conference at Harvard Business School that seemed related. The event was an opportunity for companies to court potential HBS grads and share various thoughts. One session was about venture capital and startups, and there was a lot of focus on being flexible, and changing plans as necessary.
If you haven’t read the book Twitterville, by Shel Israel, you should go out and read it. It is a good example of the folks that formed Twitter following many of the ideas you mention.
Enough for now.
This is a very interesting post. Well, personally I don’t think I believe in luck all that much. I believe in good timing though. Are the two the same? Anyhow, luck depends on one’s self also. For me, PURE luck does not exist. For luck to “work” we must also act on it.
We cannot just depend on luck solely to give us a good, successful and happy life while we sit at home watching TV. We must also do our part, find happiness within and work for the things that we need and want.
Luck won’t go knocking on our doors as what opportunity does.
Number 6 fairly explains my point of view. We must have goals and act on it to happen.
luck is to be there right place at right time
thats it
be there be seen
I don’t believe in having too much luck.
I believe in being ready to seize opportunities that will come your way. Opportunities abound when we know how to look for them. But often times, we are not confident enough in our skills and capabilities to seize them.
eli, you are simply brilliant! have been to you sight many times. i read your posting, yeah short but it has substance. enough to inspire a fallen spirit. keep it up… God Bless you…
according to my point of view luck is emperative in anyone’s career or make us on top in areas.
a keen judgment based on experience, based on all available facts. The ability to measure your risks, even when all needed facts are not knowable. When success is a good possibility, take the chance. Don’t take unnecessary chances when bad is likely to come out of your action.