Luck - anchor around your neck

The luck I want to talk about today is not "You're lucky, you won the lottery," but "You're lucky to have such great colleagues, to have such great offers," etc. The former is almost always luck. The latter is almost never. And yet you hear it often...

However, it has very little to do with luck.

Luck

Luck is something we cannot influence - winning the lottery.

Essentially, we all have similarly average lives when it comes to happiness. Sometimes something falls into our laps, sometimes lightning strikes out of the blue. Sometimes it all comes together and in one week your cat dies, you get fired from your job, and your partner breaks up with you...

Did you notice that? In the previous sentence? The cat is a sad event, a misfortune, it just happens. But getting fired? A breakup? Is it really a matter of luck, or did you play a part in it?

Luck vs. the result of work

The easiest way to explain this is probably with examples.

With my current client, I work closely with the DEV team manager (understandably). It's a great experience, she's a very inspiring and straightforward person, and she has qualities that I can learn from. I'm lucky to have met her. Her specifically. That's undoubtedly luck. The fact that someone with her qualities wants to work with me? That has nothing to do with luck. It is the result of hard work.

The management team at that company? Really great one. Is the CEO lucky to have those specific people there? Yes, without a doubt. But the fact that he has a quality team is not luck, but the result of his work.

And likewise, there are areas of my life where I may not be so successful. Does that mean I'm unlucky in those areas? No... It's solely and entirely up to me.

Anchor around your neck

An anchor around your neck is waiting for luck to smile on you, for someone to do something for you; for you to have a great boss who will pull you up; or great subordinates who will make you shine; for that great offer to come along; for you to meet the right partner.

That's what happened to the others, right?

We only see fragments of other people's lives... Usain Bolt once every four years at the Olympics in the spotlight... "He's so lucky to be talented." What we don't see is that Usain Bolt trained six days a week, 11 months a year, with a structured, fixed regimen and a strict diet.

It's not luck; it's hard work.

Make your own luck - by working

"Make your own luck.", "fortune favors the bold", Cliché or not, it's that "simple."

• The people around you are the result of your choices and your work on yourself.

• The job opportunities you have are the result of your choices and your work on yourself.

• The respect you have is the result of your choices and your work on yourself.

• ...

There are things you cannot influence.

You cannot influence whether you will receive a great job offer. Maybe there isn't one, maybe there is, but they don't know about you. Maybe someone will get it through connections. Maybe, maybe, maybe... What you can influence is whether you are a relevant candidate or not.

You create possibilities that can then materialize. The skills you have developed open up opportunities. Your choices shape the reality in which you live.

"I'll start working on it when the opportunity arises."

Who would wait for you, and why?