The moment you become aware of anything, then it is game on.
Before that, it is a completely unbalanced match. Like a heavy weight fighting a blind guy in the street (unless it is blind fury, of course).
Being aware gives you back some of the leverage. Then there is the responsibility to understand the rules of the game and master it.
If we don’t have the drive to master the game, even after we are aware we are in it, then we are conceding defeat.
In business, luck makes everything easier.
By definition, it is out of your control.
But we can frame it as something that is actually helpful, since diminishes the number of things we can actually control. It helps us focus on what we have agency and leave alone those things we don’t.
We must accept the full responsibility on those things we can act upon and excel at them. Hustle like crazy to shine on our craft and our niche. Then we will get noticed.
That will increase the chances of an interaction with people that actually care about our offer. The bigger the number of opportunities we create, the bigger the odds at success.
Then luck will make it’s big entrance. Serendipity will smile at us.
A few days back, while I was driving back from school my 4 year old son, he asked me if I could tell one his teachers to give him a game he saw in school.
I told him the best way to describe to her the game was to send her some pics of the game. Then , forgetting how old is he, told him to send her himself the pics.
“Sure dad”, he said. And his fingers started dancing over the screen. Suddenly I recalled that I haven’t seen him performing that task. “Do you know how to do it?” I asked. “No, but I will try to find out how.” He responded.
And he said it and acted upon his cliam just like that, no emotional charge, no fear, no expectation of failure or embarrassment for not knowing. He just jumped onto something completely new for him.
How refreshing to witness that human drive, free of preconceptions, free of adulthood and unnecessary complexity.
Then I looked myself in the mirror and I thought: how long would have been the last time I acted the same? At least not for a while. Then I shook my head and smiled.
“I have tried to stop smoking / losing weight / change careers / be less of an a*hole”…and fill in the blank.
What have been the results? Any luck on changing? Did the stars aligned?
I am sure some people think Tony Robbins is a savior, and others think he’s a fake guru, but if I find a concept or idea that may be useful I’ll take it.
He said: “A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”
So, by those standards, if the consequence on your behavior is that you are still doing the same thing you had “decided” not to do, then you still have some inner workings to do in order to really, truly decide.