What many professional speakers will tell you is that luck stands for laboring under correct knowledge (L.U.C.K.) – being less fond of catchy mnemonics, and more practically-minded, we’d actually argue it’s more a function of strategy, timing and persistence. Which is to say that “luck is hard work,” as the saying goes: The harder you work to create opportunity, and put yourself in its path, the better you find your odds of success improving. Most of the challenges and situations we face in life are simply a function of chance – objectively assess any given scenario, weigh your odds, and react in the manner most likely to produce positive outcomes, and voila… things start to improve seemingly overnight.
Not to sound glib: Making things happen is never easy. But the key word is make – you can’t afford to wait for opportunity to come to you, but rather must actively get out there and pursue it. This may mean having to take those classes in night school you’ve long talked about pursuing, finally working up the courage to ask that cute guy/girl out on a date, or flying to a convention where an executive you’re looking to meet is presenting for the specific intent to stop and chat with them after the speech. In other words, if you want good things to happen, you need to start taking the action steps that help increase the chances they will, and sooner at that.
The more calculated bets you make in life, the more opportunities you give yourself to get ahead. This may mean many long days, late nights and bowls of Ramen – but remember, the harder the task, the more likely others are to shy away, and the better the odds (and payoff) you’ll get for having the strength to overcome associated challenges. That said, we wouldn’t be doing our job as professional speakers if we didn’t weigh in with a quick diatribe to help explain the subject further. Below, we break down what it takes to become a success, and luckier, simply by taking a few small steps and actions needed to boost the odds in your favor.
