Have you noticed how successful people always seem to be lucky?
You know, they just come from nowhere, enter the right place at the right time and get rewarded handsomely by life. Isn't that perplexing?
Just look at Linda Ikeji. Her blog is crappy. And ugly. And slow to load. And cluttered.
She isn't even a good writer. Neither is her blogging professional. I bet many of you write and blog better than she does.
Yet, you're a broke nobody… while Linda makes a killing.
Some guys say she makes N4 million daily. What's that if not sheer luck?
And hers is not an isolated case. We all know people in every field who're just lucky to be where they are or have achieved what they achieved.
We know Yakubu Gowon who was lucky to have become the Head of State at age 27. We know Bamidele Onibalusi, a Nigerian, who was lucky to have started making over N700,000 monthly before he was 18 years. We all know one person or the other who was lucky to have won a scholarship, to have won an essay contest, to have successfully published book, to have… you name it!
And we definitely know Muhammed Abdullahi Tosin who was just lucky to have grown his blog to over 18,000 email subscribers and 6-figure monthly revenue.
Do you see now? All these people are successful in what they do because they're lucky while you've not been so lucky, right?
Wrong!
The truth about being lucky
The reality about luck is that… it doesn't exist!
Okay, it does, but only for the prepared minds. It doesn't exist for folks who're too lazy to invest time, money and energy to improve themselves daily, or are too scared to take action on their goals.
Show me anyone who ever achieved success by luck and I'll show you a person who's dreamt big, planned well, sacrificed ample time and energy, and took action despite his fears.
Linda Ikeji invested time, energy and money in a modeling career. She failed.
She could have retired and blamed it on bad luck. She didn't. She picked herself up, took up a career in blogging and showed up every day for 4 years without making a penny.
And now… she's lucky!
Jon Morrow is today one of the most popular bloggers the world over. He makes over $100,000 (N19 million) monthly. Clearly, he's lucky.
But here's his full story: he has a terrible disease from infancy and can't move anything from his neck downward. He has control on only organs on his head.
He has all the excuses in the world to become a liability in a welfare home. He didn't.
He attended college and had good grades. He started blogging and invested years, energy and money to grow it.
And now… he's lucky!
How to create your own luck
Turns out, successful people only do three things to create their own luck. Copy them.
1. Prepare well
Once, I sat for an oral test in school. Each student was asked a question to answer before other students. When it was my turn, the lecturer asked me to list four examples of a particular concept. I promptly did and sat down happy.
After the test, two of my colleagues joked that I was just lucky to have got a darn simple question. I laughed.
Truly, the question I got was about the simplest of all, but…
"What if I hadn't studied that part of the course?" I asked them.
"Who wouldn't? Even if you hadn't, you were in class when the topic was treated."
"Okay, list the four examples right now," I jokingly retorted.
Surprisingly, each of them took turn to attempt listing the four examples but could only mention three. They each confused the last example.
I was shocked they couldn't. But that only shows the first step to being lucky: adequate preparation.
And since life gives you unexpected questions at unexpected times, you must keep improving yourself and getting prepared always.
2. Look for opportunities
You'll not be lucky by locking yourself indoor all days or closing your eyes when you walk the street. You must be observant and intentional about seeking opportunities.
Whether your goal is to get a scholarship, publish a book, start a blog, win an essay contest, attend an international conference, start a business or grow it, opportunities abound.
Yes, most people close their eyes to opportunities, but people who get lucky don't.
3. Take action
This might be writing. Or going for an interview. Or hitting the "Publish" button. Or registering your business. Or creating your first product. Or any other action needed to achieve your goals.
Fear will try to hold you. Self doubts might creep in. Some little minds might discourage you.
You must ignore them all. That's what lucky people do.
So, go!
Go create your own luck. Go get the success you deserve. And when people start saying you were just lucky, you laugh it off and enjoy your success.
NOTE: Copied from http://naijawriterscoach.com/how-to-be-lucky/#more-15108
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