Need Luck To Succeed? Go MAKE Some!
by: Adam Khoo
This is a comment that some people always seem to make whenever
they read about my success story. Some people will always go on to
say... I can ever be as successful as you because I am not as lucky.
I am not so lucky to have your talent for speaking and writing. I
am not so lucky to have such great partners like you do to help you
build your business. I am not so lucky to have gone for NLP courses
when I was young etc...
After listening to these comments again and again, I decided to
really ponder and reflect if it is really because I was just LUCKY.
Is what they say true? Did luck have a big part to play in my
achievements? Hmmm...
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that there are two
kinds of luck that have played a part in my life. #1 The Luck of
where and when we are born and #2 the luck we experience after
birth, during our life's journey.
==================
#1 The Lucky Birth
==================
I must admit that I was born pretty lucky. I was born in a country
where there are equal opportunities regardless of race/religion. I
was born with a healthy body with 5 fingers and 5 toes. I was born
with two parents who had the means to send me to school, give me 3
meals a day and provide shelter for me.
I figured that no matter where you are in life, there are always
going to be people luckier than you are and people less lucky. I
can always bitch and complain that I was not born with the looks
and talent of Robbie Williams & Brad Pitt (or in a girl's case,
Britney Spears) or the money and political connections like the son
of a tycoon or politician. If only I could be the son of Bill
Gates, Warren Buffett, Lee Kwan Yew, Ong Beng Seng, Khoo, Ng Teng
Fong or KHOO Teck Puat (unfortunately, not related to me).
At the same time, no matter how unlucky you think you are, there
are millions more who are less lucky. There are people born in
third world, impoverished countries with no food or water. With no
money to buy clothes, let alone go to school. There are millions
more with illnesses and disabilities. There are so many born with
no parents, abused and neglected.
So, I learnt to really be grateful with wherever I am right now.
================================
#2 Luck That Comes Along in Life
================================
Then of course we have the luck that comes to us in our journey of
life. Indeed, I was very lucky that at age 13, I picked up the book
'Unlimited Power' written by Anthony Robbins that introduced me to
the world of success psychology and NLP (Neuro-Lingusitic
Programming). It was that book that made me want to attend
motivational courses and NLP courses when I was a teen.
Without that knowledge, I would not have been able to totally
transform myself from a lazy person and lousy student to a super
confident and top student. I would just be another ordinary person
today. So I was LUCKY that that event happened in my life.
But then again, I know many other people who attend the same
motivational courses and read inspiring self-development books but
they never used it to change their life and become successful. So,
in other words, an event can only be lucky for you IF YOU TAKE
ACTION on it.
I came up with this formula:
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
Yes, reading the books and attending the courses was the
OPPORTUNITY. But, without me taking action and applying it (which
many others did not), the luck would not have happened.
====================
Creating Opportunity
====================
Some people may say that life never gives them any opportunity at
all, so they can never be lucky.
I believe opportunities are out there every single day. They come
and go very quickly. The trouble is that many people NEVER SEE
those opportunities. The reason is because opportunities never look
like opportunities. Opportunities always come DISGUISED as PROBLEMS.
For example, the opportunity came for me to learn NLP as a teen
because I was a lazy, unmotivated slow learner who got kicked out
of school in Primary 3 and was rejected by 6 secondary schools. It
was because I was such a lousy student that made me want to change
my life and learn the strategies for success.
==================================================
==================================================
The opportunity came because of a problem. It was this same problem
of being a lousy student before that gave me the opportunity to
write my best-selling book 'I Am Gifted, So Are You!' to inspire
ordinary students to become top achievers. If not for my problem, I
could not have the opportunity to write such an inspiring book and
create my famous 'I Am Gifted' program for students.
Nick Vujicic (who I talked about in my earlier post) had the
opportunity to speak to and inspire millions of people BECAUSE he
had a huge 'problem'. He was born with no arms and no legs. He
turned his 'problem' into an 'opportunity'. Steve Jobs (CEO of
Apple Computers) had the great opportunity to start Pixar Animation
studios and create the revolutionary iPod, iMacs and iPhones
because he was earlier fired from Apple. The problem of being fired
gave Steve the opportunity to start a new company (Pixar and NeXT)
and innovate these groundbreaking new products!
So, do not fear problems. Problems are nothing but opportunities in
disguise. Recognize them and turn them into luck.
==============================
No Opportunities? Create Them!
==============================
Even if there are really no opportunities given to you, then create
your OWN opportunities. If your boss does not offer you a
promotion, ask for one! If you don't get it even if you deserve it,
start your own business or work for a better company. If the
woman/man of your dreams does not approach you, go out there and
meet people!
People have asked me where I first got the opportunity to start
speaking and training, thereby building these skills over the
years. The truth is NO ONE gave me the opportunity when I was 21
(when I first started). No body wanted to hear me talk. I had no
experience, no degree and no credibility. So I created my own
opportunity by writing books to build my name and gave free talks
to community centres, schools and churches until I became a speaker.
===============================
You Need to Prepare to Be Lucky
===============================
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." Gary Player, Former Top
Ranked Golfer.
Some people say that President Obama was lucky to be at the right
place at the right time. Because former President George Bush
screwed up so badly, Americans wanted total change and were willing
to vote for him (a young, African American President instead of an
experienced white one).
However for Obama to have taken advantage of the OPPORTUNITY and
TAKE ACTION, he had to be PREPARED. He had to have all the
knowledge and skills to do the job. It took him 40+ years to
prepare himself to be lucky. If you know his life story, he set the
goal of become the US President at the age of 5, when he was
studying in Jakarta. Since then he studied very hard, took on
leadership roles, volunteered for community service, went to
Columbia University and Harvard University where he studied
Politics, International Relations and Law.
This is why ...
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
If you do not constantly prepare yourself by building your
knowledge and skills through reading and attending regular courses,
you can NEVER be lucky. People say I was very lucky to have bought
stocks during the financial crisis that allowed me to make lots of
money when the stock market recovered.
Again, to many people, the financial crisis seemed to be a PROBLEM.
I saw it as the greatest investment OPPORTUNITY and took ACTION by
investing and writing the best selling book 'Profit from the
Panic'. Again, I was lucky because I was PREPARED to invest. It
took me many many years to learn the strategies of finance and
investing to create my luck
============================================
So, start making your own LUCK today by looking out from problems
and see them as opportunities. Keep building your knowledge and
skills by taking courses of leadership, wealth creation, public
speaking, sales etc.. Finally, take action!
To your success,
Adam
really ponder and reflect if it is really because I was just LUCKY.
Is what they say true? Did luck have a big part to play in my
achievements? Hmmm...
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that there are two
kinds of luck that have played a part in my life. #1 The Luck of
where and when we are born and #2 the luck we experience after
birth, during our life's journey.
==================
#1 The Lucky Birth
==================
I must admit that I was born pretty lucky. I was born in a country
where there are equal opportunities regardless of race/religion. I
was born with a healthy body with 5 fingers and 5 toes. I was born
with two parents who had the means to send me to school, give me 3
meals a day and provide shelter for me.
I figured that no matter where you are in life, there are always
going to be people luckier than you are and people less lucky. I
can always bitch and complain that I was not born with the looks
and talent of Robbie Williams & Brad Pitt (or in a girl's case,
Britney Spears) or the money and political connections like the son
of a tycoon or politician. If only I could be the son of Bill
Gates, Warren Buffett, Lee Kwan Yew, Ong Beng Seng, Khoo, Ng Teng
Fong or KHOO Teck Puat (unfortunately, not related to me).
At the same time, no matter how unlucky you think you are, there
are millions more who are less lucky. There are people born in
third world, impoverished countries with no food or water. With no
money to buy clothes, let alone go to school. There are millions
more with illnesses and disabilities. There are so many born with
no parents, abused and neglected.
So, I learnt to really be grateful with wherever I am right now.
==============================
#2 Luck That Comes Along in Life
==============================
Then of course we have the luck that comes to us in our journey of
life. Indeed, I was very lucky that at age 13, I picked up the book
'Unlimited Power' written by Anthony Robbins that introduced me to
the world of success psychology and NLP (Neuro-Lingusitic
Programming). It was that book that made me want to attend
motivational courses and NLP courses when I was a teen.
Without that knowledge, I would not have been able to totally
transform myself from a lazy person and lousy student to a super
confident and top student. I would just be another ordinary person
today. So I was LUCKY that that event happened in my life.
But then again, I know many other people who attend the same
motivational courses and read inspiring self-development books but
they never used it to change their life and become successful. So,
in other words, an event can only be lucky for you IF YOU TAKE
ACTION on it.
I came up with this formula:
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
Yes, reading the books and attending the courses was the
OPPORTUNITY. But, without me taking action and applying it (which
many others did not), the luck would not have happened.
====================
Creating Opportunity
====================
Some people may say that life never gives them any opportunity at
all, so they can never be lucky.
I believe opportunities are out there every single day. They come
and go very quickly. The trouble is that many people NEVER SEE
those opportunities. The reason is because opportunities never look
like opportunities. Opportunities always come DISGUISED as PROBLEMS.
For example, the opportunity came for me to learn NLP as a teen
because I was a lazy, unmotivated slow learner who got kicked out
of school in Primary 3 and was rejected by 6 secondary schools. It
was because I was such a lousy student that made me want to change
my life and learn the strategies for success.
==============================
==============================
The opportunity came because of a problem. It was this same problem
of being a lousy student before that gave me the opportunity to
write my best-selling book 'I Am Gifted, So Are You!' to inspire
ordinary students to become top achievers. If not for my problem, I
could not have the opportunity to write such an inspiring book and
create my famous 'I Am Gifted' program for students.
Nick Vujicic (who I talked about in my earlier post) had the
opportunity to speak to and inspire millions of people BECAUSE he
had a huge 'problem'. He was born with no arms and no legs. He
turned his 'problem' into an 'opportunity'. Steve Jobs (CEO of
Apple Computers) had the great opportunity to start Pixar Animation
studios and create the revolutionary iPod, iMacs and iPhones
because he was earlier fired from Apple. The problem of being fired
gave Steve the opportunity to start a new company (Pixar and NeXT)
and innovate these groundbreaking new products!
So, do not fear problems. Problems are nothing but opportunities in
disguise. Recognize them and turn them into luck.
==============================
No Opportunities? Create Them!
==============================
Even if there are really no opportunities given to you, then create
your OWN opportunities. If your boss does not offer you a
promotion, ask for one! If you don't get it even if you deserve it,
start your own business or work for a better company. If the
woman/man of your dreams does not approach you, go out there and
meet people!
People have asked me where I first got the opportunity to start
speaking and training, thereby building these skills over the
years. The truth is NO ONE gave me the opportunity when I was 21
(when I first started). No body wanted to hear me talk. I had no
experience, no degree and no credibility. So I created my own
opportunity by writing books to build my name and gave free talks
to community centres, schools and churches until I became a speaker.
==============================
You Need to Prepare to Be Lucky
==============================
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." Gary Player, Former Top
Ranked Golfer.
Some people say that President Obama was lucky to be at the right
place at the right time. Because former President George Bush
screwed up so badly, Americans wanted total change and were willing
to vote for him (a young, African American President instead of an
experienced white one).
However for Obama to have taken advantage of the OPPORTUNITY and
TAKE ACTION, he had to be PREPARED. He had to have all the
knowledge and skills to do the job. It took him 40+ years to
prepare himself to be lucky. If you know his life story, he set the
goal of become the US President at the age of 5, when he was
studying in Jakarta. Since then he studied very hard, took on
leadership roles, volunteered for community service, went to
Columbia University and Harvard University where he studied
Politics, International Relations and Law.
This is why ...
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
If you do not constantly prepare yourself by building your
knowledge and skills through reading and attending regular courses,
you can NEVER be lucky. People say I was very lucky to have bought
stocks during the financial crisis that allowed me to make lots of
money when the stock market recovered.
Again, to many people, the financial crisis seemed to be a PROBLEM.
I saw it as the greatest investment OPPORTUNITY and took ACTION by
investing and writing the best selling book 'Profit from the
Panic'. Again, I was lucky because I was PREPARED to invest. It
took me many many years to learn the strategies of finance and
investing to create my luck
==============================
So, start making your own LUCK today by looking out from problems
and see them as opportunities. Keep building your knowledge and
skills by taking courses of leadership, wealth creation, public
speaking, sales etc.. Finally, take action!
To your success,
Adam
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