Do What — Deep Down — You Know You Can Do

“Luck” is one of those words I don’t really take seriously, and can’t help put between quotation marks.

Being Unlucky

I’m tired of hearing people say that they’re not successful because they’re not lucky.

For the most part, it’s BS.

Now, I’m not saying unlucky events don’t exist. They clearly do. A simple example is the circumstances of our birth. We don’t choose where we’re born, who our family is, what we look like, etc.

I was fortunate to be born in Canada from a good family and looking good enough.

But here’s the thing — I was born from a single mom with close to no education. By Canadian standards, we were dirt poor. With the exception of one brother, no one in my extended family even finished high school.

This morning I woke up to a face that’s full of rashes and is itchy. It wasn’t a surprise really, because about 4–5 years ago, I started having a recurring condition called Seborrheic Dermatitis. I also have tiny legs.

In high school, I was getting okay grades. I wasn’t particularly athletic and didn’t have that many friends.

Three of the six startups I’ve started over the years have “failed”. All the pitches I’ve done to investors were rejected. For my latest three startups, the sales of my products are way lower than I want them to be.

So here me out here: I am/was NOT unlucky.

Did I give up love because I didn’t have a model of a good relationship growing up?

F no! I’m happily married and have been with my wife for 14 years. I’m doing anything in my power not to repeat the same mistakes my parents made.

Did I give up on my appearance because I have a medical condition I’ll have for the rest of my life? Did I give up on my legs because growing them is very hard?

F no! I seek the best treatment. If anything, that makes me want to make the rest of my body even more appealing, and bulk those legs up!

Did I give up school because no one in my family cared for it? Did I give up because I didn’t have the best grades?

F no! I pushed through until I was satisfied with what I had learned.

Did I give up on my entrepreneurship dreams after “failed” attempts?

F no! I learned from my mistakes and applied the lessons learned in my future startups. Heck, I’m even reviving a startup I had started 8 years ago because it was a great idea that I just couldn’t execute probably back then.

I could have given up for any of those. I could have blamed it on misfortune and just never rise above that.

Don’t give up. Don’t accept bad luck.

In The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Dr. Joseph Murphy repeatedly mentions how powerful thoughts to your subconscious are. If you let it believe that something can’t change, it won’t.

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford

Ford didn’t come from a wealthy background. Far from it. He didn’t go to school. He was also accused of not being very smart.

Did he think he couldn’t do what he set out to do?

F no!

What makes you think you’re any different?

Next time you catch yourself saying — or thinking — that you’re unlucky, I challenge you to say “F that! I’m the master of my own destiny!”.

Being Lucky

Here’s another thing I’m tired of people telling me: “You have it easy. You’re lucky. Doing ‘x’ is your talent. You’re lucky you traveled the world. You’re lucky for knowing person ‘y’.”

F that.

I don’t have a talent. Talents are BS. I wasn’t born to do anything in life. I chose the things I wanted to become good at.

As a kid, I wanted to be a video game developer. I knew I had to learn programming. Was it easy? F no! It took me a full semester to learn to do a proper “for loop”. I certainly wasn’t the smartest kid.

Does writing come naturally for me? F no! I’ve been trained to use my left-brain more through my regular job. Writing is creative —is right-brained. The reason I’ve been able to do it consistently for almost 7 months now is that I had “researched” how to write and I practiced without fail. I certainly wasn’t born good at it.

Am I lucky I traveled the world for a year? F no! Why on earth would that be luck?

If money is a concern for people, here’s the truth: I traveled with my wife for a year on a 30k (CAD) budget. That included transportation, lodging, food, and activities. For people living in poorer countries, this may sound like a lot, but let’s put this in perspective. Our monthly spending in Toronto was above 60k per year. And we were certainly not living in luxury. Traveling for a year is CHEAPER than living in a big city. And there are plenty of ways to earn money while on the go, and even living for free.

A lot of people want to do it but say they can’t because of a current situation they’re in. Most of the time, I’d say it’s BS. Their desire is just not strong enough. They simply don’t prioritize it over other things.

So, is it luck that I prioritized it?

Am I lucky for knowing certain people? F no! You’d be surprised how a well-crafted message can go a long way. That and persistence. And outside-the-box thinking.

And here’s another idea:

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin

Are you really that good? Are you really as good as you can be? My personal objective answer is often “no”. That pushes me to become “so good”.

I’ve been reached out to by top writers and top publications over the past 7 months. Luck? F no! You really think people like Arianna Huffington has time for random selection?

Don’t call me lucky.

If anything, calling me lucky is an insult to my hard/smart work.

When something good happens to you, I challenge you to identify its cause. Even though sometimes it might seem like pure luck, isn’t it true that you set yourself up for success?

Conclusion

As long as you keep blaming luck for your successes and failures, you won’t be able to realize your full potential. You’re creating a mental block for your subconscious and leading it to think that your life is not under your own control.

Trust me, it mostly is under your control.

Are you guilty of blaming luck for yourself and for others?

Are you ready to take responsibility for your own success?

I say stand up and rise to your full potential. I say reject poisonous, negative thoughts about your circumstances and act on them. Together, let’s say F luck!

Let’s do this!

Thanks for reading! :)