On Saturday night I had the privilege of going to a hockey game with my brother to see the Montreal Canadiens play the Washington Capitals.Although the Canadiens lost with a couple minutes left in the game, I did come away from the game with a valuable lesson.
There was one beautiful play where one of the Canadiens (can’t remember which one) broke through the Capital’s defense and made it all the way down the ice, a little past the blue line when he decided to pretty much pass the puck to the Washington Goalie.When I say pass, I really mean it.The entire game, the Canadiens were slapping the puck at the net and on this play, it couldn’t have been going more than 5 mph.
I was a little disappointed but my brother who is a much bigger fan than I am reminded me of Wayne Gretzky’s quote “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take”.He said that you never know but sometimes those shots go in by some fluke.
This got me thinking about many things in life.There are times where you have a chance to do something but you don’t feel that you are 100% ready yet or the timing just doesn’t feel right.If you don’t go for it, you will definitely not succeed.On the other hand, even a miserable attempt at the net can end up as a goal.A goal is a goal, no matter how it’s scored.
Go ahead, take your shots, even the ones that aren’t all lined up and perfect because if you don’t take it, it’s for sure a miss but if you do make some sort of effort and take the shot, you never know.You may score by some fluke.
Another example of this was given to me by my insurance broker.He said selling insurance is a numbers game.You will have success in proportion to the amount of phone calls you make.There is no real special trick, it’s just get on the phone and don’t stop calling.The same goes for hockey.Keep taking shots on net and eventually one of them will go in.
The more shots you take, the luckier you will get.
To get lucky, you need to constantly be learning and opening up new horizons.Whatever area it is that you want to get lucky in, you need to involve yourself in your interest and surround yourself with tools to increase your knowledge of the specific area.Hang around people who are where you want to be.For instance, if you want to get rich, hang around rich people.Another must do for getting lucky is to read everything you can get your hands on on your topic of choice.
If you are hanging around the right people, they can often suggest the right books for you to be reading but there always comes a time where you are stuck and don’t know what you should read next.Here are a few ways to find the next book to read.
Go to Borders or Chapters or whatever your local bookstore is.
Just go into your local bookstore and browse through the section on the topic of your interest.Look for best sellers, new releases or store recommendations.You can also read a few pages from the books that catch your interest to get an idea of what they are about and if your will enjoy the read.
Surf the net for a good book.
There are websites such as www.whatshouldireadnext.com that ask you to enter the book that you just finished reading and it will tell give you a list of books to read, based on other people’s choices and suggestions who also enjoyed the book you just read.
Amazon.com’s suggestions
Amazon is really good at following up with buyers and sending them suggestions of additional books to purchase. Their recommendations are usually pretty good if you generally buy books that interest you.When I first started using Amazon, it was for college textbooks for random classes.I was getting philosophy and history college textbook suggestions for years.
I’m currently in the middle of a few books that I’m really enjoying.I keep one book in my work bag that I read on my commute, one book is on my night table and one book goes with me everywhere else so that I always have something to read.I suggest every one of them:
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.”
Ernest Hemingway
In September, I started posting “Lucky Quotes” once per month but when I stumbled upon this quote from Hemingway, I had to post it by itself.
I wrote a little while back about investing time with compound interest but from the looks of it Hemingway had the idea first. Today can be exactly like yesterday and tomorrow but if you make today count, it becomes the foundation for the rest of your life. If you spend each day building that foundation, you may not notice any difference in a few days or weeks but if you look back over a year, you are sure to see the fruits of your labor. I saw what one year could do for me.
You can become an expert on any subject by just reading one hour on the topic each day for 3 years. One hour alone will not do much for you. Even a few days won’t do much for you. If you are consistent and read for an hour every day, you can make a huge difference for your future.
I’ve mentioned it before but it is so important that i’ll keep mentioning it. We live in such a great time that there is more information available to read and learn from than ever before and most of it is free. All you have to do is motivate yourself to read it. A quick Google search and you hit gold.
I’ve been away for a little while and I want to apologize since I didn’t plan to stop posting while I was away,I just didn’t have the chance to really sit down in front of my computer for more than a few minutes at a time.I spent the last week and a bit with my family in Beautiful Montreal, Canada, where I grew up, checking out the community again.My family has been looking to move out of New York for the last while and we finally decided on Montreal.Now that we have three kids and our oldest is starting school, we were looking for a simpler life with more grass (and parking spots).
This is going to be the first short post in a series on my decision to move to Montreal.
Change your location and your luck changes
There is an old saying that if you change your location, your luck will change.I am a firm believer in the saying since it has everything to do with Luck.In my description of “Luckortunity” I mentioned the comparison of finding “luck” to an apple orchard where if you collect apples from the same area each day, it will eventually run out but you can always move onto a different section of the orchard and find more apples.If you stay in the same place for too long and do the same things over and over again, your luck runs out.To get lucky again, you need to change things up and look for your luck in a new untouched area.
Luck potential is everywhere
When you’re in a new city, the luck potential is unlimited.Everything is new and fresh for you and the opportunities hit you in the head if you’re open to them.You can look at how people live and do business and then you can compare everything to what you are used to.Then you have twice the tools to build your own business.Sometimes it is so obvious to an outsider what can be done to improve the situation.For example, I was looking for an apartment to rent and most landlords in the area that I was looking didn’t advertise.That’s a perfect opportunity to build an online community poster board for that area.You can also notice that services that are offered in your old city are unheard of in your new city and you can take advantage.
If you are human (or Scooby), you have fear.Everyone fears something, it is just how we deal with the fear that determines if it will cause good or bad luck.It could be fear of what people will think, fear of not having enough money, fear of rejection, fear of the government or just fear of possibility and change.
To deal with fear most people like to just push it aside and live a life that won’t be bothered by fear.They take the safe and secure route in life to minimize fear in the short term.But by doing this, they are playing it safe.They do what society, their parents and friends expect of them, they go to school, get a secure job and never really question anything.It isn’t until many years down the line that they start to question if they made the right choices in life.
When looking back at your life, you will regret not doing more things than you regret doing.
There are so many things in life that we pass up doing because we are afraid of the consequences.I’m not saying to go and do something stupid but the fact is that at the end of the day you will regret not doing more things than you regret doing.So go ahead and take a risk.
People don’t spend their days thinking about you.
Stop thinking about what people think about you and live your life.Don’t worry about anyone else because at the end of the day, you are the one that will answer for what you’ve done and you are the only one that matters.Your parents and friends make their own decision and have made their own mistakes.It’s time for you to make your own decisions and yes, your own mistakes.
The reward is in proportion to the risk.
If you take the secure and boring path, you will lead a boring life.The secure part isn’t even that secure, look at anyone in the financial field these days.If you take risks, there is potential to fail but there is potential to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.The worst case scenario is that you will fail and learn from your experience.After all, failure leads to success.
Courage is when your mission is more important than your fear.
We all have fear and there is no way to get rid of it so you have a choice, push it to the side and never think about it or stare it in the face and kick its rear into place.If you choose the latter, your life will be a lot more exciting and you will get lucky.
One thing I am realizing more and more is that nobody likes you more than yourself.You can learn many lessons from this, here are a few:
By liking yourself, you allow others to like you
If you love yourself, you give off a glow that people want to be part of because it makes them feel good.They can improve themselves by being part of whatever you are doing.On the flip side, if you hate yourself, people run from you because they get depressed just being close to you.
For Someone to do Something, It has to Benefit Them
People are interested in helping themselves get the most out of everything.If you ask a friend to go to a movie, they will only go because they want to see the movie, because they want to spend time with you or some other reason that helps them, like just not being bored.A friend will do you a favor because they know you will pay it back and/or because they want to keep you as a friend.Some people help others out because it feels good to them or they feel that they are making the world a better place.
People Don’t Care About What You Do, Unless it Benefits Them
People may ask you what you do for a living, during your vacations, or during your time off but they don’t really care.They ask you to get ideas for themselves, to network, or to make conversation and hear themselves speak by telling you what they do.
Nobody Cares About A Product Until You Prove Why it Benefits Them
As a marketer, you have to take a product and prove to people why they should care about it.A vegan does not care how many delis there are on his street but he will start to care when they start offering vegan menus.
I don’t mean for this to be a pessimistic post about how selfish people are, I want this post to help you have better social interactions with everyone and make the world a better place.There are simple things that you can do to help such as:
Give someone a complement
Listen when someone is speaking to you
Give people the time of day
Encourage your friends to reach for the stars
Be social
By doing these, you will feel good about yourself which will lead to your liking yourself even more, people wanting to be close to you, Spend time with you and listen to you.You’ll notice that it goes in full circle.Help others to help yourself or “what goes around comes around.However you want to put it, changing the world starts with liking yourself.
This is my 100th post and I decided to look back at my past articles and give a quick summary of some of the many ways to “Get Lucky”.One of the downsides to a blog is that new readers miss out on old posts that get buried along the way by new content so I am using this article as a rundown of some of my old content and a quick refresher course for those of you who have been with me since the beginning.This article is made up of new content but each point has a link to a past article for more information.
Enjoy!
Take a Different Route – By taking the same route to work, school, the gym, mall or wherever you are going each day, you become immune to everything around you.You can commute with your eyes closed without a problem.The problem is that you lose out on any opportunity that may come up.By taking a new route, you will notice opportunity all around you.If you take a different route for a month and then take your original route again, you will notice little changes that you never would have noticed if you continued to take that route for the last month.Little things like seeing a store opening or closing down can give you ideas of what is happening or working in the community and can spark many ideas.
Learn From Your Failures – the most successful people are the ones that failed over and over again and did not give up.They are the Michael Jordans, the Thomas Edisons and the Abraham Lincolns of the world.Unlucky people give up when they see that something doesn’t work and they move on to the next activity or just write themselves off as “unlucky” and live with it.
Pay Attention to the Little Things– Don’t expect opportunity to just hit you in the head like a ton of bricks.It may but most probably will not.Pay attention to everything around you because a little flyer on a bulletin board may change your life.
Set Goals – Without goals, you are just floating through life and living from day to day.Set goals for yourself and give yourself purpose.Give yourself a reason to get out of bed in the morning.These goals can be anything including financial, such as early retirement, starting a successful business, raising good children, losing weight, changing a bad habit or disciplining yourself.
Narrow Down Your Goals – If you have too many things going on, you will never be able to devote enough time and resources to each project.Make sure that you focus on one goal at a time so that you can use inertia in your favor.Once you get the ball rolling, it gets easier and easier to keep moving toward your goals.
But Don’t Lose Sight of Everything Else Around You – even when you narrow down your goals, you must keep your eyes open to everything that is going on around you.It is sometimes the elements that you catch in your peripheral vision that get you ahead.No matter how focused you are, you must stay informed of your surroundings.For example, you may be starting a business and working off of a very detailed plan but then a new technology or trend comes around that can help you out.You need to know about it and be able to incorporate it into your plan.
Be Flexible – Times change, people, change, trends change.To stay on top, you have to be flexible enough to stay ahead of the change, to work with the change and adapt anything you have to that change.If you are running a business and not using the newest trends to your advantage, you will lose out.Today, it is the companies that are using social media to market their businesses that are winning.The losers are looking at social media as something that teenagers do to waste time.The winners are looking at that as a way to connect to their best audience and then even additional audiences.
Speak to Strangers – Be as social as possible.The more people you speak to, the more opportunities will come up.Everyone in the world has their own take on life and by speaking to as many people as possible, you can take their outlook and use it to your advantage.Their outlook with your insight can lead to all sorts of opportunities and innovations.If you want to develop a successful product, you need to know what other people need or want so that you can build something that will make their lives easier.
Use Social Networks – Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter and many others can help you connect to thousands of additional people.The networks allow you to connect and stay connected to people around the globe, and allow you to learn from each other.They can also help you out with problems as they arise by writing a twitter or a status message to your network.With a well built network, you will have answers and solutions within minutes.
Create Value – The more value you give people, the more value they will give you.The bigger your network is, the more value you will get in return.By giving more value, people will give you more importance and help you out quicker.People are social creatures by nature and are always looking to help each other out.The value you give could be in the form of an educational blog, answering other people’s questions or lending a hand when needed.
Start a Blog – I believe that everyone in the world should have a blog.Everyone has some sort of expertise whether they believe it or not.Write about something that you are involved in, something that interests you or even keep an online diary of what you are up to.There are billions of people in the world and there are people out there that want to hear what you have to say.Besides, blogging has many advantages such as improving your writing skills, communication skills, computer skills and knowledge, network and discipline as well as it keeps you motivated and working toward your expertise and goals.I encouraged my wife to start a blog and I plan on encouraging my children as well when they get a bit older.
Become Financially Literate – No matter what your goals are, financial literacy is important.Just being able to understand numbers will open up so many new opportunities.When people find themselves in debt and don’t know what to do about it, it can get them down and throw them into a downward spiral leaving them miserable.Anyone can get out of debt, it just takes some effort to learn about what to do.Getting out of debt can become your goal and turn a negative into a positive.On the positive side, knowing numbers can let you make more educated decisions about buying stocks, getting into businesses or planning early retirement.
Go to Conventions – Go to as many conventions, conferences, seminars and tradeshows as you possibly can.There is a reason that there is a term “convention high”.It is because there are so many people in one place with a common interest and everyone is eager to share.You can get more socializing and networking done at conferences, leading to so many new ideas and opportunities.You may even find a new job or your ultimate calling.
Shut Up and Listen – don’t just talk to people and then wait for your turn to talk again.Make sure that you actively listen to what the other person has to say so you can benefit from his take on things.Everyone has something intelligent to say if you listen.
Work Hard – If you ask any successful person how they got lucky, they will tell you that they worked really hard.Alan Bond once said “I’ve always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got”.Work through the pain, the failure and the bad times and you will succeed.
Be an Optimist – Optimists are luckier that everyone else because they always see the positive in everything.You give them lemons and they’ll make you lemonade.By keeping your spirits high, you open yourself up to more opportunity.The pessimists don’t even try to succeed because they predict that they will fail.Henry Ford said “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right”.Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.
Learn to Cooperate– One of the greatest things about the internet today or web 2.0 is that it encourages cooperation.To get ahead, you need to cooperate with other people.The world is not based on competing individuals racing to the top anymore.It is all about sharing and providing value to others.Bill Clinton, the Former President of the United States said “The characteristics of all successful communities: broadly shared, accessible set of opportunities, a shared sense of responsibility for the success of the common enterprise, and a genuine sense of belonging.”
Take Blame – Take the blame when it is your fault.The best way to learn is by making mistakes and learning from them.If you blame your failures on other people, you lose out on the opportunity to learn from them.Stop blaming your parents and teachers from years ago for problems you are having today.Grow Up, take responsibility for yourself, learn from the past and become the best “you” possible.
Take Advice from Experts – Only take advice from people who have already successfully done what you are planning to do.Too many people take advice from their family and friends that have never attempted or accomplished what they are setting out to do.If you take advice from them, you will end up exactly where they are.
Think of the Future You – Every action has a consequence.Whatever you do today will affect yourself in the future. For instance, if you have some money you can spend it or invest it.If you spend it, it will be gone but if you invest it, you will have the money and more (interest) later on.The same goes for time.If you use time productively, you will be better off in the future.It may be learned or practiced skills, it can be exercise to keep your body healthy or it could be sleep to make sure you function the next day.
Get Rid of Bad Habits – Bad habits can keep you down and hold you back from new Luck that can come your way.Some bad habits to try and kick are procrastination, sleeping too much, eating the wrong foods and not being social.
Discipline Yourself – Discipline is very important in reaching any goal.Without it, you will fall of the track somewhere and not know where to get back on.Set up guidelines and goals of what you want to get done and make sure they are reasonable.Then force yourself to do them every single day.If your goal is to put $1 per day into your savings account, put $1 in each day instead of $2 to cover the next 2 days or $100 to cover 100 days.Doing this builds discipline and will help you in the long run.If you force yourself to put exactly $1 per day, you are likely to keep to it forever but if you put $100 at a time to cover the next while, you will eventually give up and stop.
Keep Up With Change – Be an early adopter and stay up to date with the changes in the world.With change comes new opportunities to get lucky.The internet brought along the opportunity to do business globally 24/7, even while you sleep and also give off the image that you are a large company even if you are just one person.It also made learning anything at all accessible to anyone who wants it.Every new online service brings more opportunity that you can cash in on or take advantage of if you keep up with the change.If you don’t keep up with change, other people will take all of your opportunities.
Face your Fears – The only way to get passed your fears is to take them head on.Once you face them, you will realize that there probably wasn’t that much to fear in the first place and you will have another skill.If you hide from your fears, you are hiding from new opportunity that can be waiting for you.
Ask Questions – Don’t be afraid to ask questions.Anytime you don’t know something that people are talking about or you hear a word or concept that you’ve never heard before, ask about it.You may look stupid or ignorant but if you don’t ask, you will be missing out on any opportunity it has to offer.The longer you wait, the worse off you will be.
Google Everything – Asking questions is great when you are with people in a class or a social setting but if you are at a computer, just Google it and then ask someone for clarification if you need it.Pretty much anything you need to know can be found with a good Google search.Learn how to use the Internet.
Take Baby Steps– Some goals look so far away and impossible to reach but the truth is that success does not happen overnight.It takes a lot of work and one little step at a time until you come close to success.I decided on my birthday last year that I was going to become financially free and be able to retire young.It has been a long year full of great lessons and I came to realize that I am definitely on my way but I still have a long way to go.
Learn Another Language – By learning another language you increase your opportunity by being able to communicate with a huge amount of new people.When you travel to countries that speak that language, your trip will be a lot more meaningful when you are able to communicate with anyone on the street.You can also make business contacts in other countries and translate documents.
Do the Impossible – Once again as Henry Ford said “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right”.Don’t look at something and write it off as “impossible” right away.Sometimes you have to take yourself out of the box to see how it is possible.Just think, the Japanese invented the square watermelon.
Use Tech Support and Customer Service to your Advantage – Tech Support and Customer service are usually free additional services that come along with a product or service.Take advantage of them and have them help you through any situation because they are there to make sure you are as happy as possible with their product or service.I learned almost everything I know about web hosting through my Host’s tech support.Make sure that they show you how to solve a problem so you can learn from it and take care of it yourself next time.Also, when given a choice, buy a product or service that has the best support attached to it.That is why I love American Express.
Follow the Leader– You don’t have to invent something to be successful, you can just emulate what some other successful person has already done.For example, you may not be successful opening up a poutine (a delicious French Canadian dish of fries, cheese and gravy) stand in your local mall but you will be successful if you open a McDonald’s franchise.McDonald’s has a system and if you follow it, you will be successful.
Be Realistic – Don’t expect everything to just fall into place and for you to be successful right away.Things don’t always work as you planned and don’t always happen as quickly as you would hope.If you are realistic, you will have a much easier time on your path toward your goals.
Take a Loss – There are times when even the best idea and the hardest work just don’t get you anywhere.There are also some things that are not in your control.You have to know how to take a loss and move on if you want to get lucky because once you move on, you open yourself to new luck and opportunities.Just learn from the experience.You can buy a stock for instance and think it is the best stock in the world and then watch it drop.Most people find it very hard to drop the stock before they end up losing everything.Just ask anyone who owned Enron.
Stay Motivated– To get lucky, you need to stay motivated all the time.This is not an easy task but there are some tricks to stay on track.What I have found to work best are to hang out with people that have similar goals and interests, read as many books and blogs as you can on the subject and listen to lectures and podcasts on the subject.As long as you are constantly learning, you will stay motivated.
Open your Eyes to see the Forrest and the Trees– Some people get so focused on a goal that they lose sight of why they had the goal in the first place.Make sure that you always know why you are doing something.There is a great video of 2 teams passing a basketball around that everyone should watch to see how easy it is to miss something if you are too focused on something else.
Clear your Head – It is very hard to work with an overactive mind that is full of every task you have on your plate.Write everything down and clear your head so that you can focus on the task or goal at hand.
Look for the Good in Every Situation – Sometimes something can happen that will look like bad luck but is just good luck in disguise.You have to look for the positive in every situation because your dream job may come as a result of a blown interview somewhere else.
Don’t Give Up – Too many people give up right before they are about to hit success because they have unrealistic expectations of how long it should take to be successful.It takes years of hard work before you can become an “overnight success”.Keep trekking on and you will be successful.
Make People Happy – It doesn’t take much to make people around you happy.It could be a smile, a kind word, a tip for good service but small gestures go a long way.If you make people happy, they will want to be around you and will go the extra mile to make you happy.
Share Your Luck– If you enjoyed this article, please share it with others by submitting it to your favorite social media site or clicking one of the sharing buttons below.I would also love to read some comments about your thoughts on this post.Thanks.
I had the unfortunate experience of having to rush to the emergency room 2 Friday nights in a row and have learned a very valuable lesson:Use any connections you have whenever you can.
Friday July 26, 2008:
Last Friday night my 17 month old daughter tripped into the corner of a wall and split her head open.She was gushing blood from her forehead but thankfully she was still conscious and very aware of what was going on.We called a community volunteer ambulance service right away and they were there within minutes.They bandaged up my daughter’s head and took us to the closest hospital.While we were on our way, the EMTs called the top plastic surgeon in the area to meet us at the hospital to stitch her up.
From the time my daughter fell to the time we returned home from the hospital was maybe 2 hours.This is unheard of and only happened because we called this particular emergency service and they called the plastic surgeon to meet us.
Friday August 1, 2008:
My daughter was playing with my son and fell down again (this is not a regular occurrence, it just happened to happed 2 weeks in a row).She started bleeding and we didn’t know how bad the bleeding was because she still had her bandage on from the previous week.My wife and I thought about asking some of our friends who were EMTs to take us to the hospital in case my daughter needed stitches again but decided we didn’t want to bother them.Instead, we took a taxi to the hospital.
We registered ourselves and then were told to wait.And wait we did, for 7 of the longest hours.It took them 7 full hours to take a look at my daughter.By that time, the cut was practically scabbed over already.All they had to do was take a quick look at her head to see if she needed new stitches.
At 4:00 a.m. we finally were able to go home knowing that she didn’t need any more stitches.
The lesson once again is to “use your connections”.Don’t be afraid to bother your friends when you need something from them that can save you time and money.After all, they are your friends and would probably want to help you out and they know that you would do the same for them.You may not be able to return the exact favor but you may be able to do something for them in return that will save them time and money.
Sometimes an activity that will take you a week, will take one of your friends or connections a few minutes or just a phone call to do.Don’t be afraid to ask for help.Just make sure that you are always there to help out your friends and connections in any way you can.
You can see the same thing when it comes to social media.For example, having a twitter account won’t do you any good unless you provide value to the people you are following.The more value you provide, the more value they will provide to you.What goes around, comes around and you want the absolute best to come your way.
My daughter is perfectly ok now and is bouncing around as if all of this never happened (although I try and get her to calm down a little and take it easy).
Last week I wrote a review of Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek and I wanted to share the story below from the book since my last post was about redefining the “impossible”.
While teaching at Princeton University, Tim Ferriss offered a challenge to his class.He preached to the class that you don’t need to work like dogs to be successful in life but he also knew that most of the students in the class will probably work 80 hours a week as “high paid coffee fetchers”.He wanted to prove that his teaching can be used in real life so he decided to offer his class a challenge that would put his teachings into practice.
The winner of the contest would receive a round trip airfare to anywhere in the world.The challenge was to contact 3 “seemingly impossible” to reach people; Jlo, Bill Clinton and J.D. Salinger and get at least one of them to answer a few questions.
Close to 1/3 of his class remained after class to hear the challenge and participate.None of them completed the challenge or even gave the challenge a chance.They all had an excuse why they didn’t take or complete the challenge.They all thought that someone else would outdo them, so none of them even showed up.According to the rules that Tim set up, if any of them even gave a one paragraph illegible response, he would be forced to reward them with the prize.
The next year, Tim offered his class the same challenge but with one small difference.He told them about the previous class’ results.The results in the second challenge were 6 out of 17 students completing the challenge within 48 hours.
People tend to give up when they think that a task is “impossible”.They look at it for a few seconds or even minutes and decide whether it is possible or not.Then if they come to the conclusion that it is “impossible”, they drop the task and go into “excuse” mode.They think that if something is “impossible”, nobody can possibly expect them to complete the task.
If someone gives you a puzzle to do, you will try to figure it out but at a certain point, you may decide that it is “impossible” and stop trying.But, if someone else was doing the same puzzle and came up with a solution, you would probably take a second look at the puzzle since you now know that it is “possible”.
An experiment was once done where 2 groups of people were given 2 bent nails that were attached and told to try and detach them.One group was told that it may not be possible while the other group was told that it definitely was possible.Who do you think gave up first?
You guessed it.The “impossible” group gave up after a few minutes while the other group kept on trying until they figured out how to separate the nails.
Now you have to think twice before writing something off as “impossible”.
I’ve always wanted to visit Japan.I am people watcher, I love to travel, see new places and see how people live their lives.The different cultures fascinate me and I am always excited to see new things.I have traveled to six countries, seven provinces in Canada and forty-four states in the USA.Although it would be great to see how people live in Japan, the main reason I want to visit is because they are extremely innovative.They have hundreds, if not thousands of products and inventions that the United States have never even heard of.
I once stumbled upon a website with pictures of all kinds of different funny things in Japan as well as a vending machine like parking lot where you would park your car in one specific spot and your car would be taken automatically to an empty spot in the parking garage.When you wanted your car back, you would punch in your number and your car would be vended right to you.
One amazing innovation from Japan is the square watermelon.I was amazed when I first heard about them a few years ago but was reminded of them yesterday while reading another article by Andy Sernovitz about the Lesson of the Square Watermelon.The story behind them is that watermelons are traditionally big oval shaped and heavy.It is very hard to ship them to stores and stack them in the isles.The square watermelon was the response to this problem making them more efficient to ship and stack and resulted in a huge increase to the bottom line.
As Andy said in his article, people never thought of square watermelons as an option so they thought that it would be impossible to grow.In life we think of many things as impossible and because of that, we never attempt to do them.By writing things off as “impossible”, we give up on many great opportunities.
Unlucky people give up right away when faced with a challenge claiming that it is impossible.Lucky people take the challenge and may come to the conclusion that the challenge is impossible but they may figure out a way to complete the challenge and realize that it is a lot easier than it seems.
This self improvement blog is full of advice on how to increase your luck and improve your life. You can start off by reading 40 Ways to Increase your Luck.
