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In general, people are very “happy go lucky”.They have their beliefs and values and everything in their life pretty much falls into place based on the systems they were brought up with, or have set for themselves.Cognitive dissonance comes into play when you have two beliefs or values that come up at once and contradict each other.People don’t know how to react so they are forced to alter their beliefs to accommodate the contradiction.For example, Michael likes to save money for his retirement and therefore never spends more than the absolute minimum on anything he buys.Then one day his computer breaks and he goes to the store to buy a new one but ends up buying the most expensive computer in the store with the most features, memory and storage.He then convinces himself that it was a “good buy” because it will last longer and after all, it’s a business expense.What Michael actually did was slightly modified his values so that he can be comfortable with his new purchase.Conflicts of these sorts are in most cases resolved by a change in values or beliefs that will do the least damage to the person’s ego.
Did you ever get an email from a millionaire in Nigeria who needs help getting his money out of the country?All he needs is your bank account and he will give you a cut of the money.It is common knowledge that giving away your bank information to a stranger is a bad idea.At the same time, just think of what you could do with 10 million dollars, especially since you just lost your job.The reason that this sort of scam is so popular is because it works.People are blinded by the thought of making so much money that they are willing to risk it.It’s sad that most people who lose money to these scams don’t report it to the police or anyone else because they are embarrassed.They knew that giving away their information was a bad idea and can’t believe they did it anyway.
Salesmen often use cognitive dissonance to make a sale.When I was looking to buy my first car, I was brought in to the dealership by an advertisement I saw for the car that I wanted at an incredible price.When I got to the dealership, they told me that it must have been a mistake because the price is much higher but they will show me the lot and help me pick out a similar car at my price point.Once I was already there, I figured I may as well look around.
As I looked around, I started to get excited and as the salesman saw it, he began a few other little tricks up his sleeve.He lowered the price on the cars that I wanted, he spoke to his manager so that he can give me an even better deal, he even told me he liked me so much that he would give up his commission to give me a better rate.As we were talking, he asked for my licence so that he could start the paperwork “just in case”.I should have seen him playing around the whole time but I wanted the car and I had already invested an entire day over there.I convinced myself to keep going.After many more of the salesman’s little tricks, like making me wait for hours to speak to the financing guy, I was finally exhausted and wanted to drive off the lot and go home.I was given a pile of papers to sign and told, “as soon as you sign these papers, you’ll be the new owner of your car and can go home”.I asked what percentage of financing they were giving me and they told me not to worry about it.I insisted and finally they said 12%.I have excellent credit and told them I wouldn’t go for it.They pretended to look at their computer and said “oh yeah, ok I can give you 10.4%”.At that point, I told them to jump in a lake and I walked out to everyone’s surprise.A couple weeks later, I bought a newer version of the same car from another dealership for less money than I would have spent with their financing.
Wikipedia has a great example of cognitive dissonance on smoking:
Smoking is often postulated as an example of cognitive dissonance because it is widely accepted that cigarettes cause lung cancer, yet virtually everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. In terms of the theory, the desire to live a long life is dissonant with the activity of doing something that will most likely shorten one’s life. The tension produced by these contradictory ideas can be reduced by quitting smoking, denying the evidence of lung cancer, or justifying one’s smoking.[3]For example, smokers could rationalize their behavior by concluding that only a few smokers become ill, that it only happens to very heavy smokers, or that if smoking does not kill them, something else will.[4]This and other forms of chemical addiction are not so clear-cut, but this analysis may be valid for those wanting to start smoking.
This case of dissonance could also be interpreted in terms of a threat to the self-concept.[5]The thought, “I am increasing my risk of lung cancer” is dissonant with the self-related belief, “I am a smart, reasonable person who makes good decisions.” Because it is often easier to make excuses than it is to change behavior, dissonance theory leads to the conclusion that humans arerationalizingand not alwaysrationalbeings.
As you can see, people play games with themselves to make themselves feel that they are doing the right thing and to rationalize their behaviour.Nobody should even open up an email from a stranger in Nigeria.I should have left the car dealership at the first bait and switch they pulled.Smokers should admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health and contradicts their want to live.To get lucky, you need to be true to yourself and take a slap to your ego.Otherwise, you will just continue to fool yourself and open yourself up to being scammed even more and putting yourself in positions that you don’t want to be in.Cognitive dissonance prevents us from getting lucky and moving forward in our lives by making us protect our egos over doing what is best for ourselves and our future.Once again, slap that ego into place and do what’s right and you’ll start to get lucky.
READ: Welcome to Luckortunity!
If you liked this article, you may like some of my past posts. I suggest reading 40 Ways to Increase Your Luck next to give you a better introduction.
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I was just thinking about Nickelback’s song “If Today Was Your Last Day” and it really struck a chord.He talks about the best advice that his friend gave him to live each day like it’s his last since “each day’s a gift and not a given right”.I agree that living on the edge is the only way to live and get lucky but you have to take that advice with a grain of salt.
You need to think about what if today is not my last day.How am I going to eat, pay rent or plan for the future?After all, most of us are optimists when it comes to staying alive.We would prefer not to think about our final day so we convince ourselves that it’s far away and we have plenty of time.Once we convince ourselves that we have all the time in the world, we get lazy and “push off today what can be done tomorrow”.
In previous articles, I mentioned that the way to success and luck is baby steps.It takes many small goals and could take six years to become an overnight success.That said, you can’t follow both sets of advice without going insane.Andy Dufresne summed up my advice in my favourite movie of all time, Shawshank Redemption.You should “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”.
By hoping for the best, you have plenty of time to live. When preparing for the worst, you might as well live each day like it’s your last.Use each day to the fullest to prepare to get lucky in the future but make sure to do something each day as if it was your last.The song gives several examples such as “call those friends you never see”, “reminisce old memories”, “forgive old enemies” and “find that one you’re dreaming of”.Go ahead and do something crazy each day to get your blood pumping.Take 30 minutes out of your TV watching schedule (all the good shows were cancelled anyway), get off the couch and live.“It’s never too late to shoot for the stars, regardless of who you are”.
I hear so many people saying that they will not start item “B” until item “A” is accomplished. For instance, “I will not get married until I have a job”, “I will not have kids until I am comfortable in my career” or “I will not start my own business until I have at least 5 years of experience”. Sometimes it’s good to wait but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you ask me, you don’t need to get your ducks in a row; you just need to get your ducks while you are able to.
Idiocracy
The “not having kids” example reminds me of the movie Idiocracy where they show the difference between “educated” and “not so educated” people when it comes to having kids, which ultimately leads to the population of the earth. If you don’t know what I am talking about, Please watch this 3 minute video:
I am not telling you to go ahead, get married, have kids and start your business right now. I’m not even saying that you should do any of the above. What I am saying is that everyone has at least one thing that they are pushing off because the time doesn’t seem absolutely right. It may be making that sales call, asking your boss for a raise or asking someone out on a date.
The time will never be right so why not now?
The time will never be absolutely right because when you pass one hurdle, another comes along. In Idiocracy, first they want to focus on their careers, then the market is bad, and so on. Life is funny and it doesn’t always give you what you want when you want it (like Harvey’s does) but it does give you the opportunity to go out and get what you want. It may mean that you have to be a little spontaneous, you may have to improvise and you will have to rethink everything every step of the way but at the end of the day when you look back it will all be worth it.
You will regret not doing more things than you regret doing
Someone once told me and I happen to agree “you will regret not doing more things than you regret doing”. At the end of your life, you will look back and ask yourself why you didn’t jump on more opportunities.
Life is all about learning
Life is a learning experience. You will have to learn to deal with each situation that comes up and the more you learn, the more prepared you will be to face tomorrow. So, why not force yourself to learn as much as possible? You could get “lucky” and end up with everything you ever wanted.
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.
Over the years I have spoken to many very successful business people and entrepreneurs and every single one of them told me the same thing.To be successful, it takes a lot of hard work and you need a little luck.A few of these successful people even made the connection that the “little luck” comes from the “hard work”.Most of them didn’t put 2 and 2 together and realize that the only reason they got lucky was because of the hard work they put in.Regardless of what field you are in, you will not get lucky sitting on your rear playing video games all day, unless you are in the gaming industry and you are learning from all the playing that you are doing.My point is that if you want to get lucky, you have to look for the luck.A real estate investor cannot not sit at home on his couch all day waiting for a seller to ring his doorbell and offer him a property.A successful real estate investor is constantly doing research, meeting with people, networking going over numbers.All of that is hard work and if he keeps it up, two things will happen.One, he will eventually find an investment property to invest in, either through his research or networking. And two, he will become more knowledgeable in what to look for and therefore be able to spot more opportunities that less skilled investors don’t see.
Take for example, two people starting businesses in the same field at the same time in the same area.They both work on building their business to become profitable but after a year, one of them closes.Two years down the road, the business that stayed open is extremely successful.From the outside people might say that they got lucky.The economy might have turned or other factors might have come into play.Looking at the first company, you might see that the company failed and closed up shop.Looking at the second company, if you look deep down into the business, you may see that the company failed as well, and it probably did.The difference between the two companies is that one of them took the failure and closed up shop while the other learned from their failure, fixed their mistakes and kept going.Chances are that the second company failed many more times but kept going ahead with their business plan.As I wrote in Lucky Failures Can Lead to Success, the way to success is to work through the failures because failing is the road to success.
A lucky person gives everything 110% effort and is always going the extra mile.Luckortunity comes from all the extra experiences, looking at the big picture and pushing yourself forward.An unlucky salesman will knock on three doors, get rejected three times and then realize that sales is not for him.A lucky person will knock on those same three doors, get rejected and then keep knocking until he makes a sale.It might take him 100 tries or more but at the end of it all, he made a sale and had 100 chances to refine his sales pitch, figure out what works and build up his confidence.
These examples can be used for anything.Some people are lucky in love by finding just the right person, some are lucky by finding the right home or job and some are lucky by building a successful business.The point is, the harder you work, the more luckortunity there is and the luckier you can get.
Previous Posts in this Series: 10 Ways to Increase your Luck.
There was a time where I was out of a job for a while and really didn’t know what to do with myself.Looking back I cannot believe how lucky I got and how many little factors played a vital role in this major accomplishment.If any of the little pieces weren’t there, I would be in a totally different situation right now.It reminds me of the children’s story “All because the little bird went Kah-Choo” where one little sneeze cause a large series of events.
Built a (n impressive) Resume
I started off like any other person looking for work.I put together a resume to the best of my ability.I didn’t have much to put on it but I made myself seem like an impressive candidate for any job by highlighting skills and accomplishments of mine from college and side jobs that I held.I was president of the Marketing club as well as the president of another less impressive club but those things look good on a resume.I created all marketing materials for the clubs, organized and ran all the events and best of all, I increased participation by 500% (it’s not hard when participation starts out at close to nothing).
I knew it was bad to have a resume that just ended without a present position so I started a company to put down for my present position.I didn’t get very far with the company but I get some experience and a nice piece of filler for my resume.
Online Job Finders
I created a profile for myself on every job finder site that I knew of including the big 3 (at the time) Monster, CareerBuilder and Hotjobs.I uploaded my resume and then created searches that would come right to my inbox every day.I would spend a good hour each day just looking through the jobs and applying to anything that looked even a little interesting.Later I began to apply to just about anything.I would create cover letters to go along with my resume for the more interesting jobs and just hit “quick apply” to all the others.
Conferences, Tradeshows (click through to article on conference highs) and Networking
I went to local conferences and tradeshows that were in the marketing and advertising fields and looked around to see what was out there for me.I was always amazed at the new technology and forms of marketing and advertising that came out each year.Each new idea I saw gave me an idea for something else from new ways to apply this new technology to something that can work hand in hand with it.I would spend most of my time networking by speaking to the representatives from each of the companies exhibiting, finding out what they do, how they do it and if they have or know of any jobs.I also spent some time collecting all the cool swag everyone was giving out.
More Networking
I didn’t know it then but networking is probably the best way to get anything done.Every person that you speak to can give you at least a little information or something that you will be able to use.Even if they don’t, you have nothing to lose.
I started to meet with other people that were out of work and asked them what they were doing about it.We would share stories and let each other know of opportunities that they have come across.One person I spoke to told me to sign up for a certain Yahoo group that usually has a couple job postings each day.In general they aren’t typically what I would be looking for but it might be a start.I signed up for the group and started to skim through all the posts each day as they arrived in my inbox.Sometimes more than once a day which caused me to check my email on an hourly basis.
Headhunters
After weeks of looking each day, I found what looked like a diamond in the rough.It was a position to do marketing for an outreach organization.I got very excited since that might have been exactly what I had been looking for.I sent in my resume and called a little later to follow up.I got extremely excited when I was called in for an interview.I was a little less excited when I found out that the interview was not with the company but was with a headhunter who was looking to fill the position.I still looked at it as a major positive since I felt like I was finally going somewhere.
The Headhunter was impressed and immediately set up an interview for me with the company later that same day.The interview with the company went well but I found out that the marketing was really telemarketing which was not something I had any desire to do.I ended up taking the job anyway since I really needed something to do and a way to pay my bills.The job was pretty much cold calling executives of major companies and corporations and setting up meetings for them with people from my organization.
More Headhunters
I wasn’t very happy with the job and decided to leave.I gave the headhunter a call and told him about my experience and asked if he had anything else that better matched what I was looking for.He said that I should come back into his office because one of his colleagues just received a position that sounded like a much better fit.
The job was for a marketing firm that was looking to replace an employee that had been there for ten years.I didn’t think that I had enough experience but I went for it anyway.My interview went well and I got very excited after learning about some of the clients that the firm had as well as some of the events that they organized.I was called back for a second interview where I met with the CEO who gave me a complete interview.He asked me about my writing skills and then told me to write a press release that my company (that I started to fill my resume) was exhibiting for the first time at one of his tradeshows.
As soon as I got home that day I researched how to write a press release (thanks Google) and got to work.When I was finished I sent the press release to some friends to get their opinions and find out how I can fix it up.When I was finally done, I sent off the press release to the CEO and then held my breath.I made sure to send it to him the same day as he asked for it to show that I was serious and a hard worker.
In the meanwhile, I was introduced to someone who was high up in another company that was looking to create a marketing department.We spoke for a little while and then he gave me a person to call at the company to set up an interview.I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket at a time so I went for an interview with this company to see what they had to offer.
I met with three different people at this company and then they offered me a job right away.I told them that I had to think about it and I would get back to them within the week.It was a good position but I thought that the first position would be a better opportunity.I called the first company to follow up and left a message with the secretary.I called again the next day and made it through to the CEO’s voicemail.The week was slipping by very quickly and I needed to give the second company an answer or I might have been out of two jobs.That motivated me to really push the first company to give me an answer and I finally left a message that I had another offer and would be taking it if I didn’t hear back from him.Looking back, that was probably the best thing I could have done since he called me back later that day and asked me to come in again for another meeting.He made me an offer for my salary and we negotiated benefits and by the end of the meeting he shook my hand and told me he would see me on Monday.I didn’t yet accept the job but I guess my new boss was pretty confident that I would.
That Monday turned out to be my first day at the new job.A somewhat unpleasant surprise was that they had me doing sales full time for the tradeshows that they organize.Even though I wasn’t thrilled about doing sales I was still happy to be with the company.I took every opportunity to help out with anything going on in the company.I seemed to be the only person that knew anything about computers or IT (click through to how I learned IT) so I became the company IT department.I also helped out with the tradeshow management and programming.To top it off, I found multiple ways to save the company money and increase profits.
Three months later I was promoted to VP of Marketing and Sales.I ended up with the job but the most important part was the entire experience that got me to where I am.
Picture this.You are 20 pounds overweight on December 20th, New Years is right around the corner.This is the perfect time to make a new years resolution.You are more than determined to get to your goal weight and you decide to start the moment that the ball drops in Time Square.You plan for the next 11 days how you plan to lose the weight.NO more eating after 8:00 PM, cut out 10% of your calories, drink less soda and alcohol and more water and finally start exercising like you’ve been wanting to for as long as you can remember.
Since you are extremely determined and organized, you whip out your laptop or a notebook and start making charts of what you need to do, how you are going to track yourself and set clear goals.You feel great about yourself and completely prepared for January 1st when your new lifestyle will start.You are going to be great!
Well, you still have a week and a half to go until you have to change your lifestyle so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can, after all, you won’t be able to indulge yourself for a long time.
A few large meals later, maybe some late night drinking, snacks in bed while watching a movie and holiday dinners, you look at the scale and are somewhat disappointed that you now have an extra 5 pounds to lose.You’re not as optimistic about your new years resolution at this point but you are still determined.
New Years Eve comes and you find yourself at a party with food and drinks going late into the night.You may choose to partake thinking that “the diet starts tomorrow” or you may hold back which can be the ultimate temptation.Whatever the case, the next morning is going to be very hard and keeping to your new program will get harder each day.The percentage of people that come to this point and stick to the program are (from my experiences) very low.
LUCKORTUNITY
The Luckortunity over here is to always start things right away.Never push things off because they will get harder and harder as time goes on.The greatest chance you have at succeeding is moving ahead at full force when the idea hits your head.A new idea, whether it’s your own or someone else’s, can give you a high that will give you the extra push to get things done.If you start on that note, you have a better chance of building momentum to keep going toward your goal.
My new year’s resolution for 2008 is to get lucky.Lucky in general, in everything I do in life, from business to social to family and everything in between.This post is the beginning of me keeping to my new year’s resolution.I know that it’s not January 1st yet but I figure a few things; first, if I start now, it will get me in motion so that by New Years I will already be well on my way and have enough inertia to keep going.Second, if I start now, it will be pretty pathetic of me to not even make it to New Years for my New Year’s resolution so I will be forced to keep it up.Lastly, starting early, working hard and being persistent are some of the keys to getting lucky.
I wrote on the Luckortunity (or introduction) page that there is a major difference between “chance” and “luck”.“Chance” is winning the lottery, something people can hope for but “luck” is something people can strive for.I am convinced that every single person in the world has the potential to be lucky on a regular basis.Through this blog, I am going to go through my own personal luck and give you tips on becoming lucky yourself.
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.
