Tough Luck....You've Got to Be Tough to Be Lucky

Dan Carr, a wise Native American old friend of mine once told me that there is no such thing as luck. Dan always insisted that luck comes your way only when you allow it to. His famous words were: “Son, you’ve got to be tough to be lucky”. He called this principle Tough Luck, giving the phrase a whole new meaning.

Dan explained to me that he learned this lesson early in life when as a child he once fell down and cried, hoping for his mother to come and pick him up. However, contrary to what he expected, his mother looked him in the eye and told him: “Son, you’ve got to be tough enough to get up on your own. I will not always be here to help you”.

I have taken Dan’s word’s to heart for many years and built many of my leadership and life principles around this wisdom. I am now a firm believer that we do not need luck as we have the capability to create our own luck. Creating our own luck doesn’t simply happen through wishful thinking alone, although a positive mind set and a powerful intention are two important ingredients in this formula. In this article I will share with you few of the most important tips to creating your own luck.

Find the Opportunity in Every Challenge

Our day to day life is full of challenges and situations that we may or may not anticipate or foresee. Although the facts say that most situations are not full of flowers and roses and may not end up being completely resolved or have a positive outcome, reality is that there is an opportunity to be found in every situation that arises, be it a positive or a negative one.

While working on a number of cultures in St. Mary’s Hospital in London in 1928, Alexander Fleming found that some of his cultures were ruined by mold as the window in the room where he kept the cultures was left open. Fleming could have easily been depressed and discouraged since his cultures were ruined after a lot of hard work, instead, he found an opportunity in this negative situation and decided to study the mold that was formed and hence discovering Penicillin, one of the most important life-saving antibiotics used in the world of medicine up to our modern time.

In his book The Difference Maker, John Maxwell writes: “Take a wide look at the possibilities. In most sets of negative circumstances lie positive possibilities”. This couldn’t be more accurate and straight to the point; positive possibilities are there most of the times, but they will not reveal themselves to us until we make the effort to find them.

Create the Opportunity in Every Situation

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door" 

  ~ Milton Berle

One of the most valuable lessons in life that my dad taught me, was to create your own opportunity when you do not find one. This may sound a little out of reach when you first hear it, however, with practice and the right set of skills you develop through practice, you become a good judge of knowing when exactly and how to create the opportunity in every situation you go through.

Back in 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist of Atlanta, Georgia, wanted to create a new medicine to sooth headaches, relieve exhaustion and aid the nervous. The medicine was supposed to be served as chilled syrup to patients. All was going well until Pemberton’s assistant poured soda water into the concoction by mistake.  After trying the new formed mixture and realizing that it wasn’t the medicine he intended to create, Pemberton decided to promote and sell the new creation as a fountain drink. He decided to call the new drink Coca-Cola. Today, Coca-Cola stands as the best-selling and most globally spread soft drink.

What John Pemberton did is a perfect example of creating the opportunity; he created a hit out of a mistake thanks to his winning mindset.

Seize the Opportunity

Finding the opportunity and creating the opportunity are both useless if one doesn’t know how to seize the opportunity once recognized.

Most people find the right opportunity and stop right there because of fear of the outcome of them seizing the opportunity and taking action. Seizing an opportunity requires a brave heart and an adventurous spirit, after all, taking the opportunity can only lead to success if handled the right way. Not taking the chance is an ultimate loss for the same opportunity rarely comes twice.

William Arthur Ward once said: “Opportunities are like sunrises; if you wait too long, you miss them”

Be Persistent

 The secret to success in this life isn’t always succeeding at what you do; it is knowing how to get up and try again when life knocks you down.

A young boy who had a tough life as a child working in hard labor with his dad after the passing away of his mother used to walk for miles every day to learn how to read until he became literate. After years of moving around from one state to another with his father he met a lady whom he fell in love with instantly, however, that lady died due to an epidemic that hit the area. In 1831 he failed in business and 1832 he was defeated for state legislature. In 1833 he failed in business again and in 1835 his fiancé died. The continuous disappointments led to him having a nervous breakdown in 1836. He was defeated for congress in 1843 and 1848. In 1855 he tried running for the senate and lost. He ran for vice president in 1856 and lost. Once again in 1859 he tried running for the senate and lost. Having read this much you would say to yourself that this guy must be either a loser or the most unfortunate guy that ever lived. This is where persistence comes into play. The story goes like this: in 1860 he ran for president and won the elections to become one of the most remembered presidents in the history of the United States who made history. His name was Abraham Lincoln and his name shall be remembered forever.

Lincoln’s story is one of numerous stories about persistence and the will to succeed and accomplish something in this life. Successful people know that giving up is never an option. We create our own luck and our own destiny even if we had to try over and over again.

I would like to finish this article with a quote by Henry Ford that says: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”.

 I wish you all not just a good luck, but a self-created one.