Lucky? or do we make our own Luck?

I have always thought that we make our own luck. This theory is contrary to the book I just finished "The Outliers" which was very eye opening but had me agreeing and disagreeing with every alternate chapter.

The gist of this book is that Bill Gates, the beetles, Tiger Woods, etc. are who they are more by luck and happenstance then drive and determination. I disagree with that. I think we make our own luck. I think being open to opportunities and seizing them is luck.


Recently in Newsweek they identify lucky people by the following four criteria:

First, lucky people frequently happen upon chance opportunities. "Being in the right place at the right time is actually all about being in the right state of mind," Wiseman writes. As his newspaper experiment shows, lucky people are more open and receptive to unexpected possibilities. They tend to be more relaxed about life, and they operate with a heightened awareness of the world around them. Quite simply, they spot and seize upon openings that other people simply miss. They also tend to be more social and maintain what Wiseman calls a "network of luck." Most of us know around 300 people on a first-name basis. According to Wiseman, that means you're only two handshakes away from 90,000 people who could bring chance opportunities into your life.

Second, lucky people listen to their hunches and make good decisions without really knowing why. Unlucky people, by contrast, tend to make unsuccessful decisions and trust the wrong people. "My interviews suggested that lucky people's gut feelings and hunches tended to pay off time and time again," Wiseman writes. "In contrast, unlucky people often ignore their intuition and regret their decision." In survival, this kind of instinct can make all the difference.

Third, lucky people persevere in the face of failure and have an uncanny knack for making their wishes come true. They're convinced that life's most unpredictable events will "consistently work out for them." Their world is "bright and rosy," Wiseman writes, while unlucky people expect that things will always go wrong. Their world is "bleak and black." When Wiseman gives lucky and unlucky people a puzzle that is actually impossible to solve, the reactions are very telling. "More than 60 percent of unlucky people said that they thought the puzzle was impossible, compared to just 30 percent of lucky people. As in so many areas of their lives, the unlucky people gave up before they even started."

Fourth, lucky people have a special ability to turn bad luck into good fortune. Of all four defining factors involved in luck, Wiseman believes this one plays the most important role in survival. Wiseman's conclusion echoes the work of Dr. Al Siebert, one of America's foremost authorities on survival psychology. After more than 40 years investigating what he calls "the survivor personality," Siebert believes, "life's best survivors not only cope well, they often turn potential disaster into a lucky development."

The full article can be found here.

If you believe in God then it’s hard for you to believe in luck. God is the ultimate decision maker. That makes the four criteria above a lot more acceptable.

A lot of it is pure perception:
If you crashed your car, you’re lucky you didn’t get injured.

If you fall off a ladder, you’re lucky you broke your arm and not hit your head.

Looking on the positive side helps keep positive thoughts which helps motivation. We all know that motivation is the key to success.

YOU REMEMBER THAT JORDAN COMMERICIAL….ONE OF MY FAVORITES.

"I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed "

Looking at it that way, then I am successful. What do you think?

-MJL

Corporate or not Corporate?

In this newly rotten economy I have been asking myself, "What is the better way to go?". Is it better to be self-employed or to be employed in a large corporate environment?

Each has it's pros & cons and there is just a ton of variables to consider; thus leaving me just as confused as ever? But what else is new?

If you are a small business owner, you are at least making decisions for the good of your business and/or yourself and family. Nobody has your back in corporate America. As soon as you turn around, "They Getcha". I'm sure the 10.6% of unemployed people here in Michigan can attest to the “Getcha”; as they were cardboard boxed up, and walked out of their places of employment. Many of them didn’t even see it coming.


But what happens when your small business goes under?

Let’s say you are a dingle-berry provider, and the demand for dingleberries are just not there anymore. The dingleberry hut is in the red and there is no government bailout for you.

Now What?

Do you have any marketable skills to compete in today's supersaturated job market? That's a huge issue.

Here is a feasible plan:
Sell the dingleberry hut, and work at Home Depot while you go back to school for something that made you marketable. Damn! Imagine going from day to day as the big boss, calling the shots, to rockin' the Bright Orange Hope Depot Apron and punching a clock.

.................... Just put a bullet in my head.

The other plan would be to stack enough money during the dingleberry renaissance period; so that you can go back to school full time. You can get your “Happy Days” lunch box and your jansport knapsack and be a full time student again, until you can earn some dough.

Let’s take a look on the “Coporate America” side of things, you are virtually a bitch. Unless you are a CEO, CFO, Chairman or in executive management with a negotiated severance package, you are extremely expendable aka “A bitch”.

The key is to remember that shzit. That's a hard fact to remember when you are strutting around the office like a King, Hi-fiving (or the not so modern day fist bumping) co-workers, bringing in donuts, and throwing frisbees at the office picnic. You can be eliminated at any time. Granted the better you are, the harder you work, the lower your chances are of getting fired, but there is still that chance. If you let them, Corporate America will own you.

People always talk about how many hours I put in and how I wouldn't do that if I had a family etc. If little Johnny has to come home from college because Dad got laid off, I think that's a little worse then missing a little league tee-ball game. I'm not sure, you tell me. I am surrounded by the sad stories of kids having to leave college because dad’s who were making 6 figures for years, now can’t find a job.

REMEMBER LIFE IS A BITCH! YOU MUST BE PREPARED.

You know where your ambitions lie. You know if you want to be the CEO, or CFO. If you don't, then just start stackin your money. Prepare for the worse and hope for the best. I mean save...if there is something that this entire recession has taught us is the true value of stacking the money.

As I see it, if you stay and work in corporate America, and you are not willing to sell your soul to be CEO, CFO, Director etc....then constantly stay educated and save your money.


GOLDEN PARACHUTE PERKS – As profiled in Feb. 2009 edition of Conde Nast Portfolio Magazine.

For all you Executive types - You put in the work, here's what you ahve to look forward to:

Phillip Purcell
CEO of Morgan Stanley
Purcell will continue to collect an estimated $7.8 million in perks, which include a secretary and $250,000.00 in donations to his favorite charities, during his lifetime.

Joe Moglia
Chairman Ameritrade
Medical benefits to him and his dependents for the rest of his life. The coverage will continue for his wife if she outlives him.

Ed Whitacre
CEO of AT&T
received $158 million, plus benefits. He also received $26,000 a year automobile allowance and up to $20,000 a month in flight time on AT&T jets.


YOU TELL ME, IN BAD TIMES IS IT BETTER TO GO CORPORATE OF NOT CORPORATE?

-MJL

Corporate America
Lay Off
Millionaire
Rich
Small Business

TIGER WOODS AND MY MOJO

………Here’s how it happended……about 1.5 weeks ago..........

So I’m home on my hiatus from work. I got my official return to work date of Feb. 23rd and I've come to terms with it to some extent.

What does “to terms” mean? It means sitting at home in my bathrobe eating a bowl of ice cream (for breakfast) that is resting on my belly like Tony Soprano. Not the skinny Tony, but the Season 5 gluttonous Tony. Yeah, that one.

Dishes in the sink, dirty laundry everywhere, growing a beard like Grady from "Sanford and Son" and a fro like Lamont.

I get a call from the “other” phone. The Bat phone or as I call it – The Batbery.

The bat phone? Yep. Only a select few have the number:

• Labron,


• Puffy,


• Jay-Z,


• Gates,


• Tiger,


• Kobe,
  
• Jobs,


• Buffet and Rock (That’s what I call Barrack).

So out of the list of greats, who’s on hiatus? Tiger! I bet he’s watching Oprah like me.

I pick up the Blackbizzle,

ME: Tig my nig, what’s up?

TIGER: Are you watching Opera. Can you believe that b_tch is talkin’ about food again?
Talking about she fell off the wagon! Her a$$ looks like she’s draggin the wagon.

ME: I was just watchin’ it homey. She said she ate the WHOLE bag of chips. I was like DAMN! Oprah money, a personal chef and a weight room in your crib. There is no need for her to be at “triple chin” status.

TIGER: You sound like you just woke up? It’s 10:30 AM?
ME: I Know I just been kind of chillin.

TIGER: CHILLIN! Are you serious? You expect to be great and you are using this valuable time to chill? Do you think I’m chillin?

ME: Hell Yeah. With your loot and free time; I would have chicks on top of chicks. I’d be havin’ bus loads of women rockin it out on Privacy.

(Privacy is his yatch, Umm yeah).

TIGER: Well you’re wrong. I’m taking this time seriously. I’m killin the workouts with my trainer. Two-a-days Brotha! Killin them. I’ve been working on my short game and my putting. My short game will make Phil’s short game look like yours when I return to competition.

I’ve been doing all of my rehabilitation exercises to the fullest. I’m working harder now then I was before. My golf course design company is in full affect. Recession or no recession, I’m designing courses. Buick just dropped me so I’m getting more sponsors. A Tiger’s got to stay paid.

Do you know how many people are happy that I’m injured? Do you know how many people are rooting for me not to come back strong?
I wake up everyday with those people inspiring me. They don’t realize the hate will make me great.

Jay, I thought you were smarter then that. You need to make sure you use every last minute of every one of those days off to get your hustles in line. Get your body in shape. You are a “business” man. Be a business. Get your mind right. Think about everything that you wished you had time to do. Then f-ckin’ do it.

ME: That’s whats up Tiger. I’m on my hustle. Good lookin’ out. I need that.
I will holla at you and wifee this summer. When do you plan to make your comeback?

Tiger: I never left.


-MJL

Tiger Woods
Lay Off
Millionaire
Rich
Hustle