Getting Lucky

"Every week, 77 percent of those who struggle financially play the lottery.  Hardly anyone who is wealthy plays the numbers.  Wealthy people do not rely on random good luck for their wealth. 

They create their own good luck."

- Tom Corley

American Author

Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, "Man!  Did they get lucky."  The fact is, if they are successful, luck had nothing to do with it.  One of the most successful women is show business, Lucille Ball, once very wisely said, "Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

                I have know many people who, in spite of the amount of advice given to them to the contrary, have looked to luck to help them succeed.  Not one - without exception - ever succeeded in anything.  Luck will not get you a better job, make you wealthy, find you the perfect partner in life or make your dreams come true.  Luck will do nothing except make you feel like the most unlucky person around.  Knowing this, where are you to go to find the success you seek?

                Successful people have several things in common.  Here is a principle that you need to understand before we look at some of the common qualities of successful people:  Success leaves clues.  Success is not a mystery or something that you need to discover in the dark places of life.  Success is the most obvious thing in the world.  How do you discover success in any area of life?  Find people who have been successful and do what they do.  You cannot fail.

                Allow me to share with you just three of the most common qualities of successful people.  There are many, and as you start to look at how people have achieved their success you will discover them for yourself.  Let's get you started with three:

#1  Successful people work hard

                I remember many years ago listening to a man give a presentation for a multi-level marketing business and he said, "If you work the business in your spare time you will soon not have to work at all."  There are a couple things wrong with this statement.  First, you have no spare time.  We all are given the same amount of time on this planet.  To achieve success you need every moment of it to use wisely, there will be none that you will consider spare.  Second, successful people do not do what they do so they can sit around and do nothing.  Important Note:  Failures and those in poverty sit around.  Successful people and the wealthy are busy building their successes in life.  Lastly, successful people create their own luck, they do not wait and wish for it to come to them.  As the great American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Shallow men believe in luck.  Strong men believe in cause and effect."

#2  Successful people seek contribution more than wealth

                There is this myth about successful people, that they seek to become wealthy more than anything else.  That is not the case.  If you do a study on those who are wealthy you will find that money does not drive then, what they make of themselves and the world they live in does.  In his book Smartcuts, author Shane Snow said, "But I'm convinced that true success has more to do with our becoming better people and building a better world while we do these things than it does with the size of our bank accounts."  Another important principle to remember:  Wealth is the reward for successful hard work, never the reason for it.

#3  Successful people never stop learning

                I believe in personal responsibility and not blaming other things and people for our failures in life.  However, I hold our education system in this country responsible for creating a mentality of not learning.  How is that possible?  Education is to create a hunger for learning not an aversion to it - right?  No that is not true.  Our education system has become our own worst enemy.  We are taught what others believe what we should know, not what we need to know.  We spend thousands of dollars to be taught things we do not need and will never use in life.  The best education is when you learn what you need to know and will use on your journey to achievement.  In the words of author Jim Rohn, "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."

To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey