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Speaker 2[inaudible]
Speaker 1welcome back to another episode of the Jasmine star show friend. I am so happy you're here and happy st Patrick's day. Whether you're celebrating by eating green bagels, wearing Shamrock socks, or drinking green beer. I hope the luck of the Irish. That's a terrible Irish accent. I hope the luck of the Irish is with you today. Speaking of luck and accents, I was just thinking about the concept of luck and how it does or maybe doesn't play into business. When I look back at my career, I know that the thought of being in the right place at the right time seems unlikely, but I can't help wonder if some like divine intervention played a part, you know specifically because I'm a girl from the hood running a multi million dollar business. Was it luck or something else that played? So before I get into my thoughts, I wanted to weight in and get really investigative . So I channeled my inner Nancy drew and I decided to drill down on this topic further, but I wasn't going to do it alone. So I asked social curators what they thought about the idea of luck in business. And I was shocked at all of the responses within just a few minutes, like people were pouring out their opinions. And I wanted to kind of show this spectrum because I'm really interested on where you are on the spectrum of luck. Yes, luck totally plays a place in business or no luck has nothing to do with business. I'm gonna read it to you a few responses from people, but since this is an audio version, like it's a conversation sometimes I think it's hard to denote who's speaking who. And I never want you to think that I'm taking somebody else's words. So I am going to try to read four responses and four slightly different annotations so that you know who is speaking. So let's start with Tarla. She said, I think many entrepreneurs would credit their success is completely their own doing. But I think that is coming from a place of ego. We had never fully responsible for our destiny. You can take the exact same steps as someone else, but not have the same success. I feel confident enough to say that luck did play a small role in my multiple six figure freelance copywriting career simply because of time at place and opportunity did I work hard for it of course, but I also did get a bit lucky and I also passed me believe in God and I believe his hand helped me to that point. Hmm . Okay. I'm going to take this in a slightly different direction because Denise noted, I don't subscribe to the idea of luck since it implies something can just fall into your lap. If you happen to be standing in the right place, one inch to the left or one inch to the right and you miss it implies we don't control our outcomes. I cannot subscribe to that idea. You get what you are for. Ask Jeff Bezos if his success as the richest person on the planet is a function of mere happenstance. I bet he say no Mark added to her opinion and Mark is very refined English gentlemen . So even though my English accent isn't very good, I'm going to give it a whirl. It is just my humble opinion. But luck and hope don't have a place in business. At least they didn't in mind. Hope fades. Luck runs out. People say to me all the time, you're so lucky to do what you do. No, I'm not. I made a choice and I worked hard at it to make sure I succeeded. Grit, determination, hard work, unwavering self-belief replaces luck and hope people might say, I got a big break. No, I'll put in the work which put me in the way of opportunity. So we'll finish this conversation with Melissa and she said, I think what it might look like to luck as an outsider is someone stepping into their purpose coupled with some divine timing, good decision making and preparation to be able to identify and say yes to an opportunity when it arises. Okay, so very different schools of thought, right? And very awful accents. But you want to know what you clearly knew who was speaking, right? Many thanks to Tarla , Denise, Mark and Melissa for weighing in on the topic because I think it kind of really showed the spectrum of how some business owners believe and how others don't. After reading so many opinions from people who are new in business and seasoned entrepreneurs, it was time to make my decision on whether or not I believe luck plays a part in business and I decided that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Now that is a famous quote that I don't know who said, I didn't say it, but I repeat it to myself all the time because I believe luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I don't ever think that somebody is lucky in the way that they might collect a Shamrock or happen upon a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I don't think that tall people born tall are lucky because they're more inclined to be athletic. No, there's lots of tall people who aren't athletic. I don't think that people born into affluent or wealthy families are lucky because they're born into wealthy or affluent families. Some of the most unhappy people I have ever met in my life have everything anybody could wish for. One of my mentors said, it's better to be happy in a Honda accord than to be crying in a Ferrari. And I couldn't agree more with that. I believe that luck, whatever you happen to think luck is, it's a really fun and pretty commercialized way to giving yourself an excuse out. It's easy to say that somebody else had something that you didn't have. Therefore it showcases their success and I think that's patently false. I do not think anybody who has at any point of wealth affluence notoriety did not work for what they got. There are too many people who are rich and live in obscurity. There are too many really great actors who nobody knows about and there are really great inventors and entrepreneurs and athletes that simply because they did not do the work, they didn't get the results that they desired. But in the same way that I don't believe in luck, I also do not believe in unluck. I don't think you could be lucky and I don't think that you can be unlucky. I believe that when you build your business, you put your head down with humility and do the thing that you love without knowing what is on the other side. Because if you start a business to get rich quick, you're never going to get there. If you're using social media just to become famous, you're never going to get there. When you look around at the people who are creating waves in the world, when you look at the people who have wild and amazing amounts of fans on the internet, it wasn't because they were good looking or rich or funny or witty. These were people who loved what they did so much that they were able to show people along the way how they made it happen. How many of you tubers can you think of off the top of your head? Basically, anybody who has a phone or a laptop can create a YouTube channel and hope to become an influencer. Anybody using a mobile device can hope to become an influencer on Facebook, LinkedIn tech talk, Twitter, Instagram. So what makes those who stand out stand out, luck. No luck doesn't exist. For those who remain undaunted. If you're sitting here looking at other people, asking yourself, why am I not as lucky as they are, I would ask you to dig a little deeper and see why am I not doing the things that they are doing. Now I know you'll say, Oh yeah, but you know now they're driving those amazing cars and they're going on those paid vacation to The Bahamas and now, no, no, no. Don't compare where you are today with where they are today. People who you look up to or emulate or want a business to look like. I want you to look at their life when they were in the exact same position you were, are you just getting started? Scroll all the way back to their first YouTube video, to their first Instagram posts , score all the way back to their first acting career, to the first directorial debut back in the eighth grade. Compare yourself to that and then you will realize that they aren't lucky [inaudible] they just had the humility to put their head down and do the work. And another famous quote that I can't remember who is by somebody says, the harder I work, the luckier I get. Y'all , if you want, look , you're waiting for something that doesn't exist. How about you just on this glorious day of green , wake up and say, you want to know what I'm gonna make my own luck and I'm gonna make my own luck by doing the work. Friends, I hope on this beautiful day, you look at everything you have and you realize that you have all the tools to succeed. Everything that you need. No, it's not a website. It's not. Social media. Followers is not a tiny waist. It's not long hair extensions. It's not fake eyelashes. It's not a private jet. It's not you sitting front row at a UFC fight , right? Everything you need to succeed is in you. Now that's determination. That's humility. That's kindness. That's a Udacity to believe in the impossible. It's hutzpah and it's to remain. Undaunted is you build the business of your dreams. Friend, do the work. You'll find luck on the other side and you'll realize there was always on the inside .
Speaker 2[inaudible] .