“I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been ‘lucky.”—Â Oprah
Last week my good friend Kathleen Gage sent this post in an email. I found myself nodding my head at many of the points she raised and thought I’d like to add her comments to this blog. See what you think. Enjoy!
Baloney of Success and the Law of Attraction
Over the past few years I have had conversations with thousands people who claim to want a successful business, but are not achieving their goals. When I look at their work habits it’s no wonder they are not succeeding.
The distinctions between those who succeed and those who don’t are actually pretty clear. The ones who succeed are not blaming outside factors as to why they will or will not achieve what they want. They “get” they are responsible for managing their thoughts, self talk and actions.
Then you have those who blame everything but themselves for why they just can’t have what they want: the economy, competition, global warming, the moon in Aquarius… you name it, they blame it.
Rather than looking at all the outside reasons one is not succeeding, people need to take a look at what they themselves are or are not doing that prevents them from having what they want.
In the time I have had my business (incorporated in 1994) I have grown it from an idea to a very successful enterprise.
My business has gone through many recreations and rebirths in the last 16 years. What started out with me securing a contract with a national seminar company in the early years, transitioned to a small business training company with much of my business in the market I lived in at the time, Salt Lake City.
From there I grew it into a working on a national level with small businesses, facilitating corporate trainings, establishing an independent publishing company and consulting business, becoming a mentor to other small business owners, and now Internet marketing advisor.
There’s more, but I think you get the idea. My business growth has not been stagnant, nor have I dug my heels in saying, “Nope, I started with X in 1994 so by gosh, I will never make any changes.” Just the opposite. I did what I could to stay ahead of the curve.
Did the success of my business happen overnight? Absolutely not. It took time, commitment, focus and dedication.
It also took the willingness to try something that may not work the first time around. I likely have had more so called failures than successes. But with those things that didn’t work, I was able to move closer to what did work.
When someone tells me how lucky I am to have the kind of business I have, generating the kind of revenues I do, enjoying the life I do, most times I am amused and other times I am frustrated.
You might wonder why I am frustrated with some folks. It’s simple. Success doesn’t come in a nicely wrapped package and anyone who thinks it does needs to take a serious look at their beliefs.
When people say that successful people are just lucky, they are not being realistic. To assume those of us who enjoy a successful business just “happened upon it” is so far removed from the truth, it’s almost laughable.Â
Talk to anyone who is successful and you will find there are some amazing similarities.
1. Vision
2. Focus
3. A plan
4. Discipline
5. Commitment
6. Adjustment
7. Evaluation
8. Results
9. Repeat
Most people, who know anything about me, know I believe in the Law of Attraction (LOA). Actually, I have studied LOA for years. Long before Esther and Jerry Hicks popularized LOA I was reading books and listening to cassettes. (The word cassette should be an indicator as to how long ago that was)
Some of the first books I read on the subject were written over 100 years ago. Yes, there are plenty of books on the subject of LOA that were written around the turn of the century in the early 1900’s.
Many people think LOA is brand new. Others think all they have to do is read one book and presto! they have the answers.
Another misguided belief is that all one needs to do is visualize and affirm what they want and somehow it will miraculously appear.
There’s a heck of a lot more that needs to be done. Not only do you have to vision, you have to take what Joe Vitale calls, “Inspired action.” What this simply means is, with the thought you MUST have action.
If anyone tells you otherwise, they are either lying, misguided, drunk, crazy or all of these. Simple as that.
Can it appear as if things miraculously fall into your lap? Absolutely. But if you look at the process of how things came to pass for the great majority of successful people there were actions that preceded the result.
One of the most important things I have learned about success is the importance of learning from those who have accomplished the very thing I want to accomplish. It doesn’t matter if it is in areas of monetary gain, physical wellbeing, spiritual matters, etc.
Everything has a process. Everything has a formula.
For example, in the early years of my professional speaking career, I read every book I could get my hands on, hired mentors, joined associations such as The National Speakers Association, surrounded myself with successful speakers, went to seminars and did whatever I could to immerse myself in the industry.
At times it was a great challenge because I didn’t have much money to do what I knew needed to be done. Every time I attended a conference, not only did I have to pay hundreds of dollars (sometimes thousands) for the conference fee, there was flight, hotel, meals and other expenses.
Yet, I knew that I had to get the right information and then apply it in order to succeed.
Early on, there were plenty of times I wondered if I would ever be successful as a speaker. Not only have I experienced some amazing success as a speaker, I have been around a lot longer than most.
This indicates a few things. One, I am not a spring chicken. Two, most people give up before they ever realize their dreams. Three, you do have to put effort into creating what you want.
Does that mean you can’t enjoy the effort? Just the opposite. Whatever you are passionate about seems to take less effort although it’s likely you will be putting more effort into the process. It’s just that the effort can appear to be effortless.
Can you have what you want? Absolutely. Are there ways to achieve what you want faster than others? Most definitely. You just need to know who to ask and where to get the best information. And then….apply the information.
Anyone who says knowledge is power is way off base. It’s what you do with the knowledge that makes all the difference. You don’t get it through osmosis. You get it through effort and application.
(C) Kathleen Gage. 2010
