The preparation that precedes good luck
Lao Tzu’s & John Wooden’s Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
The preparation that precedes good luck
Has someone ever told you how lucky you were for a certain accomplishment or a certain event that happened in your life? Now my question to you is were you really lucky or did you work really hard for it?
In this chapter of the 67 steps program, Tai Lopez discusses how he believes luck is no coincidence after all and it is simply a matter of preparation.
Another adapter of the same thinking was Lao Tzu, the great philosopher and writer, who advises to do what is difficult while it is easy. Tzu would argue that the best time to start saving money is when you aren’t broke.
As I look back at my own life, I think about when I first started working and how I had no bills then. However, I didn’t save a dime and in fact, I didn’t start saving money until a couple of years ago. Oh, how I wish I would have had this advice back when I was in my teens and got my first job.
But the truth is, most people wait for things to hit them in the eye so they can start acting. They then consider this very situation to be a misfortune, making them unlucky people, even though by preparing themselves they could have avoided the situation.
The great life coach, Jim Rohn, had this great saying “ Prepare for tomorrow today.”, don’t wait to start preparing when it is time for you to be acting. Get into the habit of analyzing the things that needs to be done and planning ahead of time. Take some time before you go to bed and plan for the next day. Start off with your priorities, which are the things that will benefit you the most, whether it be financially, heath, love or happiness.
(Honestly, if you can’t take a couple of minutes to plan your day, then you aren’t really serious about being successful.)
I know you may say that things can change so why take the time to plan. But think about a car trip, although you can map out your whole way to the final destination, detours may arise which will force you to take a different route. However, if you took the time to analyze the map and prepare in case a specific route wasn’t available, you will know exactly where to go.
Same will happen in your life, detours will arise, problems will come your way but if you prepare for the rainy day, like John Wooden, the great basketball coach said, the rain is not going to hit you as bad as it will hit everyone else.
Although, preparation takes time, it will also save you time along the way. If you think in terms of health, the best time to get fit is when aren’t overweight and that brings me to tip number one in this lesson:
TIP 1: Don’t let yourself go, it takes a lot longer to get things back on track!
If you wait to exercise when you are out of shape, it is going to take you a lot longer to get fit. If you wait to get your finances in track when you are already amounted with debt, it is going to take you a lot longer. So, don’t procrastinate. And that is tip number two.
Tip 2 : When you don’t know what to do and you have something hard to do, just jump right in and next thing you know it is already half way done.
Much of your procrastination comes from a false understanding of how much pain it will be to get it done. However, if you want to succeed you must understand tip number three.
Tip 3 : Don’t be controlled by pain and fear, but rather let it drive you.
Think about all of the things that scare you, whether it is to be broke or being out of shape, now let that be your motivation to start acting today so you won’t have to go through it tomorrow. But, do not overthink it and be sure to use tip number four to help you stay on track.
Tip 4 : Don’t give yourself too much time to contemplate about things.
When you overthink about things your brains comes up with absurd ideas and the most horrible things that can happen. So, don’t even give your brain the chance to do that. Be sure to do whatever is hard or what you don’t want to do first and you won’t even have the opportunity to think about how painful the task can be.
In the end, if you take time to understand luck, you will come to the realization that luck only happens when someone has been preparing themselves and is ready to take on what is for them a great opportunity.
