Swasti Sansthan

Chapter-11

Destiny Unfolded;

Destiny - Can it be shaped.

Just remember that in life ninety-nine percent is about good luck and what about the balance 1%? That even is not hard work or talent. The final one percent is called bloody good luck to kick in.Then what is the point in working hard or developing one’ skills, if it all boils down to luck? One may as well sit-back and do nothing at all.Down the ages, humans have tried everything possible to improve their luck. Romans tried sacrifice of animals. Hindus used astrology, numerology, palmistry and gemology to improve the chances of good-luck. Africans used black magic, witch doctors and spells to drive away the bad luck. Europeans used exorcism, papal blessings and good-luck charms. Chinese tried fangsui etc. The entire world still resorts to prayers and rituals. This list is endless.Luck is associated with variety of incomprehensible objects, superstitions and rituals, but is rarely analysed rationally. Thus the world usually looks down upon the people who rely on luck.

During a meeting, Napoleon Bonaparte’s subordinates informed him about a new general who was extremely capable. His bravery, skills, determination and organizational capabilities were described in details. However, Napoleon waved his hands impatiently and said that is all very well, but tell me is he lucky also?Napoleons question may sound rather strange, but he saw luck as a personal trail rather than an extraneous factor. A lucky person would succeed even under adverse circumstances, on the other hand a capable and qualified general could prove to be disastrous on the battle field if he is not inherently lucky. Now we will discuss what an opportunity is and how it can be availed or not availed to result in good-luck or bad luck.

Let us start by explaining the basic deference between luck and opportunity. Like rainfall, most of the actual opportunities that come our way are not in our control. However, within a modest range, we can increase or decrease the number of opportunities coming our way through specific actions. Opportunities can turn in to good or bad luck depending upon their outcomes. Explained below in the chart-

Opportunities
Opportunity Availed	Opportunity Ignored
Good-Luck	Bad Luck	Opportunity Succeeds	Outcomes
Bad Luck	Good-Luck	Opportunity Fails	Outcomes

Missing a flight for an opportunity could be bad luck, but if that flight crashes, the missed flight could turn out to be good- luck. Bagging a large sale order could be good-luck, but if the customer goes bankrupt before making the payment, same order will become bad luck. So in effect, how we respond to opportunities and how the outcomes span out determines whether we are lucky or not. In effect the light bulb question is, as one needs a rainwater harvesting system for recycling rainwater, could there be an appropriate system to harvest opportunity? Taking the rain water harvesting for example ; Annual rainfall is for majority of the part is determined by nature. However one place can increase its green cover, control its pollution and preserve the green cover to increase the rainfall of that place. The place can increase its paved surfaces including roof tops & terraces-on which the rain falls so as to increase the odds of trapping it. The place can provide an adequate network of pipes to ensure that such harvested rain water is diverted away from the drainage system and in to the subsoil, by which the water table will increase. This water will be extracted by bore wells when needed.From this example, it becomes clear that our good luck is related to our ability to; - increase opportunities that comes our way. - recognize the valuable ones among them. - respond to the recognized valuable opportunities.

Thus in the area of good-luck harvesting too, we could call the basic three letters with R, Raise, Recognize, Respond .

Raise – how can we raise the number of opportunities that comes our way.

Recognize – how can we recognize the valuable opportunities better.

Respond – how can we better respond to the recognized opportunities.

That makes our attitude and approach to the opportunities coming our way. Common sense tells us that luck can-not be controlled. It is related to chance and probability. According to Anthony Tjan, co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck there are three types of Luck.

1. Circumstantial Luck:- some things are made possible because of ones being available at the right place and at right time.The circumstances make such lucky or unlucky event to happen.

2. Constitutional Luck:- age, race, heritage, culture or upbringing can predispose one to a certain outcome. Being born as a son to a king can make you also a king.

3. Dumb luck:- The sort of luck where one can-not analyse the cause and effect. Winning the lottery is simply dumb luck.

Whereas, constitutional luck and dumb luck can-not be controlled, one can substantially improve the circumstantial luck in one’s life,simply by raising the number of opportunities, recognizing the valuable opportunities and responding to them in the best possible manner.

But how exactly does one raise, recognize and respond ? There are many key attitudes and approaches needed to improve upon the circumstantial luck in ones life.

1. One has to remain alert and should not to miss the opportunities coming.

2. One should be well read and be aware about as many persons and things as possible.

3. One should be intuitive to grab and anticipate an opportunity.

4. One should not be shy or afraid of availing the opportunities.

Thus all the significant tools one need to raise the numbers of opportunities, that come his/her way, recognize the valuable ones among them and respond effectively to them, fall in to two basic categories.

1. Attitude: Which refers to our way of thinking or feeling about someone or something. Our past successes, failures, interactions and experiences, influence our attitudes, resulting in a tendency to instinctively favor or disfavor someone or something.(sometimes even erroneously.)

2. Approach: Which refers to one’s particular way of dealing a situation or handling a challenge or task? Approach tends to be influenced by our education, work experience and training skills. Pretty much everything we do to make ourselves lucky or unlucky can be traced back to attitude and approach.

Lucky people approach a task with lesser anxiety, greater optimism and in a far more relaxed frame of mind. It is this relaxed state of mind which allow them to observe beyond the immediate task at hand. Jonathan Fields the author of Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt in to fuel of Brilliance says-Those who are doggedly attached to the idea they began with, may well execute on that idea and do it well and fast. But along the way, they often miss so many unanticipated possibilities, options, alternatives and paths that would have taken them away from that linear focus on executing on the vision and have send them back in to a place of creative dissidence and uncertainty. But this also very likely would have yielded something of better magnitude. So luck is not entirely about the chance; it’s about the human ability to spot opportunities and make the most out of them. The tool that help us convert opportunities in to luck relates to either attitude or approach. We will now consider how lucky people think, read and feel. We will also learn what lucky people do differently. Thus we will consider both attitude and approach. Lucky people think and react differently to the situation that they are in. They look at it positively. Similarly lucky people differently handle the task. First is attitude and the second is approach.

Now that we have understood the difference between attitude and approach, let’s attempt to identify the approaches and attitudes that can help us harvest opportunities. Comedian Milton Berle once said- if the opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door! Now we will try to build a luck harvester instead of a door.There are thirteen attitudes and approaches, acting like magnets that help lucky people raise the flow of opportunities, recognize valuable ones and respond to them effectively. I now present the critical components of the ‘luck harvester ’or the thirteen steps of being bloody lucky.

Luck hates loneliness, it’s almost impossible to be lucky alone. No man is an island. Just think about it, if you were to sit alone inside a room, cut off from the outside world, how would opportunities reach you? Ones network is often vital in delivering good-luck. Building and leveraging your network of family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues is critical. Tips and offers reach via networks, competitors included. There is a concept of six degrees of separation. It is a theory formalized by Frigyes Karithy and popularized via John Guare’s play- everyone and everything is six or even few steps away. In effect one could connect to anyone in the universe in the maximum of six steps through friends of a friend introductions. What it also means is that any job opening, investment opportunity, romantic encounter, loan approval or marriage proposal is simply six steps away. Six degree separation is much truer than we care to imagine. Ever heard about the chaos theory ? More particularly, the butterfly effect ? The name of the effect-coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from a theoretical example of a hurricane formation being determined by whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier. It’s a perfect illustration of the extremely interconnected world that we live in.

Today many real world relationships are being replaced by virtual relationships on social media. It doesn’t matter whether your network is real, virtual or a combination of both. Being the part of the network is critical for the how of opportunities to happen. If one is active on twitter, one has direct and instant access to Salman Khan, Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar and Shahrukh Khan amongst others. This was unimaginable a decade ago.

1		Network. Lucky people grow & strengthen their network	Raise	ü
Attitude			Recognize
Approach	ü		Respond	ü

Strengthening one’s existing network is primarily about investing in relationships. Growing new network is mostly about leveraging interactions. Networks are not only important for creating opportunities; they are often critical for responding to them. Journalist- writer Max Gunther sums it up beautifully “the bigger your web of friendly contacts, the better are the odds in your favor”. You cannot know what thunderbolt of good fortune is being prepared for you now by some distant engine of fate. You cannot know what complex interconnection of human relationships will guide the thunderbolt in your direction. But you can know, with certainty, that the probability of yours getting hit is directly proportional to the number of people who know your name.

All of us seem to have two voices inside us. The first is intuition, our inner wizard which never shouts but whispers, it tries to tell us what we should be doing and what will be good for us. The second voice inside us is the inner critic which shouts rather than whispers,sending a steady stream of destructive thoughts directed towards us and others. It discourage us from acting in our own best interest.Unfortunately, we usually end up listening to our inner critic rather than our inner wizard intuition .Training oneself to ignore the inner critic and to listen to the inner wizard is what allows us to recognize opportunities for what they are. Often listing to one’s intuition can be a life saver. Being intuitive does not mean disregarding reports ,data analysis or other relevant information. One must absorb and think through all of these.The problem, however, is that most of us stop after thinking. We give ourselves no time to feel. Being intuitive is about thinking and feeling.

2		Intuition Lucky people listen to their intuitions & develop it.	Raise	ü
Attitude	ü		Recognize	ü
Approach			Respond	ü

Learning to trust our instincts, using your intuitive sense of what is best for us, is paramount for any lasting success. It’s really more of a feeling, a voice, a whisper sensation that pulsates just beneath the surface of your being. All the animals have it. We are the only creatures that deny and ignore it. How many times have you gone against your guts, only to find yourself at odds with the natural flaw of things? Of course many times. We all get caught up in the business of doing, and sometimes lose our place in the flow. But the more we can tune in to our intuition, the better off we are.

In his paper entitled Best of Luck, A. M. Mussay says that a human should not be confused with an unfounded guess, wishful thinking or fear. Often a good hunch is a conclusion based on real data on facts observed and possessed by your mind even though you aren’t necessarily conscious of them. Not knowing consciously doesn’t mean not knowing. A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way, but intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier experience. Human beings have five senses, sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. But all of us have a sixth sense, some people call it common sense, others call it intuition. It is inside all of us, but only some of us have succeeded in muzzling it.

Albert Einstein said, the intuitive mind is an added gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.

3		Experiment Lucky people are willing to try new things.	Raise	ü
Attitude	ü		Recognize
Approach			respond

In effect lucky people are lucky because they expose themselves to more opportunities by willing to do new things, meet new people and travel to new places. They are willing to work outside their comfort zones.Lucky people are open to novel opportunities and are willing to try things outsides of their usual experiences. They are more inclined to pick up a book on an unfamiliar subject, to travel to less familiar destinations, and to interact with people who are different than themselves. Just look at the business success scripted by Jews, Marwaris, Sindhis, Gujratis in alien countries. It is a clear illustration of the pay off, that working outside one’s comfort zone can bring.Sometimes we are so focused on winning the race that we do not realize that we may possibly be in a wrong race. By simple act of changing the race, we often produce dramatically letter results, but this requires openness to try new things. Changing the game makes us realize our inherent though latent strengths that can be better leveraged, thus making us better equipped to deal with new opportunities as they present themselves.

Max Gunther says the luckiest people I know haven’t lived their lives in a straight line but in a zigzag way. It is a mistake to get stuck on one track , you have got to be ready to jump off in a new direction when you see something good. Ratchet is defined as a mechanism that engages the sloping teeth of a wheel or bar, permitting motions only in one direction. More simply a ratchet is a device that permits a wheel to turn forward while preventing it from turning backwards. It safeguards the gain made by the wheel. Lucky people organize their lives much like a ratchet. They remain aware that any risk taken can lead to a loss or gain, but in the event of loss, they are not shy about admitting their losses. This makes it easy to cut losses in time. It also creates an environment for preventing a negative pattern. Thus entrepreneurs are not simple risk takers, but they are calculated risk takers. You may have the capital, but your health may be faltering, could you really execute a project that needs your round the clock attention for the next three years, even though the opportunity may be exciting?

4		Risks Lucky people take calculated risks, cut losses, and learn from mistakes.	Raise
Attitude	ü		Recognize	ü
Approach	ü		respond	ü

T.S Eliot famously quipped, only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. While some people follow the Eliots approach by actively seeking risk and being ready to bet everything on a seemingly bright opportunity, others take no risks at all as they are highly risk averse. But both the set of behaviors are dangerous. Motivational speaker Shiv Khera says , accepting responsibilities involves taking risk and being accountable, which may sometimes be uncomfortable. Most people will rather stay in their comfort zones and live passive life without accepting responsibilities. Accepting responsibilities, however involves taking calculated , not foolish risks. It means evaluating and then taking the most appropriate decision as action. Besides taking calculated risks, knowing when to cut losses and quit and when to stick is another noticeable quality of lucky people. The Dip, a little book that teaches you when to quit, and when to stick ,the author Seth Godin tells us in it that quitters do win. Every new project, job, hobby or start up begins with excitement & fun. It then tends to get more difficult and much less fun, until it hits a low point. Often you may find yourself asking, if the goal is even worth the effort or not? According to Godin, it’s possible that you are in one of the two situations; a dip or a cull de sac. A dip is a temporary setback, one that can be overcome if you keep pushing. But maybe that it is a real cull de sac (the french term for a dead end) which will never get better, no matter how hard you try. What sets lucky people apart from others? They have developed the ability to distinguish between a dip and the cull de sac and to escape from dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts. Godin tell us that winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt until they commit themselves to beating the right dip for right reasons. Once they realize that they are dealing with a dip not a cull de sac, they prefer to beat it. The ratchet effect however, is not only about taking calculated risks and quitting in time, but also about taking concrete steps to prevent bad luck in future. Most of us call such steps; learning from mistakes.

The problem with the usual notion of learning from mistakes is that most of us built negative conditioning rather than simply understanding what aspect of our attitude or approach was wrong.

5		Positivity Lucky people stay positive, preserve & cultivate a thick skin.	Raise	ü
Attitude	ü		Recognize
Approach			Respond	ü

The Secrete a book by Rhonda Byme emphasize the immense power of human thought. At the core of the secret is the theory that thoughts become things. If you believe something strongly enough the universe make it happen. Byme’s view is based on the metaphysical belief that our minds emit and receive energy from the universe. Byme compares the brain to a transmission tower unlike a physical magnet where opposite attracts. Your mind pulls the energy of same frequency due to the law of attraction, therefore whatever signal you send to the universe via your thoughts, you receive in return.

At a fundamental level, the take away from the secrete is the necessity of having positive attitude in life. Mark Murphy the author of Hiring for Attitude carried out a research work that involved taking of 20,000 newly hired employees.He found that 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising that the failure rate was the fact that when new employees failed eighty nine percent of the time their failure was due to attitudinal reasons; lack of skills was a factor only 11% of the time! Just imagine how important a positive attitude is. Adopting a positive attitude often requires us to stop associating with persons with negative attitude. Keep in mind though that a positive attitude is of no use without persistence. Persistence of positive attitude thus seems to be a key factor in attracting good-luck.

Thomas Edition rightly observed that our greatest weakness lies in giving up. “Many of life’s’ failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up”. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. In effect, good-luck seems to be largely a matter of hanging on offers others have let go. We all know that the odds of getting heads when tossing the coin is 50:50 as that’s the theoretical matter. But practically someone who tosses the coin a thousand times will have many more heads (and tails) in absolute terms than someone who tosses it a 100 times.Thoreau’s view is that all misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune. George Patton an american army general in second world war correctly observed that; success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom. Henry Ford said, failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. According to Robert Schuller; failure doesn’t mean that you are a failure , it just means you have not succeeded as yet. It is thus evident that while some lucky people succeed because they are so destined, most succeed because they are so determined.Lady luck is left with no alternative but to men’s fest herself, eventually. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising up every time we fell. A hero is no braver than an ordinary man but he is braver five minutes longer. Being positive and persistent often also requires the ability to cultivate thick skin. This prevents criticism and negative feedback pulling us down.

6	Alertness Lucky people find ways to remain calm and thus alert.	Raise
Attitude		Recognize	ü
Approach		respond	ü

One should remain natural, almost meditative while being in the difficult situations of life. Those who worry, create inner disturbance and this mental upheaval doesn’t allow them to take the best of decision. Remaining calm and relaxed even in trying circumstance is the trail of lucky people. Sometimes good luck comes in the form of unpleasant experiences and one may call it “good luck in disguise” if we are alert, we are able to see through the disguise. Thomas Edison rightly observed; we often miss the opportunity because it is dressed in overall and look like work. Good luck is all around us, but we are often unable to recognise it because it could appear to disguise and we are not alert to this fact. Quite often, people whose very existence depends on opportunity recognition like venture capitalists lose out on significant opportunities, because they are not adequately alert.

7		Situations Lucky people make the best of the bad situations.	Raise	ü
Attitude	ü		Recognize	ü
Approach	ü		respond	ü

Lucky people are simply those who use every bad situation to the best of their abilities. Oscar Wilde famously quipped- we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at stars. One’s ability to look at the stars seems to be the key factor in driving oneself to use bad times to one’s advantage. What is known as Dalai Lama Factor is a brilliant insight. Dalai Lama said -remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Not getting what he wanted had put A.P.J Abdul Kalam in to a trajectory that would ultimately shower him with far greater rewards. Lucky people seem to create an alternative support system, faith, prayer, hobbies, meditation, friends to tide over the bad phases and are thus able to use such periods to the best of their abilities. There is a phrase, I sink, therefore I swam! “Count your failure as your biggest blessings”. It was your decision to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. An unemployed old aged pensioner with a criminal record, Nelson Mandela had succeeded in destroying apartheid in South Africa by spending 27 years in prison. That is called making the best of a bad situation

8		Confidence. Lucky people develop their confidence and communicate better.	Raise	ü
Attitude	ü		Recognize
Approach	ü		respond	ü

The fundamental question is that how to acquire confidence? It is simply by conquering fear. Overcoming fear of any sort allows one to open up the flow of opportunities. Bertrand Russel the British philosopher and mathematician observed- to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Michael Schwable of Standford University explains why fear gets in way of your luck. It involves the mental duel that occurs each day between risk taking and the fear of failure. There is a factor called impact bias: it is actually our tendency to greatly overestimate the intensity and extent of our emotional reactions. The net result of this bias, is that we expect failure to be more painful than they actually are, so we fear more than we need to. It is possible to overcome fear and shyness. By doing so, we become much more capable of seizing the opportunities. In Julius Caesar William Shakespeare wrote;

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

which taken at flood, leads on to fortune.

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

it’s bound in shallows and in miseries.

It’s often fear and shyness that prevent us from seizing the moment: from setting sail at the precise moment; when the tide is just ride. And Shakespeare says, the tide waits for no one. Another reason of fear can be explained by the Monte Carlo Fallacy (or the Gamblers Fallacy) It is a mistaken belief that- if something happen more frequently than normal during some period , then it will happen less frequently in future, presumably as a means of balancing by nature. So if some-one tossing a coin got six consecutive heads, one is lulled in to believing that the next result will be a tail (law of averages).The truth is that odds haven’t changed. The odds of the next toss are till 50:50. The problem with the Monte Carlo Fallacy is that someone who has had a spate of good-luck, automatically tends to believe that his next venture will be unlucky or vice versa. In effect the Monte Carlo Fallacy reinforces irrational behavior. Building one’s confidence means conquering fear. One of the India’s top Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan has found a unique method to consume his fear. He talks about using fear as a propelling force to fuel one’s pursuits instead to trying to overcome it. One of the results of conquering fear and gaining confidence is improved communication skills. Words of course, are the most powerful drugs used by humanity, said Rudyard Kipling. This drug turned out to be a life saver for Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw who won for India, the Indo Pak war of 1971 that led to the liberation of Bangladesh.Confidence doesn’t come from being right, but from the fearing to be wrong. Remember Wiseman’s newspaper experiment? Confident, relaxed persons who were not too worried about the outcome were able to observe large advertisement on second page, where as those who were anxious and fearful ended up remaining tightly focused on the immediate task and thus missed the magic solution. The simplest solution comes from Bill Cosby who said-decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.

The Power of information is often undervalued. Simply staying informed increases the chances of opportunities coming to our attention.

9		Information Lucky People stay informed and absorb new ideas.	Raise	√
Attitude			Recognize	√
Approach	√		Respect	√

Being aware of what is happening around us,listening to informed individuals, keeping track of the news and reading crucial books is a part of the opportunity flow. Good luck emerges from remaining informed. One should keep the time for reading and contemplation. Schemes can be conceived during this leisure time. More often than not,opportunities present themselves in the form of ideas. One may not be able to act immediately on the idea, but that doesn't make it any less powerful. Absorption of an idea influences the luck. Lucky people notice things, they hang on to the ideas, they absorb the stuff, they are curious about things that catch their attention. The times have changed, ideas now reach to us also through various other channels, discussions, social media, the web, television, even movies. These channels are important, but staying informed and absorbing ideas seems to be one of the key traits of lucky people

10		Goodness Lucky People understand the power of goodness	Raise	√
Attitude	√		Recognize
Approach			Respond	√

J.R.D. Tata had once said, "To be a leader, you have got to lead human beings with affection." JRD's inherent niceties attracted opportunities, while making it easier for him to find and retain people who could act on the opportunities that came his way. Observe successful people and you will find that all of them have understood the power of goodness. Lucky individuals are not only nice-polite, humble and considerate but are also intuitively aware of the power of good deeds/karmas. They understand that the greater are the positive deeds they put out in the universe, the better are the chance of their attracting good luck.

It is a proven fact that being nice results in increased dopamine levels, which provide a natural 'high'. These happy hormones like dopamine, oxycitine etc. make us much more positive and enable us to look at new opportunities with the right attitude. In effect being nice not only makes others happy, it also makes us happy. And being happy and positive about life is a key factor in attracting luck. People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. The Secret teaches us that positive thoughts bring positive changes in our life, we should remember that positive deeds also have a karmic effect.

Often niceness is not about what you do, but what you do not do. There is an old proverb: the kindest word in the world is the unkind word left unsaid: Harvard University psychologist William James summed it up beautifully, "The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." This often requires us to consciously steer away from negative thoughts or discussions. The Rotarians prescribe a four way test for listening to what is being said. One is it the truth? Two, is it fair to all concerned? Three, will it build goodwill and better friendship? Four, will it be beneficial to all concerned? Hundreds of small actions add up to niceness. Returning a phone call, behaving courteously with ones colleagues & subordinates, remembering a birthday, praising some one's efforts, overlooking minor deficiencies are all niceties. The list is rather long, sometimes it simply involves doing what is right rather than what is required. Being nice also tends to be a wise investment. Thus there is a clear nexus and correlation between being nice and favorable future opportunities. The bottom line is, niceness is the probability that opportunities would be thrown your way by your network. Being nice not only results in positive word of mouth; it also ensures that someone else’s door remains open for you in future.And doesn't one need an open door for good luck to walk in.

Humanity is also one of the key reasons why some people are able to cultivate relationships better than others.Keeping one's ego in check and having one's feet firmly planted on the ground are fundamental requirements for the opportunities to flow. If one has a blasted opinion of himself, how would one be open to listening to others or accepting the ideas they may have. An inflated ego often prevents us from asking questions that we believe most stupid.The problem is that not asking those questions means that we are shutting out potential opportunities. So ask dumb questions. There is an old adage, what goes round comes around. It is based on a deeper karmic theory that, the more one gives, the more he gets. One should never discount the value of karma generosity in spirit and actions, as it is a key element in furthering opportunities. There is an old Chinese proverb, 'A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses',there is one caveat though giving with the intention of receiving back negates its very purpose. So always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting and then, leave lady luck to take her own majestic course

11		Passion. Lucky People seek ways to get paid for their passion.	Raise
Attitude	√		Recognize	√
Approach	√		Respond	√

The tug of war is between sustenance and passion. It’s an integral part of one's life the view crystallizing in my mind is that, one needs money to live comfortable, but beyond a point it becomes less relevant. Isn't it possible that our mad quest for money might render us incapable of seeing the silver lining? Could we possibly be missing opportunities by limiting our field of vision by wearing money blinkers? So the best way of life is to use passion for getting paid & earning money. Passion makes one forget that he is working. When it’s time to decide whether or not to go ahead, the decision should come from your heart. If you pursue your passions, your ideas will be more likely to succeed. In effect if an opportunity coincides with one's passion, the odds of making it remunerative are significantly higher. This is because one's desire to succeed at one's passion is far greater than one's desire to succeed at anything else. Passion is like our need of air for breathing. When one is passionate about something, one will do everything possible to make it happen. Confucius astutely observed, "Choose a job you love and you will have never work a day in your life."

12		Unlearn.	Raise	√
Attitude	√	Lucky People are willing to unlearn.	Recognize	√
Approach		Lucky People are willing to unlearn.	Respond	√

John Grisham had to forget he was a lawyer in order to write 'A time to kill.' Dan Brown had to forget when he sat down to write the Da vinci code. The point being made is that one needs to be willing to unlearn in order to learn new things. For many people concept of unlearning makes no sense, possibly because they see it as letting go of knowledge. This is a fallacy. Unlearning is about letting go of negative behavior patterns that create a bad attitude. After all attitude is key factor in determining one's response to opportunities. Past learning’s and prejudices of past prevents them from recognizing new opportunities, thus reducing chances of a successful outcome. One can't expect to apply fresh paint without stripping off the old paint layers. This principle applies to almost everything that we do. Without destroying, you cannot create anything new, that is also the law of nature. But unfortunately we do not take any cues from nature. Unlearning is simply ridding oneself of preconditioning. An absence of preconditioning and training is often a big advantage, because it allows you to remain fresh and innovative.Einstein went to the extent of saying that the only thing that had interfered his learning was his education! Lack of conditioning in this case education, makes one much more receptive to a new, untried or untested idea. Education often provides one with a network of friends and alumni that can increase the opportunities that come your way. It also helps to get the proverbial foot in the door when it comes to recruitment opportunities. But while the network, helps increase potential opportunities, the conditioning created by education often see us to prevent us from recognizing opportunities. Our school and university systems seem to encourage a uniform way of thinking. Being able to think outside the frame work of one's education and training seems to be a key factor in attracting luck.

13		Leverage.	Raise	√
Attitude		Lucky People leverage preparation planning & potential	Recognize	√
Approach	√	Lucky People leverage preparation planning & potential	Respond	√

The Roman philosopher Seneca observed, luck is what happens when preparations meets opportunities. Sometimes we are inadequately prepared for an event, meeting or interaction. As a result of this lack of preparations we are unable to respond to an opportunity quickly or effectively enough. It is often joked that the world is a stage and most of us are desperately un rehearsed. Imagine how the odds of your success could improve if you were rehearsed. Benjamin Franklin said, 'By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.' Louis Pasteur said 'Chance favors the prepared mind.' May be that there are few people who can think of their feet. But they are only a miniscule. For most others, it is planning ahead that helps. People say that in time of danger, when the net is cast, plan ahead or plan to think fast. Besides preparation the other key element in the good luck harvesting system is planning and prioritization. Planning makes a huge difference when and opportunity presents itself. Many people are so completely caught up in their disorganized and chaotic lives that they barely have a chance to do any of the things needed to increase opportunities, recognize them better and respond to them appropriately. It has rightly been said that planning can never be substitute for initiative or judgment. But initiative and judgment requires spare time. It is planning that frees up one's time. This includes planning one's finances, one's strategic goals and one's time. Another trait of lucky people is that they leverage not only their preparation and planning but also their potential and their strengths. They identify opportunities by connecting the dots. Lucky people leverage preparation, planning, prioritization and potential. By doing so, they increase their ability to create opportunities or react and respond to them.

Going back to our rain harvesting example, just imagine that it’s raining heavily. A tub has been placed on your terrace to catch the rain. Each rain drop as an opportunity falls into your tub, causing ripple on the surface of water. The best way of remembering all thirteen principles of good luck by is using this mnemonic causing ripple, using this mnemonic, lets' summarize the thirteen key attitudes and approaches that attract good luck.

C. Confidence- lucky people develop their confidence and communicate.

A. Alertness- lucky People find ways to remain calm & thus alert.

U. Unlearn- lucky People unlearn old attitudes & approaches.

S. Situations- lucky people make the best of bad situations.

I. Intuition- lucky people listen to their intuition and develop it.

N. Network- lucky people grow and strengthen their network.

G. Goodness- lucky people understand the power of goodness.

R. Risks- lucky people take calculated risks, cut losses, & learn from mistakes.

I. Information- lucky people stay informed and thus absorb new ideas.

P. Positivism- lucky people stay positive, preserve and cultivate a thick skin.

P. Passion- lucky people seek ways to get paid for their passion.

L. Leverage- lucky people leverage preparations, planning & potential.

E. Experiment- lucky people are willing to try new things.

These thirteen attitudes and approaches are by no means exhaustive. However, they are the most common traits of people who eventually succeed in getting lucky.

The measure of human intelligence is known as intelligence quotient or IQ. IQ is simply a number derived from a standardized intelligence test. Scores are calculated by dividing the individuals' mental age by his or her chronological age and then multiplying that number by 100.So a child with a mental age of 15 and a chronological age of 10 would have an IQ of 150. In fact IQ is simply the ratio of your mental age to your chronological age. IQ stays quite stable throughout your life, so it is unlikely that a teenager with an average IQ can become an Einstein in later years. Though we tend to associate IQ with and individuals success, its' not correct. During one's initial year, IQ may be relatively important, but the importance of one's IQ begins to diminish as one advance in life.

Also IQ is of little value in managing people, situations or relationships, critical factors in one's success. Realizing this, theorists came up with another concept: emotional intelligence and proposed another quotient i.e. emotional quotient which is a measure of one's ability to sense, understand and effectively apply, the power and acumen of emotions to facilitate high levels of collaboration and productivity. The few key drivers of EQ are- self awareness, self regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. It is not difficult to understand why EQ components play a more important role than IQ as one progress in life. Unlike IQ, EQ can be increased. Developing a professional plan to strengthen you weak areas can (and does) improve your EQ. Increasingly management experts have been coming around to the view that- successful people are those who can combine high IQ with high EQ.

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Successful People

The problem though is that one can't simply explain success by correlating it to an overlap of IQ & EQ. There are instances where a person with lower IQ & EQ succeeds while another with higher EQ and IQ doesn't. What explains it?

In one view, this unknown variable is what is called as LQ (luck quotient). So Napoleon Bonaparte was right. Being lucky is not determined by the heavens but by our ability to raise opportunities, recognize and respond to them. Answers of any person to all the above discussed 13 parameters of good luck are important. If one answered yes to most of these questions/parameters he or she has a high LQ. A high LQ is an indicator of your ability to attract good luck. If your LQ is not good, don't despair ,you can work on your weaknesses and thus improve your LQ over time. LQ is possibly the unknown variable that explains why some people are successful and others, probably with equally high IQ and EQ are not.

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Successful people

In effect, everyone can thus be lucky. American politician William Jennings Bryan said, 'destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It's not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. As Shakespeare in his play (Julius Caesar) said Men are at some time masters of their future: the fault dear Brutus, is not of our stars, but in our selves. Lucky people are those who are able to realize and see how lucky they are. In effect, truly lucky people are able to count and appreciate their blessings. This realization is the most important step to bloody good luck ! You may not be doing too well at work, but still have loving family and good health. Should you be happy that your life was in no danger? Lucky people not only implement the thirteen parameters to attract or harvest good luck, they are also able to objectively appreciate what they already have. Then only you can be lucky as well as happy.

Some more traits to harness good luck are also worth mentioning at this place.

Willpower;-

Will power is wishing to do a thing sincerely from core of one’s heart. As a matter of fact will power can be better understood by instances rather than giving it a meaning literally. Once you are addicted to a bad habit say of smoking, and drinking and laziness etc. As a matter of fact you cannot do anything good and give up anything bad unless you have the will or will power to acquire good habits and give up bad habits. Will Power works in your subconscious and some time you have to exercise it by effort and consciously. So much so that even getting up early in the morning without an alarm and without being awakened can be result of strong will power. If you have to do most uphill task, success may be delayed but sooner or later it will be at you feet. Tasks which are uphill and difficult to perform to start with can be and shall be accomplished by strong will power. Will power is again a matter of habit. All have willpower but some have strong will power, whereas, others have no will or will power not enough to succeed.

Two obese persons go to a doctor both are advised to shed some weight, both are advised for long morning walk, healthy and controlled diet and almost same restrictions are imposed. One of them succeeds in shedding weight while other one fails. One who succeeds is the one of who goes for regular morning walks meticulously, take prescribed food and follow strictly all instructions of the doctor. Whereas, one who does not succeed takes the doctors advice lightly and not seriously. Such people every time think of doctors advice, yet at dawn feels like sleeping one more day and on dining table to postpone restricted diet on next day. Those who have week will power or no will power, their next day never comes. Lack of will power creates procrastination. Those who procrastinate will never have will power. Will power also is in-born but sometimes acquired by habit. The moment you know the advantage which is good for you, register in your mind and you are bound to do that one day.

Since will power is a state of mind and is required to drop bad things and acquire good things, you must first beware of what is good and what is bad. Then you have the determination to do what is for good and not to do what is for bad. After determination you must not resort to postponement and procrastination and not forget the advantage of good and disadvantage of bad. This state of mind will not attack your will power and it will be with you. Often wrong company and bad advice also crushes you will power especially at a stage when will power will not be your habit i.e. you have succeeded to give up drinking but your bad company of friends who are hardly interested in your well being, taking it lightly persuade and lectured you to have a small drink and it will undo what you have done and you take a drink. Well, the will power is smashed.

So will power is inborn and it is a matter of habit, and is acquired by effort knowing advantage of good and disadvantage of what is bad. Sometimes certain tragedy and unexpected heavy loss, needs will power strong enough that you make an effort to acquire willpower good enough to combat the bad habits. I know of two friends who were alcoholics and this habit of theirs had brought their marriages on rocks and careers have almost been ruined. Both attended professional classes for detoxification but because both will not part company none could give up drinking. Suddenly one had serious sickness of vomiting blood, one evening and collapsed. And second one seeing his death, was so seriously affected that he gave up liquor right at the moment and never touched it thereafter. Will power which was neither inborn nor acquired by effort and habit took its birth out of tragedy and shock. You would agree with me, normally wreck less and fast drivers do not listen to anyone’s advice, as fast driving becomes a craze with such persons, but once an accident is caused by fast and wreck less driving and consequently a life is lost, he will never drive fast and give up wreck less driving. What will power could not do tragedy did.

Will power to be exercised, you must first have determination and looking to its advantages you exercise will power and desired results will follow. In the beginning when will power is exercised, to start with any project any man is fickle minded because unwillingness often comes in way and if man is discouraged and ridiculed to give up that stage he would never succeed to give it up like any other bad habit. If a man fails in exercising strong will power in the beginning he will adjust with his failure and would often state “his will power is weak”. People who get up early morning and go for morning walks daily are not often unwilling to go. Those who have strong will power, whether rain or snow is falling they will go. Even once in a while if they are late they will not give it up. They will never resort to procrastination. There is a second class who on little persuasion or suggestion will back out from morning walk because they have no will power. If he went to sleep late last night and was told by his wife or mother to forget the walk, he will roll in his bed and will not to go for it. There is yet a third class of people who by themselves will resort to self suggestion to drop it and if asked and advised to go or questioned as to why they should not to go for walk, they will give one or other explanation which is mostly self serving.

Strong will power is an important factor in one’s character. Its advantage cannot be understated. Will power as above said is always needed to get rid of bad habits and to acquire good habits. Like individual communities, countries and nations also need will power. One such collective case is our tryst with independence which freed our people from exploitation of the British. Will power is inborn as above said in some cases, but its seeds are always there in each individual. If one wants it and practices it, willpower develop and goal will be attained. If you succeed in developing strong will power it is bound to deliver goods and you will be a better man and world will be a better place to live in for you.

Truthfulness;-

I am always trying to impress people, there is no need to impress anyone. Whom are you trying to fool? If I remain artificial and untruthful, I cannot even have a relationship with my wife, my family members or my friends, because I am always lying.We require a lot of effort to become unnatural. To speak a lie needs a lot of effort, and you have to remember it too. To speak a lie you must be so creative, but to speak the truth you must be simple. The truth is pure. God showers such people with so much love. They are content in their simplicity and purity. They are not trying to impress anyone, because they know what they are.

Vibratory compatibility;-

Don’t take this personally, but some of the hi-tech people come from a common background here. When they go to U .S working with IBM or any other high -flying company, they are sometimes accommodated in a five-star hotel. Some of them walk around in a lungi and they don’t even know how to use the toilet or the tub. This is no personal comment on anyone, but those people remain unfit for that environment for some time until they adjust and their lifestyle matches their surroundings.

Compatibility is an extremely superfine concept. When you are taking one medication, if by accident you take something that is not compatible with that drug, there is a clash inside. There is a world war and you suffer as a result of it. Compatibility is also an issue in human relationships. For human beings, the question is how to develop compatibility with one and all the same time? I can become adjusted with my wife over a period of thirty years of association. Similarly, as children grow up, their samskaras manifest. We get used to each other. It takes perhaps twenty-five years. With business partners in the work environment, or in school or college, wherever you are, there is an entire gamut of vibratory levels. You can try to interact with this level and with that level, and everything is incompatible per se.

Art of speaking;-

The style of speech should be devoid of rise and fall in pitch. On the contrary, it should be like the divine current, flowing evenly since the beginning of creation. Innumerable are its benefits, beyond the possibility of narration. This is a philosophy, that when the flow of conversation proceeds in conformity with reality, there develops a state of harmony between the two. Through that harmony, the divine way starts developing automatically. This results in effectiveness: whatever is spoken goes on touching the hearts of persons. In other words, a sort of relationship with the current of reality gets established. When a relationship is created, effectiveness has to be there. If someone copies it, only those words will be flowing out during conversation which are intended and are right. The technique for achieving this consistency, in which first of all, we attempt to remove the rise and fall in the voice while talking, which is also called sharpness. This flow of speech will go on acquiring harmony with the current of reality, to the extent that such a reduction is achieved progressively. By ‘sharpness’ I do not imply only anger, which is very gross. It should not be allowed admittance at all in this context. What I mean is that the flow of speech should not carry any kind of weight on it. An illustration of this is a current of still air. This is very difficult to achieve, but everything is possible through sustained effort and courage. The balanced condition of mind is an expression of the right attitude of man in all his activities under varied circumstances. In a broad sense, it is the reflection of his character. It has a deep impact and a favorable influence on people who are associated with him. It reveals itself in conversation, serious and long or light and short, which is devoid of excitement or emotional outburst; devoid of rapid, short – tempered and moody reaction, but a prompt, methodical and civil expression of one’s own self. It is soft, cultured and smooth like the harmonious descent of divine grace.

The pure heart, in communion with the base or the source pours itself forth naturally with nobility, magnanimity and love. It leaves an impression immediately and it progressively makes deep inroads in to and establishes itself in the minds of all. The voice may be modulated to avoid a high pitch or any variation of the tone, because that goes with anger and anger is poison to spirituality. If a nasty and short temper is avoided, if the evil of anger is overcome, there is scope for the attainment of the balanced condition of mind. This frailty of man leads to loss of self-respect and individuality and results in unhappiness. It restrains the flow of divine grace. The greater the control over this attitude, the freer and more bounteous is the celestial gift.

It is a pity that this important and essential principal of the use of the tongue though is inevitable and constant activity of man , is not only overlooked but also neglected. It is no doubt very difficult to control the mind. He whose tongue is polite, civilized and cultured has a large, pure and a noble heart, and thus has a wide sway over the minds of others.

· A civil tongue is a prerequisite to achieve the goal of human life.

· A cultured tongue rules the kingdom of the heart.

· A polished tongue in discourse or conversation influence humanity and reigns supreme.

Anger is a poison to success. Unless one is free from this plague, moderation can never be obtained. Its effect is that the system becomes heavy and tension is produced, and this does not allow the free and subtle current to enter. There will be continuous pressure on thought. To free oneself from anger, one should think himself to be polite and humble. Nay, he should try to make himself such that the same color enters each and every part of the body. Cool and calm disposition alone is required for success. The heart is so tender that it begins to droop even by the slightest circulation of the wind. Whosoever rises to some height, he has lowness within his sight to the same extent. This is the secret of nature. The cause of this, I have just stated. The passion should be, that whatever is there, is there, is yours! And when it is thus, where is an occasion for regret! When somebody gets satiated with something he does not derive pleasure from it in the same degree as earlier. By and by, he comes to treat it as something ordinary. Just this is to be achieved and known as the state of regret or fallen condition. Apart from that, lying low is better than a perch up. I repeat: lying low is better than a perch up. Herein lies devotion and therein lies the idea of perfection .When one has lost the sense of one’s significance and is devoid of one’s ego – consciousness in any form, direct or indirect, then whatever one does, it happens to be just what one ought to be doing. This condition, if bestowed by God, is the best of all conditions. Everybody ought to try to arrive at it. The technique of developing softness is to create extreme humility in temperament, so that it is filled up with such a sentiment of love, as to have no inclination ,whatsoever to cause any hurt to anybody’s heart, and the words are also such as not to hurt anybody’s heart in the least. When we ponder over this, I think the mistakes that we commit during our conscious activities arise mainly out of our conversations. Most of our mistakes largely depend on what we should not have uttered, and the way we speak. Even the way we don’t speak at times conveys a lot. Many a time we talk in ways which we should not.

Other positives and negatives;-

Some other positives and negatives which effect the harnessing of good luck are pictured below-