Three men working in a design company are all gunning for the same promotion.
One has skill, the other works hard, and the other has luck.
Which one would you rather be?
George is skillful. He’s really good at drafting and he’s always had an eye for the thing. He can look at a problem and get a quick, great impression of how to solve it. He’s a creative, shoot from the hip kinda guy.
Henry is a hard worker. He fails a lot (because he isn’t skilled) but he’s willing to put in more hours than anyone else. He burns the midnight oil when everyone else has decided to pack it in, because they’re not paid for overtime. Neither is Henry, of course, but he knows that’s not what this is about.
Jim is lucky. How did Jim even get up to this point in his career, anyway? Did he take a lot of risks? Did he brown-nose? Is he brilliant? No one has any idea. Jim just finds a way to be in the right meeting at the right time, and when he does, he gets the project. This has happened enough times that, now, most people think of his luck as being something else.
Everybody has a little bit of George, Henry, and Jim inside them. We work hard sometimes, we have some innate ability, and we’re sometimes lucky. But no matter who you think you may be, here’s the main thing: Act as though luck doesn’t exist.
It’s worthwhile to try to be George or Henry, or both. But believing in luck is to leave yourself to fate, to be complacent with your position. Instead, just act as though you are Jim already.
You will become him.
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