I have been meaning to write this post about luck for a while now. Earlier I have written about Luck Has Nothing to do With Travel, so I am going to write about how to create your luck and not rely of “being lucky.” Because no one is “born lucky – anything that one does, is a result of sheer hard work and determination – and you can easily create your own luck.
Here is how!
- Investment in self
- Managing choices
- Commit to yourself
Investing in self:
People ask me why I choose to go to North Korea and not to Paris. My answer is that I believe in investing in myself. Because, North Korea was what I wanted to see. Because someday in future I will be happy narrating stories about North Korea, be able to write about it. And be happy that I did not follow the usual road to Paris.
I call this investing in myself. People often want a result too fast and are content to jump the line to get there, thus failing to savour the effort of standing still, following a dream, of building relations the building and not recognizing their true worth.
Example: At the end of the 96-kilometer walk through the unforgiving jungles of Papua New Guinea, exhausted and lonely, I knew I had done right. I realized that I had invested time, money and energy into this trek that would not bring me immediate results but when I’d narrate that story later, a few people might be inspired to invest in something that was not obvious in the present, but be able to recognize an opportunity that would reap results in future.
Managing choices:
People have asked me how I manage to travel. Well, because I chose to travel and I believe that if people really want to travel, they will find a way. Where there is a will, there are many ways. I have the same number of off days as my colleagues – only I choose to spend it on the road.
Luck does not put me on a plane to Africa. Weeks on conscious decisions and research finally sees me traveling effortlessly on the back of a truck in remote Africa. Caution helps me stay safe and money helps me pay for a hotel room. Luck does not.
This comes from knowing what you want to do and what you actually do.
I invest time in people and things that bring me knowledge and pleasure. Yes, I sometimes struggle. Sometimes I tensed and experience sleepless nights and sometime I wish I could just curl up and die. But I wake up the next day dreaming of something I’d do in future. As long as I can dream, I know I can make it happen.
I do it because I can. Not because I am lucky.
Commit to yourself
1. Passion is the key word here. Take initiative. Be the push. Be the motivation.
2. Apply the carrot and stick method – bribe yourself with promises of a fruitful tomorrow
3. Follow up and keep promises. Sometimes, arrive early. Respect other people’s time.
4. It is never “too early” because, hey, in some part of the world, its already tomorrow!
Don’t blame luck because…
Luck doesn’t get things done: I do. Sometimes too hard, but it pays off. While people are asleep on weekends I am up so that I able to use the quiet time to write -be it my book, commissioned work, articles for magazines or newspapers or personal blog. I give it all the same time and effort as I would at work. Why? Because I am passionate about it. Luck would be if my book got written by itself, but as that is an unlikely scenario, the only reasoning I can offer is hard work and passion. I do skip socializing and late nights because I’d like to fully-awake and focused the next morning.
Freebies aren’t fun in the long run: I’d like to quote a popular saying – the fruits of hard labour are sweet and spending hard earned money on something you love is even sweeter! Life is always the choices we make. I choose to do it this way. We make choices based on our own circumstances. If you have the means and have better control of your destiny, go see the world. You will be surprised.
Luck never lasts: Heard the saying – this can’t last forever? Same with luck. What lasts is your hard work. No one can take that away from you.
