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What does luck have to do with success? There's no denying it… it's great to have good luck in your business. But the most successful people engineer their good luck. Here's how to do it…

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92 Replies to “How To Make Your Own Good Luck”

    • Jeff, you are absolutely correct! We forget the tremendous value that failure & mistakes bring to our success….it does not feel good but the lessons take us to the next level.

  1. Thank you Jeff, I agree it is my responsibility to make my own success and to help others to make their success. Sometime there may be some bad luck, but I can build my own success, especially today with the internet. The more I know and the more I do babysteps, the more I build my skills and the easier it is to build my business. To grow takes time but it is necessary and valueable. And if I have a drawback I will learn from it and continue to do babysteps. Either I learn or I have success.

  2. So much to unpack in this short video. What stands out to me is that the people having long-term success have the kind of mindset that allows them to bounce back. They pivot when others would crumble.

  3. hey Jeff, that message is so true, a lot of times the”bad luck” is just paving the way for even better things, you just have to flow and rest assured that if you think more in therms of providing value and causing positive impact “luck” will follow.

    A big hug from Colombia!

  4. Jeff, you are spot on with your life experiences and wisdom shared. Keep it going. I bought your book and I enjoy the content. Can you product a $49. product for those who cant afford 10X plus that cost product?

  5. Thank Jeff. Working smart and hard are still the way to go. I have to begin where I am..I kept waiting because I felt I don’t know enough. I decided I can possibly never know enough because there is too much to know. Time has come to start for sure to create product…

  6. Wonderful to have positive advice delivered by a positive person with a winning smile. It lights up a sad January.
    Thank you.

  7. Fantastic advice especially if you feel like the not so lucky examples. Very well put.
    Thank you.
    Ty

  8. Jeff your words are always amazing, I really like your simplicity, and erty, is something of special for me. Thanks.

  9. I love these 5 minute motivational and educational videos! Yes, luck has some to do with it, but hard work has more to do with it.

  10. Nice one, Jeff!

    The amazing thing about “bad” luck is that it brings with it learning and resilience. I’m sure I’ve had more than my fair share, but I’m grateful for it all.

    Thanks for all your great stuff. It’s proving invaluable in getting me started.

    🙂

  11. Hi Jeff,
    Thanks for this! As I reflect back on success, it seems that things come along (luck) and then it’s a matter of what you do about it. Do you seize the opportunity or not? There are always obstacles and opportunities. Some people are keen observers and actors on opportunities because of their mindset, and others pass up opportunities because of what they tell themselves. There are many thing we can believe that will or won’t support success: I can… I can’t…This will work out…This won’t work out. This is a wonderful challenge… This is too hard to do. I’m not going to pass up this chance…I can’t afford to take the chance. Etc. I find that the more I’m aware of my thoughts and feelings (as well as the realization that I create these internal structures), the more freedom I have to create success.

    • Fred, I think you are spot on, fear may tag along with the opportunities & challenges that would create success for us. A deep and honest internal dialogue with this ‘fear’, can allow us to evaluate the potential risks vs benefits, and move forward. Either way, growth has occurred.

  12. Thanks Jeff! “Knowledge is Power and ignorance is a slave.” Sir Francis Bacon
    Also, Everything happens at the right time and place! My website explains it..

  13. Jeff,

    Thank you so much for keeping it real and sharing how persisting through your “unlucky” moments have resulted in your very “lucky” moments.

    Focused persistence pays.

    Ann

  14. Thanks for the reminder Jeff. Agreed … I believe that Murphy’s Law rules: if it CAN go wrong, it WILL. But I also believe that luck serves those who are prepared. I also live by the maxim, “Success lies on the far side of failure,” from Thomas Watson, founder of IBM in 1914. Therefore, my plan is to fail early, and fail often, in order to get to the far side sooner. Thanks for all you do. Russ

  15. Thanks Jeff. good points. I too have had my share (more than) of bad luck. But engineering my own luck – Now that’s a priceless idea!

  16. I’m not sure how much is luck, good or bad. I look for opportunities by paying attention and listening. I look at my own life and business activities….what am I struggling with that others likely are too and is anyone else addressing the issue. I’m close to launching two new products/websites based on this belief. I’m reading your book right now! Sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time, and being open to change, but again looking for the opportunities and possibilities !
    I may be in ‘cold’ Canada, but my ears, eyes and brain are always set to ‘hot’.

  17. Andrea Scalici

    Reply

    Just like anything else, success is a learning process. As we begin to recognize what is successful and what is not, it’s easier to build better process and formulate our own luck. I couldn’t agree more. Thanks, Jeff!

  18. I like what you said in response to people who say that you are lucky. You can agree them but you know inside that it is not the case at all. I feel that those conversations are usually repetitive by the same people and can be avoided by just agreeing with them.

  19. Hi Jeff,

    Persistence is indeed the key here! Not letting any ONE thing end your pursuit of success.

    Thanks for the reminder!

    Jeff

  20. I found your videos so inspiring. Thank you for taking the time and energy to do them. 🙂

  21. Other people often say you are lucky because they are not experiencing the success you are. Hard work and perseverance – yes.
    Years ago I heard this description for LUCKY: Loveable, Unique, Creative, Knowledgeable, and Youthful.
    Jeff – I’d sure like to curl up with a book in front of that gorgeous fireplace.

  22. Hi, Jeff and thank you for the reminder that the toolbox is never full. The more we have to offer others, the luckier our lives become.

  23. Included now within the dimension around luck are the many and diverse intermediaries: brokers, reps, PEG groups, “screeners” and “gatekeepers who have little real organic stake in the key outcome that you represent –shadowy crowd, don’t you love them? They can thwart your intensions with their fixed mindset (not yours) that “you are xyz, not abc” (fill in the blanks). So part of the luck to be engineered is working around them, through them, or over them to aspire to an outcome or an intermediate “condition” that will still keep you on course. That can require more resourcefulness and enterprise than anything you do with your core offering.

  24. you know Jeff, you are a real inspiration to me!
    I get lots of email every day (because I’ve subscribed to many lists 😉 ) and I don’t read all of them, but yours I always read, because they are different in some way. I’m literally waiting for your messages and I love watching your videos. you inspire me Jeff!
    Big Thank you! from Vienna

  25. Phyllis Rowan

    Reply

    Three questions to ask to determine the quality of our lives in this world… am I
    a worker or a shirker? … am I sharing or selfish? …am I spiritual or mundane?

    So best of luck to you in the coming year, Jeff! You deserve it.
    Thanks for your great effort, help and inspiration to others.

  26. Yes, it is true, you create your own luck… I’ve seen it over and over in my own business and the other entrepreneurs I work with. You create your own luck by doing things where success is more likely to occur! The question, of course, is how to know what those things are you should do? And this is where I hear you say, Jeff, that in your experience you found an opportunity aligned to the value you could offer — the sweet spot where “capacity” is aligned to “opportunity”. Thanks for sharing your story!

  27. I agree. If we waste time complaining about bad luck or blaming on something else, we are wasting precious time and energy that could be channeled in to creating opportunities for good luck.

    Thanks.

  28. Thank you Jeff for sharing your wisdom. The timeliness of this video is ideal for me. I’ve been creating my success (some call it luck like your mentioned) for years as an artist, day after day, never giving up, putting myself out there. And there have definitely been ups and downs, but I am doing it. I’m building the relationships I need and producing art that touches thousands of souls. And by taking baby steps, I’ve engineered my success. Just yesterday I was just told how lucky I must feel to be in so many galleries around the world. Thank you for your advice to agree with them and know on the inside the truth. I really appreciate it.
    Cheers
    Derek

  29. Thanks for debunking this myth! Sometimes we do tend to look at others more successful than us and think they’re just so lucky. But we only see the tip of the iceberg. We don’t tend to see the struggles, the determination and focus that eventually lead to results. There’s hope for us! 🙂

  30. There is no such thing as ‘luck.’ There is a distribution of outcomes, some are highly probable, probable, and not so probable. A plan, like PLF, understanding the plan, and executing the plan moves you to the high probably outcome in the distribution. From the outside, it looks like luck but its not.

  31. Hey Jeff, really good stuff as always. this is such a great reminder and as you were talking I thought back to the times its gone both ways good/bad, lucky and unlucky for me. And by golly, I’m a little more inspired today. Thanks.

  32. My wife and I have been following you through your book and email announcements. We are starting where we can and building from there. Thanks for your help and advice.

  33. I think life is like basketball game. If players were not blocked by the other team, there will be no game! The most importnf part of the game is for the other team to create difficulty for the opposing player to basket the ball. The better the player, the more creative as to how to make it to the basket. In life, the “bad lucks” are the opportunity for us to become more creative and refine our skills. I have achieved the impossible and lived such an exciting and interesting life.
    Lastly, I don’t know much about basketball, I just enjoy watching it in particular when the player overcomes all the difficulty and still makes it. That my dear is a called basketball “game.”

  34. Thank you for sharing your stories! It really helps to make a connection with you and the possibilities in having successful launches!

  35. Jeff,

    You are such a sincere and likeable guy. You always add to the positive and give wonderful perspective. I comment today only to try and contribute to your tribe……that may be really down on their belief, one of the main things that drives me against all odds.

    ” You can’t lose if you NEVER QUIT”
    Here is what quitting gets you; all the things you’re dreading.

    Remember the story of the gold minor who tunneled in hundreds of feet on his own while he was told he was wasting his time…but he had faith and kept going far beyond what anyone could believe. After a long while….broke and broken down…truly discouraged he gave up.

    Someone came along and found his tunnel a few months later and after digging 6 inches…..hit one of the biggest veins of gold you could possibly hope to find. Most of us quit inches from gold because of the negative people and situations around us grinds us down. It an easy thing to write on a blog…..but it’s absolutely the greatest truth I’ve ever learned. I’m still living by the Never Never Ever Quit theory against a constant sh** storm of negative circumstances,both financial and personal. I’m prevailing. You will too.

    And Jeff, thanks for being that leader that rattles the cage and says……even with all the crap around us we’re getting closer to hitting that vein of gold…..just keep going.

    Gratefully yours,
    Pat

  36. Just what “the doctor ordered”. After having it on the shelf, I’m reading the “Alchemy of Fear” and learning about trances that keep us from moving forward in healthy ways. And as I listened to your video, what I heard was that luck is about consistently moving forward, learning from the good and not so good, and that action is at the core of luck and success.

  37. Jeff, thanks for being such a happy, nice, upbeat guy! You always put me in a great mood after watching your videos! So happy for you and looking forward to learning and implementing more from your ideas as I grow.

  38. Hi Jeff,

    Great video! One saying I’ve heard is that “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” It seems like that is a very true statement. It goes hand in hand with your teaching of “don’t compare your back-end to somebody else’s front end”…people tend to see others end results and don’t see all of the hard work that it took to get to that place! Thanks again for blazing a path for us to follow!

    Take Care,
    Rob Anderson

  39. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” – Seneca (Roman philosopher).
    Luck is active, not passive. People who are “lucky” make their own luck; they don’t sit around waiting to “become lucky”. Being “lucky” can be hard work – as your examples point out.
    Love your work and PLF. Saw you live in Sept in Santa Clara. Hope to see you again!

  40. Thanks for this Jeff. As I listened to your video I was reminded of a popular quote, “Life is 10% what happens and 90% how we react.” Your message of staying focused on our ‘A game’ is all about how we react.

  41. Thank you for telling the story of how a partner stole your business once and how you overcame it to build an even bigger business. This revelation blessed me with hope and a new perspective. I didn’t have a business stolen but what did happen was a Bible study leader, on more than one occasion, stole a business idea and stole credit for something I did. I apparently didn’t realize how deeply her insecurity and envy went and thought so highly of her due to her knowledge that I would share my idea in conversation or when she requested helped only to have her make it her own and convince her class that she led and her husband that it was hers. MY MISTAKE!! I was just shocked and broken-hearted but it taught me to be wiser and to not take it for granted that just because a person teaches and proclaims integrity does not mean they live by it. These devastations aren’t designed to ground you but to teach you how to better a better businessperson and more clever in your dealings with people.

  42. pat burkett

    Reply

    Great information Jeff! As far as luck is concerned; I have mixed feelings about its existence.
    I do believe that we can create our own luck when we prepare ourselves. Too often we wait for things to work out instead of using tools to make them work out!

  43. Bad luck is as good as good luck (perhaps even more). Just depends how you see it and learn from it 🙂

  44. Right now Jeff. People often don’t see all the early mornings and late nights along with the months or years that it sometimes takes to build a success. Thanks for sharing :))

  45. Hi Jeff,
    Great message to kick off the week- persistence pays off! Thanks for your inspiring words.

  46. Thank you Jeff! As you say luck is preparation meeting the right timing! And the bad luck times, there are always lessons learned and strength built.
    Thank you again for your golden nuggets of wisdom;0)

  47. I needed to hear this message. Too often we take set backs as a “sign” and use it as a reason to give up because we think it’s not “in the cards” for us. This is a great example of the truth behind making your own luck. Thank you for being so inspirational! ❤️

  48. Thanks Jeff, great subject. I bet most people who we think are lucky, have worked hard for it. Like the person who is an overnight success, but they had been working at it for years before that. Also, it’s good to be reminded that even the real successful people can have things that go wrong. It really helps to remember that if you keep at it, and show up, you can finally have your “overnight success too”.

  49. Hi Jeff,
    Love this message and it can’t be stated enough. 9-5er’s only seem to see what they can actually view (the big positive outcomes) in those of us who have a vision and refuse to work for others. They don’t think to use their brain to think about what it actually takes to be independently successful (hard work, long hours, some failures, bumps in the road, and sometimes even starting out with your office in the corner of your bedroom or garage). I can’t wait to hear from you next. Your tongue is golden.

  50. “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

    Quote accredited to Thomas Edison and several other others who failed their way to success.

  51. Hi Jeff.
    Love your videos – very inspiring.
    I was inspired to comment on this one because I have learned over the last two years that it isn’t luck and things aren’t coincidence. It is ‘Lessons’ and ‘Synchronicity’. I have been on quite a journey in business since 2000 and in 2012 at a time of enormous challenge in my business life (and personal life I had what would be described as a profound ‘spiritual’ experience. This was a complete surprise to me as an ordinary business woman who had never been particularly religious or spiritual up to that point. This got me on a very interesting and intriguing path where I learned that we are all here for a purpose. Our whole life is spent learning lessons about that purpose. When things get tough it is part of the challenge we have set ourself to learn and develop more in the path we have chosen. When you see things as lessons rather than bad luck – it takes you out of the ‘victim’ mentality and immediately into the mode of positivity i.e. What lesson am I being given here?” It has completely turned my life around as I have learned that the harder the challenges you have to face in life – the bigger the impact when you overcome them. ‘Synchronicity’ guides us. It is like a marker that says – ‘hey – you’re on the right path:-) So when good luck or ‘coincidence’ happens, this is actually ‘Synchronicity’ – take it as a strong sign that you are on the right path:-) Hope this gives a slightly different angle to your point. Vivienne

  52. Good that you didn’t just come out with all the cliches on success and luck which we have all heard at one seminar or business meeting after another. Something you said that echoed with me, I used to say to my sales teams, sometimes just showing up will get you business without being clever or doing anything more, often times the competition just does not bother to show up or follow through.

  53. This message was so helpful as I review last year’s challenges and successes. PERSEVERANCE and hard work with prayer is a necessary recipe for me.

  54. You give so much~ Thanks! If there’s every anything I can do to give back to you…please let me know! 😀

  55. love this video Jeff. The word “luck” is so overused. I’ve been called lucky a few times in my life and it always feels like it discounts ALL of the energy I put into my success. thanks for posting this. Great points!

  56. Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for the video. Someone may have already said this in the comments above but here is a great saying: “I am a great believer in Luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.—Coleman Cox. (This is not by Thomas Jefferson as many have ascribed).

    Thanks for your frequent encouragement.

  57. You are so right Jeff. As we say in sales training: 50% of success is just showing up. From there it is just overcoming obstacles.

  58. Hi Jeff ,
    Happy New Year, great message work hard, persist and succeed as others have quoted ” The harder you work the luckier you get” All the best bye for now….

  59. A successful business man I know, who is now into his 90’s has a favourite saying that sticks with me: “Its a funny thing, the harder I work, the luckier I get!”

  60. I think ‘luck’ is relative. What I consider luck you may not. For example, I’m on a mini vacation right now. I did not plan on going anywhere special. Two days before my vacation started my ruck started making a strange noise which got worse each day, luckily I was on vacation and was able to take it in and get it fixed without missing work. Now some people may say ‘how unlucky, vehicle trouble during vacation’, but since I had nothing special planned I think I was lucky. The belt didn’t break while I was traveling 30 miles to work, or someplace else.

  61. Wise words as ever Jeff! Luck is where opportunity meets persistence. If you keep going the right opportunity will appear and you’ll be ready for it because you kept going. Too many people give up too early, keep going, that’s how you engineer your own luck!

    And failures are the learning experiences of success. You only learn how to succeed by failing many times, there’s no short cut to success you have to put in the time, the effort, the heartache and the setbacks, these are the currency you spend on the journey to success. There’s no way not to pay the price up front.

    Thanks for your inspiring videos Jeff!

  62. hello Jeff, enjoyed your talk, I am a littleness polite than you, for as you I know I made my own life.
    So this is my new mojo.
    Whether you believe in luck or whether you don’t,
    You better believe that you have to make your own.(by me)

  63. Hi Jeff, great advice as ever. You look abit like Tony Blair (ex uk prime minister). You wouldnt be related would you – that would be bad luck!!

  64. Jeff …

    Appreciate this practical advice … I really believe that “luck” is a combination of a willingness to work hard, listening to advice of those around us and, most importantly, having the right motivation for wanting the success in the first place! I really believe that God blesses those who have their heats in the right place!

  65. Jeff …
    Appreciate this practical advice … I really believe that “luck” is a combination of a willingness to work hard, listening to advice of those around us and, most importantly, having the right motivation for wanting the success in the first place! I really believe that God blesses those who have their hearts in the right place!

  66. ken ca|houn

    Reply

    Really enjoyed this video; thanks Jeff. I like your points about rebuilding 2nd time around, and hard work, showing up; that’s what it takes. You seem really comfortable on camera, you’re getting better and better. Thanks for keeping it real, and for encouraging so many people in a positive way; being part of the solution. Good point about creating your own ‘luck’; persistence and continuing to help people is the answer, as you do a great job of here in your blog videos… way to go, here’s to crushing it in 2015 w/another rockstar year ahead.

    to success,
    ken

  67. Thanks Jeff, great video with down to earth advice (as usual!).
    Luck in business is similar to having great kids. I have four great kids, I often have people say you are so lucky to have such great kids.
    And, like you I nod my head and say thank you, but I am thinking “it’s not luck…”

    Keep up the good fight, your videos are awesome!

    • @Colin: EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve got great kids (though only two of them, not four)… they love each other, they love their mom and dad, they’re happy, they treat people well, and they’re productive. People tell my wife and I that we’re lucky… I just smile and thank them. 🙂

  68. Hello Jeff this is a wonderful piece of information.I guess this is what i need to hear on and on.

  69. Jeff,

    I bought your book last summer and I have been following your blog posts and launches ever since. Launch had a profound effect on me and I tossed out my 300 page rough draft of my book and wrote another 500 pages. I must have just tuned in on your message. I like how you grip people with your opening line every time.

    I’m getting ready to make a big launch. Thank you for all of your hard work.

    Best,

    Pat

  70. Every succes is matter ok luck for sure but as luck is something we can’t rely on we souldn’t count only on it 😉

  71. I get the “you are so lucky to be able to have a career doing what you love” from many people (specifically in the fine art world). This is my reaction every time. I appreciate what they are saying, I am blessed. I have also worked very hard and continue to create my own luck every single day! If only they could see my “behind the curtain”!

  72. Exactly, and you’re very kind in the way you frame the subject. You know how persistent and creative you were, regardless what Lady Luck was throwing your way.

    And yet, luck is mysterious. Some people seem to attract good luck and other attract nothing but terrible things into their lives. Mental and emotional climate? Fate? Who knows, but it seems to hinge on expectations, intention, imagination, generosity, a good sense of systems, the emotional environment one is surrounded by, and probably to a large degree, an absolute refusal of ultimate failure.

  73. Hey Jeff,
    thank youf for this Video. I love your videos.

    And I think you are absolutely right. There is not “only” luck. It is a condition we make with our decisions and our engagement that leads to good and lucky options.

    Im an entrepreneuer since about 15 Jears now. And I’m in a phase where the change mode is active… Your whole material is inspiring and helps me to keep my head up. Hope it lasts until I’m at the point to start my first launch… 😉

    Thanks a lot and have a great 2017!
    Christian

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