“YOU ARE JUST LUCKY!”
This is a comment that some people always seem to make whenever they read about my success story. Some people will always go on to say… I can ever be as successful as you because I am not as lucky. I am not so lucky to have your talent for speaking and writing. I am not so lucky to have such great partners like you do to help you build your business. I am not so lucky to have gone for NLP courses when I was young etc.
After listening to these comments again and again, I decided to really ponder and reflect if it is really because I was just LUCKY. Is what they say true? Did luck have a big part to play in my achievements? Hmmm
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that there are two kinds of luck that have played a part in my life. #1 The Luck of where and when we are born and #2 the luck we experience after birth, during our life’s journey.
#1 The Lucky Birth
I must admit that I was born pretty lucky. I was born in a country where there are equal opportunities regardless of race/religion. I was born with a healthy body with 5 fingers and 5 toes. I was born with two parents who had the means to send me to school camp, give me 3 meals a day and provide shelter for me.
I figured that no matter where you are in life, there are always going to be people luckier than you are and people less lucky. I can always bitch and complain that I was not born with the looks and talent of Robbie Williams & Brad Pitt (or in a girl’s case, Britney Spears) or the money and political connections like the son of a tycoon or politician. If only I could be the son of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Lee Kwan Yew, Ong Beng Seng, Khoo, Ng Teng Fong or KHOO Teck Puat (unfortunately, not related to me).
At the same time, no matter how unlucky you think you are, there are millions more who are less lucky. There are people born in third world, impoverished countries with no food or water. With no money to buy clothes, let alone go to school. There are millions more with illnesses and disabilities. There are so many born with no parents, abused and neglected.
So, I learnt to really be grateful with wherever I am right now.
#2 Luck That Comes Along in Life
Then of course we have the luck that comes to us in our journey of life. Indeed, I was very lucky that at age 13, I picked up the book ‘Unlimited Power’ written by Anthony Robbins that introduced me to the world of success psychology and NLP (Neuro-Lingusitic Programming). It was that book that made me want to attend motivational camp for teenagers malaysia courses and NLP courses when I was a teen.
Without that knowledge, I would not have been able to totally transform myself from a lazy person and lousy student to a super confident and top student. I would just be another ordinary person today. So I was LUCKY that that event happened in my life.
But then again, I know many other people who attend the same motivational courses and read inspiring self-development books but they never used it to change their life and become successful. So, in other words, an event can only be lucky for you IF YOU TAKE ACTION on it.
I came up with this formula:
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
Yes, reading the books and attending the courses was the OPPORTUNITY. But, without me taking action and applying it (which many others did not), the luck would not have happened.
Creating Opportunity
Some people may say that life never gives them any opportunity at all, so they can never be lucky.
I believe opportunities are out there every single day. They come and go very quickly. The trouble is that many people NEVER SEE those opportunities. The reason is because opportunities never look like opportunities. Opportunities always come DISGUISED as PROBLEMS.
For example, the opportunity came for me to learn NLP as a teen because I was a lazy, unmotivated slow learner who got kicked out of school in Primary 3 and was rejected by 6 secondary schools. It was because I was such a lousy student that made me want to change my life and learn the strategies for success.
The opportunity came because of a problem. It was this same problem of being a lousy student before that gave me the opportunity to write my best-selling book ‘I Am Gifted, So Are You!’ to inspire ordinary students to become top achievers. If not for my problem, I could not have the opportunity to write such an inspiring book and create my famous I Am Gifted!™ school holiday programme and the best holiday camp for students.
Nick Vujicic (who I talked about in my earlier post) had the opportunity to speak to and inspire millions of people BECAUSE he had a huge ‘problem’. He was born with no arms and no legs. He turned his ‘problem’ into an ‘opportunity’. Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computers) had the great opportunity to start Pixar Animation studios and create the revolutionary iPod, iMacs and iPhones because he was earlier fired from Apple. The problem of being fired gave Steve the opportunity to start a new company (Pixar and NeXT) and innovate these groundbreaking new products!
So, do not fear problems. Problems are nothing but opportunities in disguise. Recognize them and turn them into luck.
No Opportunities? Create Them!
Even if there are really no opportunities given to you, then create your OWN opportunities. If your boss does not offer you a promotion, ask for one! If you don’t get it even if you deserve it, start your own business or work for a better company. If the woman/man of your dreams does not approach you, go out there and meet people!
People have asked me where I first got the opportunity to start speaking and training, thereby building these skills over the years. The truth is NO ONE gave me the opportunity when I was 21 (when I first started). No body wanted to hear me talk. I had no experience, no degree and no credibility. So I created my own opportunity by writing books to build my name and gave free talks to community centres, 21st century teaching, participated in school camp and churches until I became a speaker.
You Need to Prepare to Be Lucky
“The harder you work, the luckier you get.†Gary Player, Former Top Ranked Golfer.
Some people say that President Obama was lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Because former President George Bush screwed up so badly, Americans wanted total change and were willing to vote for him (a young, African American President instead of an experienced white one).
However for Obama to have taken advantage of the OPPORTUNITY and TAKE ACTION, he had to be PREPARED. He had to have all the knowledge and skills to do the job. It took him 40+ years to prepare himself to be lucky. If you know his life story, he set the goal of become the US President at the age of 5, when he was studying in Jakarta. Since then he studied very hard, took on leadership roles, volunteered for community service, went to Columbia University and Harvard University where he studied Politics, International Relations and Law.
This is why …
LUCK = OPPORTUNITY + PREPARATION + ACTION
If you do not constantly prepare yourself by building your knowledge and skills through reading and attending regular courses, you can NEVER be lucky. People say I was very lucky to have bought stocks during the financial crisis that allowed me to make lots of money when the stock market recovered.
Again, to many people, the financial crisis seemed to be a PROBLEM. I saw it as the greatest investment OPPORTUNITY and took ACTION by investing and writing the best selling book ‘Profit from the Panic’. Again, I was lucky because I was PREPARED to invest. It took me many many years to learn the strategies of finance and investing to create my luck
So, start making your own LUCK today by looking out from problems and see them as opportunities. Keep building your knowledge and skills by taking courses of 21st century (leadership), wealth creation, public speaking, sales etc.. Finally, take action!
P.S. I conduct the PATTERNS OF EXCELLENCE and youth programs in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia where I personally coach people in using NLP to transform their lives and create extraordinary success.
Adam,
When will your Pattern of Excellence be held in jakarta?
And.. who should I contact for the information?
Thanks for your post. Strongly agree with “LUCK = OPPORTUNITY PREPARATION ACTION”. See you at the TOP!
Hi Mr. Adam Khoo,
I have just taken part in “I am gifted, so you are” in Vietnam and also have just failed from training coach too. I felt really sorrow and disappointed in myself cause I am not good enough to help others.
Your blog really inspires me a lot, and I really feel moving with your advices. When I read “Nurturing The Winner & Genius In Your Child†which was written by you and Mr. Lee, my first thought is : GREAT, that the way coach is .I really impressed by you and your partner abilities, it makes me do harder and want to be better.
I will train coach again; sincerely I want to be someone GREAT like you. In stead of waiting for a miracle why don’t you be a miracle? That the great thing I learn from Kenny Tran.
I am not very self confident in my English so I will practice more.
Last but not least, I wish you are always in a pink of health and I am looking forward to your trip to Vietnam. See you soon and thanks a lot.
oh Adam,tnx much.Ur book has changed my thinking.Now,i am trying to get a scholarship in UK.I decided to give up YM to spend more time to learn for my dream
Do u believe that i can make my dream come true?
Any dream can come through if you take massive action and never quit
By reading the mail,I am feeling motivated & gives me a huge morale for me in attaining my dreams.
Hi Adam,
Your writing is so easy to understand. Thanks for your sharing useful articles. I admire what you have done in your life. Of course, I’d like to be like you and I know that is very very hard. I really expect you continue to share your thinking here as a motivational source to make me have full-energy in life.
Once again, thanks so much.
Hi, Mr.Adam
Thxs for your advise, Everyone can be Lucky, if we do thing and Act that makes close to the Success, Integrities, Consisten & Diciplin.
I think that some of the reasons that we can Do.
Any way, Thanks A lot.
I want to add one thing. I think we need to feel good in order to attract like. Positive people attracts positive things in life =)
hi..my lecture told me about u..so i search on the net..and i found this website..i really interested about NLP..i must believe that i can do..u inspired me to achieve my dream in my life…
Hi Adam,
I’m creating a blog to introduce your books and some great posts of you. I hope you don’t angry if I use your information ^^ Thanks a lot.
The ultimate get rich quick scheme is to write a get rich quick book. The writer won’t mention this fact.
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Great!