"Good luck!" What does that mean? Is the person doubting my talents, and hoping my expectations are met by some completely random occurrence? Do they think my life is such shambles that without luck, I am screwed? Why do I want luck?
What is luck? When someone wins a lottery, they are referred to as "lucky". A lottery doesn't require luck, it requires randomness, and a poor understanding of math. A lottery is a tax on people who slept through math class. Sometimes bad luck is mistaken as a simple case of being real stupid.
So why do some people have all the "luck", while others don't? Think of the people in your life who you consider lucky. Then consider why you think they are lucky. It is usually based on the person's position in life - their family stability, happiness, career, home, and activities. These attributes that make you think they are "lucky" may not have any basis in luck, and they are rarely tied to the abundance of money.
When you start peeling the layers of these people, you will probably see that these "lucky" people have a plan with goals, focus on the plan, put effort into attaining their goals, and make sound rational decisions. As a result, they have an optimistic view of the future, where they have a clear vision of what they want the future to look like. They continuously assess their life plan, and adjust it as needed.
We started to get lucky about 10 years ago. We sat down and discussed and documented what we wanted retirement to look like. We then talked about where we wanted to be in 20 years, 10 years, 5 years, and 1 year. This discussion wasn't easy, and required us to redo our long term plans as we faced received the cold slap of the short term realities. Even though it wasn't an easy discussion, the outcome of the meetings were that we had more confidence in our future. So the planning went beyond just counting our money, it forced us to ponder our future, and the fact that neither of us would get out of this world alive.
Since that first planning session, we have revisited our plan annually. We change it every time we review it. It is the process of this planning that has provided us the focus to achieve our goals. Our lives have improved dramatically since we started this process.
There are no guarantees in life, our planning could all fall apart tomorrow. But the peace of mind we have NOW, is the value of the planning process. Don't let life sneak up on you, and don't trust in luck alone. Luck backed up by a plan will have a much better likelihood of providing you with a better life than just luck alone.
So go forth and plan, and good luck! Oh, I mean good planning!
What is luck? When someone wins a lottery, they are referred to as "lucky". A lottery doesn't require luck, it requires randomness, and a poor understanding of math. A lottery is a tax on people who slept through math class. Sometimes bad luck is mistaken as a simple case of being real stupid.
So why do some people have all the "luck", while others don't? Think of the people in your life who you consider lucky. Then consider why you think they are lucky. It is usually based on the person's position in life - their family stability, happiness, career, home, and activities. These attributes that make you think they are "lucky" may not have any basis in luck, and they are rarely tied to the abundance of money.
When you start peeling the layers of these people, you will probably see that these "lucky" people have a plan with goals, focus on the plan, put effort into attaining their goals, and make sound rational decisions. As a result, they have an optimistic view of the future, where they have a clear vision of what they want the future to look like. They continuously assess their life plan, and adjust it as needed.
We started to get lucky about 10 years ago. We sat down and discussed and documented what we wanted retirement to look like. We then talked about where we wanted to be in 20 years, 10 years, 5 years, and 1 year. This discussion wasn't easy, and required us to redo our long term plans as we faced received the cold slap of the short term realities. Even though it wasn't an easy discussion, the outcome of the meetings were that we had more confidence in our future. So the planning went beyond just counting our money, it forced us to ponder our future, and the fact that neither of us would get out of this world alive.
Since that first planning session, we have revisited our plan annually. We change it every time we review it. It is the process of this planning that has provided us the focus to achieve our goals. Our lives have improved dramatically since we started this process.
There are no guarantees in life, our planning could all fall apart tomorrow. But the peace of mind we have NOW, is the value of the planning process. Don't let life sneak up on you, and don't trust in luck alone. Luck backed up by a plan will have a much better likelihood of providing you with a better life than just luck alone.
So go forth and plan, and good luck! Oh, I mean good planning!
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