Why Luck Rarely Translates to Long-Term Success
People just love hitting the lotto.
It gets their endorphins going. Their adrenaline begins pumping. It truly is a remarkable feeling to “hit the jackpot.”
However, those feel-good feelings wear off rather quickly, and you’re stuck trying to recreate that same dream scenario forever.
It’s funny, but a lot of us feel like life is supposed to be the same way. To some, we’re just biding our time, waiting for that one massive opportunity that is going to launch us into the stratosphere.
It’s going to be our one big ticket into the big-time.
Sadly, it usually doesn’t work that way. It takes 10 years of hard work and dedication to your craft to become an overnight success. It takes elite performers an average of 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in their field. How can we expect to enjoy a meteoric rise in success when we haven’t put in a consistent, deliberate effort over time?
If you have this “same-day shipping” mentality… I can totally relate.
With the ability to get what you want so quickly (instantly, for most digital products and services), it’s easy to get caught up and think that everything works this way.
We think life is going to hand us success nearly instantly.
For me, I’ve nearly always felt this way about my career and my business. I somehow thought that I was different. I thought that I could reach certain career and business goals faster than anyone else.
I thought I was going to be successful through one lucky break. I just needed to be patient and wait.
Now, I have a different mentality. I know now that true success is the result of deliberate, continuous efforts.
Here’s why that “lucky” mentality doesn’t work out:
1. You won’t appreciate it. When you’ve put in the hours, the effort, and the consistency, it feels even more rewarding when you see the results of those actions. You also have much more experience, and have developed the work ethic to sustain that success over the long run. On the other hand, it’s much easier to lose something that you never really worked hard for in the first place.
2. It will likely be short-lived. Remember all of those one-hit wonders on YouTube? Yeah, me neither. They failed to capitalize on their success because they captured lightning in a bottle, but couldn’t reproduce it. Without the skills to stay relevant, your moment in the spotlight will likely be short.
3. You think that’s how it will always be. With achieving success that fast, you don’t really learn anything, and you’ll likely assume that how things will always be. You may completely ignore dangerous risks because of hubris or the one previous experience that got you to where you are.
The best way to achieve continual success is through my Limitless Success Method, a 3 step process that includes renewing your thoughts, words and actions towards your vision of success in life. Get more details (and a free copy of my book + bonuses) here.
And if you do happen upon a bit of luck, understand this: Enjoy it, but do your best to make it last. Lightning usually doesn’t strike the same place twice.
