I love short and impactful proverbs and in that, Latin proverbs hold a very special place. One of my favourites being:
Fortis fortuna adiuvat – Fortune favors the brave
The book, Make your Own Luck is based on the same principle.
We have all witnessed living legends who are neither born into families with ancestral riches nor they have fancy degrees on their names and yet, they run successful multi-billion dollar businesses.
How do they do it? Pure skills? Or just good timing and a stroke of luck? Does luck even play a role in it? Do you even believe in LUCK?
Achieving remarkable success in life is not necessarily about being born lucky.
Make Your Own Luck
This book helps demystify this Luck Factor.
About the authors
Bob Miglani, from growing in a very humble Indian village – Rampur to turning into the #1 sales rep for Pfizer and Rehan Khan, from failing in his career as an entrepreneur to angel investing in Ola and multiple other successful startups talk about their experiences and how we could leverage their learnings into turning our luck into our favor.
The book elaborates on what the authors have termed them as “Luck Accelerators”. The book mentions of seven luck accelerators which if adopted whole heartedly, have the potential to bend your luck per your liking. The seven luck accelerators as mentioned in the book are:
- Be obsessively curious
- Give. Create value. Solve a problem for others
- Diverge. Take the road less travelled
- Have a beginner’s mindset. Listen to the critics. Be open minded
- Do what is hard
- Practise randomness
- Have multiple plan ‘A’s. Always be Experimenting
Five pointers I took away from this book:
- Develop curiosity
The authors stress the importance of curiosity and the role it plays in creating and attracting opportunities. Learning for having a deeper understanding of a subject and not for the sake of just short term gains helps us to create a wealth of opportunities in the long run. When one immerses themselves in a particular area, they automatically start noticing the missing blocks of the puzzle and try to figure out the potential solutions for the same. This stands true not only in the world of startups but also in the corporate world. It is just about finding that one particular field/area of your interest which spikes your curiosity like none other. Or like the trait of any HNWI, just be curious in general for all thing around you. - Give and you shall receive
I have come across this statement in quite a few self-help books that I have read. Every book boiled down to this fact – When you give, you do receive back from the universe.
However, the returns that you receive may not be linear as one would normally expect but you certainly receive back from the universe in some or the other form. The authors have defined the phenomenon beautifully in the book. It reads:
“Give without expecting anything in return.
But how does this apply to accelerating luck in the world of startups or a corporate career? The answer lies not in the stars but something down to Earth: Relationships.
The way you work with people matters immensely. And people have problems, desires, wants and needs. By helping other people solve their problems using your gifts, talents, resources or ideas, you create value. That value didn’t exist before you created it.
Helping to create value in relationships is one of the most important aspects for accelerating growth.“ - Find your niche
Lovely lines that stood out in the book:
“There is a temptation you must resist on your journey to success. Whether you are trying to excel in your corporate career or trying to break out into building your brand through your startup, you must fight the allure of following the herd.”
By developing a niche, we resist ourselves from competing in already crowded markets. By narrowing our efforts in a particular area we can focus more in-depth on the needs, desires and the problem which may ultimately help us to serve the customer base better. - “Shoshin”
“Shoshin” is a powerful term that is stemmed from Zen Buddhism. The translation of the word is quite simple but has a profound impact on one’s ability to boost success. It means “Beginner’s mind“. It is referred to as “Having an attitude of openness, eagerness and lack of preconceptions in the study of a subject even studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would”.
For team leaders and business owners, it is of utmost importance to have a friendly atmosphere within a team when it comes to asking questions and doubts. As for the learners, we must fight the urge to reject criticism or objections. Focus on what was said rather than who said it, listen, understand and then ask others for their opinions and insights. - The Moat makes the difference
Moat – A deep wide ditch surrounding a castle or a fort typically filled with water and intended as a defence against attack. The most impactful point in the book was about the importance of choosing the hard path. Bob Miglani writes “When you do something hard, it is difficult for most people to replace you.”
Certainly, choosing the hard path makes us get out of the comfort zone and challenge ourself which in turn creates a moat around our business/resume helping us accelerate our progress.
“Do what is hard. you learn more, grow more and put yourself in a space where luck will blossom. This is because the hard path will be full of challenges, obstacles and problems and learning how to solve those problems will grow your skills, your resiliency and your success.”
This obviously has to be practised in the right context by weighing the situation and the available paths. Nonetheless, this point has surely impacted my thought process and changed the way I looked at problems. Hope it helps you as well.
The book is packed with lessons from the authors personal lives as well along with some spicy facts on early stage investments of major startups such as Ola which makes it even more valuable. Certaily a solid self-help / motivational book.