{"id":77010,"date":"2019-07-16T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=77010"},"modified":"2023-08-11T13:48:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T19:48:33","slug":"2016-02-22-get-lucky-business-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2016-02-22-get-lucky-business-life","title":{"rendered":"3 Habits of Incredibly Lucky People (For Better Fortune in Business &#038; Life!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n      <iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=BIGPOC2355892841\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\r\n  \n\n\n\n<p>What makes someone successful?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skill? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talent? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right place, right time? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What if I told you that I believe \u201cluck\u201d is one of the most important traits. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crazy, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hear me out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems that many of the most successful people of all time attribute their success at least partially to \u201cluck,\u201d to being \u201cblessed,\u201d or to having great fortune in one or many key parts of their lives or businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And they are right!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key connections, funding, inspiration, and breakthroughs often come about by chance, rather than through the direct planning or efforts that we take to get there. In fact, luck is defined as \u201csuccess or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one\u2019s own actions.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you can\u2019t predict luck\u2014and you can\u2019t predict whether any given event will have a positive, negative, or negligible impact on your life or business\u2014you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> improve your \u201cchances\u201d of getting lucky. You can do this in three ways:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can increase your ability to recognize those events that will make you lucky versus those events that will have no impact or negative impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can increase the frequency with which you expose yourself to people\/situations likely to produce a lucky outcome.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can increase the ability of others to bring luck to you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the BiggerPockets resident expert on luck, I\u2019ll talk about the ways that I believe I have set myself up to experience lucky outcomes\u2014and how you can do the same. I believe that this can be achieved by following these three simple steps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/business-tips.jpg\" alt=\"business-tips\" width=\"702\" height=\"336\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/business-tips.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/business-tips-300x144.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step #1: Be Able to Recognize Luck<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does one recognize luck? A stroke of good fortune is not always readily obvious to the casual observer. In fact, it\u2019s possible that an opportunity that others could only dream of has been dangling in front of you your whole life\u2014or is sitting right next to you right now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem with most people is that they are unable to see how lucky they are because they have no goals, no vision, no plan, and no dreams, at least none that they can clearly articulate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have a clear goal, then you will probably not be getting lucky, and the rest of this article will be of no help to you.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have a goal? A plan? A passion? If not, how on earth will you be able to tell when that key connection comes into your life, when that key event comes to your town, or when an opportunity with a key organization appears before you?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2016\/02\/16\/10-build-network\/\" target=\"_blank\">10 Simple Actions to Substantially Build Your Network \u2014 Starting Today!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a personal example: My goal is to increase the size and scale of my portfolio and to build passive cash flow and wealth in the form of appreciating equity in rental properties. I want to do this in Denver, CO, and I am willing to hustle for it, plan for it, and grab any opportunity I can to work towards my goal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My stated goal means that every time I come across other investors that do real estate here in Denver, and I have the opportunity to pick their brains, I get lucky. This would not be a fortunate event for someone with a different goal; if I wanted to be the next big country music star, a Denver real estate connection is not a lucky meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an aside, I did have the chance to meet Taylor Swift\u2019s little brother once. If I were an aspiring country singer, that might have been very lucky! Because that is not an aspiration of mine, however, the fact that I had this chance meeting is at best mildly interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If I had no goals, then neither meeting Taylor Swift\u2019s brother nor meeting real estate investors would be lucky.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s look at some of the places where I\u2019ve met key real estate connections\u2014through my employer BiggerPockets, while going for a run in the park, and even through my rugby team (yep, rugby players are sometimes big shot investors, too!). In fact, all three of those sources have provided absolutely critical connections in helping me succeed in real estate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was able to recognize luck, and the moment that I realized that an individual was an investor or interested in real estate, I was able to identify them as a connection that I wanted to be more involved with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people wouldn\u2019t expect a chance meeting in a park or their social sports team to provide key connections, and I didn\u2019t either. I certainly had no intention of meeting investors through those activities. The point I\u2019m trying to make here is that these things <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wouldn\u2019t<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have provided these lucky connections if I didn\u2019t have the goal of investing and building a real estate business in the first place!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If I did not have that written, clear, dedicated goal set firmly in my head, a chance meeting with a real estate investor would not be a lucky event for me. Nothing would have come from these connections that would further my goal, and I\u2019d be another unlucky guy!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason I feel that I am fairly lucky is because I know exactly what I want to do with my life over the short-medium term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This makes spotting luck very easy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you don\u2019t have any goals and aren\u2019t sure what you want to do with your life, how on earth are you going to even know when you are getting lucky? You have no \u201cchance\u201d at good fortune because you don\u2019t even know what good fortune looks like.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73562\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/real-estate-networking.jpg\" alt=\"real-estate-networking\" width=\"702\" height=\"331\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/real-estate-networking.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/real-estate-networking-300x141.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step #2: Put Yourself in a Position to Get Lucky<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though I\u2019ve experimented with it many times, I have yet to get lucky with a connection, bit of inspiration, or fortunate business development whilst watching Netflix or TV or while playing video games. It seems that hanging out in your apartment by yourself, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> working towards a goal is a behavior that is unlikely to produce a lucky outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll let you know if that ever changes for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, most of my luck comes when I spend my leisure and free time meeting with people, having conversations with strangers, attending events, and joining organizations that I am passionate about. When I position myself out in the world with at least the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chance<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of meeting other people, when other people are at least <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">around<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, that\u2019s when I tend to get at least a little bit lucky.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I actually go a step further, though, and try to put myself in positions where I am <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> only around random people, but instead am around very targeted people who can help me with my goals. This has thus far produced even <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more luck<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than hanging around in places where random strangers who&nbsp;are unlikely to be interested in real estate congregate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2015\/01\/07\/use-biggerpockets-become-better-entrepreneur\/\" target=\"_blank\">11 Smart Ways to Use BiggerPockets to Become a Better Entrepreneur<\/a><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I meet many key connections spending time at networking events, meeting with local friends who&nbsp;like real estate, and hanging out on targeted real estate sites like BiggerPockets.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shocking, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A great example of this is when I had the meeting that I consider to be the most fortunate of my life (in the sense that it started a chain of events that led directly to the favorable circumstances of me buying my first property and gaining employment here at BiggerPockets). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was simply running my friend\u2019s little dog through the park and had stopped to take a break on a park bench. While resting, I had a conversation with an elderly gentleman who was enjoying his Saturday and the beautiful Denver weather. One thing led to another, and we began talking about investing, real estate, and entrepreneurship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This gentleman ran a weekly mastermind group with several businessmen involved in real estate here in Denver, and as a result of our conversation, I was invited to attend (meetings began at 6:00 a.m. once a month on Thursdays).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wow! How lucky is that? This is luck, by the way, produced from just hanging out somewhere with other people\u2014a random, yet happy chance occurrence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the first meeting, I met with every single member of the group one on one for lunch, my treat. At one of those lunches, I toured the businessman\u2019s shared co-working space and ran into Joshua Dorkin, host of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/podcast\" target=\"_blank\">my favorite podcast<\/a> (a real estate investing podcast, of course).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wow! How lucky is that? This luck, by the way, is a little bit more targeted. I had chosen to go to a mastermind group that was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">very<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> likely to be influential in helping me with my goals. It\u2019s no stretch of imagination that I met other interesting entrepreneurs while getting lunch with these folks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I told Josh how much I loved his show, and because I felt that I would have exposure to more opportunity to achieve my goals by being a part of the BiggerPockets real estate investing world, I offered to work for him in any capacity he had available, after hours at my current job, and I told him that I\u2019d do it for free. He declined, but offered me a full-time position the following week instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I now spend my days building a real estate community, learning the ins and outs of website development, business development, and of course, real estate investing and personal finance.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wow! How lucky is that?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I do believe that very few people will experience this kind of luck back to back to back. That\u2019s probably unrealistic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I also believe that by simply putting yourself in a position where a lucky meeting or event is highly likely, or at least possible, you can get a little bit luckier than you have been in the past. I didn\u2019t meet Josh while sitting in my cubicle at my old finance job eating a sandwich at my desk. I did, however, meet him during lunch\u2014after traveling across town to meet with real estate investors and spend that time productively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, positioning yourself to get lucky is only possible if you have mastered step one above, defined your goals, and have the ability to both recognize luck and put yourself in a position where the odds of having positive chance events happening are excellent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76794\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/real-property.jpg\" alt=\"real-property\" width=\"702\" height=\"336\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/real-property.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/real-property-300x144.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step #3: Tell the World About Your Goals Early and Often<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe I\u2019m a naive optimist, but it seems to me that it is quite a bit more difficult to create luck by holding your cards close to the chest, rather than letting everyone know your ambitions and aspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EVERYBODY I talk to knows I work in real estate. I talk about it to people that I\u2019ve met at real estate networking events, to friends, to family, to random strangers I meet at the park, and I even talk about it to people who are not even remotely close to being in a position to buy real estate or help me with buying real estate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is this annoying? Probably.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it also brings me opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A great example of this is my rugby team. This great group of guys is well aware of my tendency to get enthusiastically carried away with real estate discussions. Many of these players have other interests in life and are not inclined to be interested in my lengthy discussions of Denver real estate. In fact, I was actually \u201caccused\u201d at a recent mock trial of crimes against the team for \u201cincessantly and relentlessly talking about real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2015\/12\/28\/4-toxic-habits-sabotage-promising-investors\/\" target=\"_blank\">4 Toxic Habits That Sabotage Even the Most Promising New Investors<\/a><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was unanimously declared guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But guess what? I met a multimillionaire real estate investor who&nbsp;used to play for my team because of talks like that. He gave me some incredible advice, which I was able to apply immediately to my investing strategy. This included access to information that I had not thought to take advantage of previously, a clearer grasp on the local market conditions, and even some insight into the state of the local commercial real estate market. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am extremely lucky to be able to pick this investor\u2019s brain when facing big, strategic decisions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, if I didn\u2019t tell anyone about my professional and real estate goals and kept my cards close to my&nbsp;chest, that opportunity (and others like it, including my meeting with the gentleman at the park, described earlier) might never have materialized. I would have never known he invested in real estate, and he would have never known about my aspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, I\u2019d have been out of luck. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many smart people believe telling the world what you are doing, spilling your secrets, sharing numbers, and telling others about your best practices is a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bad<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plan. They believe this because they think it encourages competition and allows others to copy, mimic, and take away their patented systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that\u2019s baloney. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sure, some of the folks that I talk to about Denver real estate might develop into competitors and bid on properties that I would want to buy. That\u2019s entirely possible, and perhaps even likely, as I continue to share my strategy with other local investors. However, I believe that the opportunities that this brings to me in staying on top of the market and finding deals that I might not find through other channels vastly outweigh the competition and copycats out there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems to me that guarding corporate or business secrets is at best a short-term play. Sure, you can eek a little more cash flow out of your current business model, but what about next decade when it comes time to adapt? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe then you\u2019ll <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">want<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to hear from others and open the door for them to help you, your business, or your vision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t let the fear of others taking advantage of you get in the way of the many, many more folks out there who&nbsp;are happy, willing, and able to help you achieve your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/people-in-life.jpg\" alt=\"people-in-life\" width=\"702\" height=\"336\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/people-in-life.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/people-in-life-300x144.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luck is real. I believe in it, and I &nbsp;believe that I have been extremely blessed in the good fortune that has blown my way thus far in life. But I also believe that I am perhaps luckier than most because I am better than most at recognizing luck, putting myself in position to get lucky, and inviting the whole world to point luck in my direction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/store\/set-for-life-paperback-ultimate\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-94633\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/financial-freedom-book-ad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"130\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/financial-freedom-book-ad.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/financial-freedom-book-ad-300x49.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/financial-freedom-book-ad-768x125.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you lucky? After reading this, do you feel empowered or hopeful that you can bring more luck into your own life?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! <\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever heard that &#8220;you make your own luck&#8221;? Get advice here on how to STOP waiting for luck to find you\u2014and how to start creating your own good fortune!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1676,"featured_media":113265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-development","category-biggerpockets-daily"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}