Just Lucky I Guess – Kitchen Table Talks

I love luck. I am lucky every single day. So much of what I was given–was just a draw of the cards, but what I do with it….well that's hard work but I'm lucky that I love it!

And I bet your family belongs somewhere on that list of what you do to “earn your luck.” Or were you just very lucky and your spouse does the hard work, here????

Kb

Chris, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be—as are we all. Last night I attended an event where Nick Vujicic spoke (the motivational speaker born without limbs). He’s where he’s supposed to be too. Thanks for everything you do to inspire us, and to encourage us to be where WE want to be.

Luck to me is when 'preparation' crosses paths with 'opportunity'. If you have opportunity but are not ready, you lose.

If people understood that definition and applied it, maybe they would be “Lucky” too…

Chris, while I agree that a critical ingredient to success is hard work, I believe that it is a bit arrogant not to acknowledge that luck plays a role in success. I don't mean to diminish your hard work but there are many smart, tireless workers whose hard work did not lead to serendipity. “You're lucky” is probably the wrong way to look at your success but to deny luck is to diminish the value of the hard work of others who have not achieved the level of success that you have — many people work just as hard as you. Do you really deny that luck has played a role in your success?

Great post. Sadly, those who don't “get” what you're saying will continue to call you… LUCKY.

it's definitely true that the harder you work, the luckier you get! People's misplaced focus allows them to deflect from the their own fear and laziness. I look forward to seeing more on Third Tribe.

I'm less lucky in that regard than other people. I tend to feel things a bit deeper, so tend to comment.

I've seen Nick's videos. Did you have some fun there? Was he good?

Interesting. So, how much luck should I attribute? You're the first person to call me arrogant because I cite hard work over luck. I'm curious your take on that.

All right. You're right about that little dusting of luck. To deny ANY luck would be bad. : )

Love this Chris! I wrote a past post on “overnight success” and how it usually takes years of hard work. Thanks for sharing and keeping us focused on what it really takes.

It takes more work to make things seem “simple” or appear effortless. You do a great job at this!

As a book publicist folks tell me how easy it looks, saying “I could do that.” And well they could! It just takes time, work and tenacity. Did I mention creativity? Thanks for addressing this issue, Chris.

PS. Seeing you speaking from a car reminds me of Black Cab Sessions. One song. One take. One cab. Totally cool. http://www.blackcabsessions.com

Great video, Chris. The thing that struck me as funny here is that someone said how you're so lucky because people send you books. The barrier of entry for review copies from publishers is exceedingly low (as it should be, for the most part).

If the person asking this had a blog that was regularly updated (and I mean once a week, even), there is a fair chance that a publisher would send them a review copy for a book they were legitimately interested in and promised a review of.

Thanks,

Patrick

Indeed, let them eat toast…

I think you're right. There's a sprinkling in there, and bad of me.

Wow. I'm verklempt….Talk amongst yourselves….while I gather myself.
Your video has me in a tailspin. It hits very close to home.
My peers consider me 'lucky.' From now on, I'm going to use the line “What are you not sacrificing that I am?”

Opportunities are always present. The difference is whether you are ready to take action or not. When looking from the outside in, people only see a small part of the whole picture and are quick to make judgments. It is similar to an iceberg, only seeing the 30% above water and missing the 70% below water. For those of us who appear to be “lucky” there is a lot going on behind the scenes to get to the next level of success. As you pointed out with the daily tasks you do, it takes inspiration, strategy and implementation. Instead of waiting for opportunities to appear, I am creating my own opportunities for success.

Hey “Mr. Lucky”

I love what you do and it's obvious to me all your hard work is more than just pure luck! Keep up the great work and we (your audience) will be the lucky ones! Thanks for sharing this today as I'm striving to get to that lucky stage too one day!

I've found those who are considered “lucky” are the ones who create their own “luck”

Great Post Chris. I am one of the many who has been taking and taking from you without commenting back. I run a Personal Training business in Phoenix and it is because of you that I blog. Due to economics a lot of my fellow trainers have had to find a different career path. My business stays steady. What most people don't see is that I like others who are successful at running their own gig eat, sleep and breathe my work.

Lucky?? I've heard that too. But most people aren't waking up with me at 4:10 am to be ready for a 5:30 appt and then not walking back in the door until 7pm. Day after day.

Anyone that subscribes to your site knows how much info you put out on any given week. Sometimes I wonder how you have the time. Lucky??

In your words. “Thanks for doing good work”

i felt so bad seeing this video that i want to apologize to you if i said anything on the other post that made you feel crummy.

the message here is great though – in my circles of the electronic music world – a space that is really crowded at the moment, it is quite negative. too many people are sitting around complaining about what happened to the industry, and not working hard enough to make it better.

Chris –

As usual you have shared something valuable with me and all your readers today. More than any other of your videos I've watched, this one does much more than share information and facts with your followers. Here you have opened yourself and shown your incredible commitment to what you do. You have the passion about your work that everyone dreams of finding.

Clear, articulate, and from the heart. You share much more than your ideas, you are also willing to share your feelings. This quality, when added to the list of what makes you 'lucky' is the key to building trust.

I'm not offended; it takes a lot to do that. I guess my read was accurate.

It easy to dwell on the negative aspects of the conversations we get ourselves into. You may not need this advice, but I hope this was therapeutic for you and you can put it to rest for yourself and focus on more positive things, because they people that feel that everyone who has more success than they are “lucky” are not likely to change their worldview.

Sometimes success still just “happens.” But it is also true that the harder we work, the luckier we get.

Case in point: A recent Chris Brogan Kitchen Table Talk at AJ Bombers has caused the owner of that restaurant to be the focus of a huge national viral buzz that is already reaping a huge benefits for him. The irony was that Chris' visit to town created more buzz for AJ Bombers than it did for the local agency that worked hard and paid the money to bring Chris to town.

The owner of AJ Bombers obviously has worked his butt off to make his place successful. Huge effort went into building up the huge following in the Social Media community that convinced Chris to come in and see what the buzz was about. But if Chris Brogan wasn't in Milwaukee that day, that never would have happened.

J. Paul Getty said the secret to success was to 1.) rise early, 2.) work hard and 3.) strike oil. The truth is that guys like Chris Brogan and Joe Sorge of AJ Bombers have managed to do all three.

Because they've done the first two, they should not feel they have to apologize for the fact that number three played a huge part as well. When luck happens, it's only luck because preparation happened before and effort turned chance opportunity into success.

+1 for Jamie's assessment. Chris, you should know by now that “your'e so lucky” is a euphemism for “I'm super jealous of what you're accomplishing”. Don't let the .0001% of your readership influence what you post. There are always gonna be jealous snipers out there. The vast majority of your readers observe that your hard work is self-evident and seek to emulate that behavior. Cater to them. As Warren Buffet would say, focus on your “inner scorecard” and don't let the “outer scorecard” compromise your (typically stellar) product.