10 of the luckiest things that have happened to me (so far) and a quick exercise to feel lucky right now.
(Originally posted on Linkedin, from March 2, 2015)
Oh, my God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to the Academy. I don’t think I’m capable of articulating quite how I feel right now. Please know this, I am fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man.”
– Eddie Redmayne, on winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, 2015
When I heard these words spoken in an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, I almost fell off my chair. What, wait…did that guy just admit that he was lucky. No way. How cool is that?!
I love success stories, especially in business. As an entrepreneur, I know how hard the journey is each and every day. Even the best of days present some challenge to the goal and you really never, ever feel like you have it all under control. Never.
It is against this backdrop that success stories really stand out. Because it’s so damn hard to be successful, I love to read about the amazing accomplishments of any entrepreneur, regardless of the size of the company they built, or how much wealth they accumulate. It’s heartening to hear the stories from the journey and gain inspiration for turning even the biggest doubts into the spirit of “I can do it” euphoria.
But once, just once, I would like to see a very simple statement that gets overlooked in just about all of these stories. I will tell you my story in very short order and see if you can spot the unusual sequence of events.