do not miss the step by step too…

Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. And, like when you just bought a given type of car, you just notice them all over the streets. Same happens to opportunities showing up when you are prepared.

So, this all comes down to the concept of motivation, something that has always captured my interest. From the works of Alan Weiss, I think that his pragmatic way of looking at self esteem is the best usable (for me).

So, with good self-esteem, you are okay to go for attempting new « stuff. » « Stuff » is specific to your kind of person. I am never going to start collecting anything resembling stamps for example.

This in turn requires the application of skills. If you are secure enough in your abilities, the you know what your range of possibility is, and will probably succeed.

Then, this raises the question of success. Success and failure are better looked as outcomes and failure is an outcome you didn’t wanted. Either way you have learned.

As you may have seen from my Seligman 24-Strengths test, my #1 is Creativity « Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible. « . The #2 being Love of learning « You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn. »

I am not going to say that my perspective is working for everybody but it is for me, since it is building on my 2 top strengths.

So, whatever happens, I am quite often able to turn the outcome into a learning experience. And that is considered as a positive outcome. (Reframing in action.) Which in turn got me curious about new ways to do things. Like magic, opportunies showed up. Talk about luck.

So, application of skill giving results, making people eager to learn more because of the positive feedback loop. And getting results is building the self-esteem.

Back to the preparedness and willingness, there may be some brainwashing techniques applied. The move you drill someone in the army for example (even if they do not like it), they just build the muscle memory. Doing more of the same thing, even with a gun pointed to your head if we want to go the extreme, will lead to the acquisition of skill. You may just be disgusted, but you will learn. I was forced to learn how to play classic guitar. I hate it. But I can do it. If I was brainwashed enough, I could even start believing I like it.
This would create a false self. That may blow into pieces when hit at the right place. So, in an ethical and respectful setting, preparedness and willingness are ok. But in other settings, things may be a bit harder to achieve.

More to come. Gotta go now.