Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship pdfdrive com

~ Jean Cocteau, Director
THE DICHOTOMY: LUCK (99%) VS. PROBABILITY (1%)
L
uck. Behind the superstitious creed for losers, do-nothings, and dreamers is 
the
luck scam—the belief that life’s outcomes, both positive and negative, are primarily
dependent on fluke randomness
. If not randomness, a bipolar fairy dosed on
Prozac oversees the luck of the universe, a mystic arbiter who at a moment’s
whim decides who receives fortune and who receives coal.
While I don’t pay attention to my haters, every so often I stumble across their
drivel. Cast from the Sidewalk, the common theme in their hallucinogenic
opinions is luck. MJ got lucky! And you know what? 
They are right.
In fact, I’ve been experiencing this strange “luck” phenomenon for over
twenty years.
For instance, I was lucky when 
I chose
to study when in college as opposed to
getting trashed every weekend like my peers. I was lucky when 
I chose
not to get
a corporate job after college and instead focused on entrepreneurship. I was
lucky when 
I chose
to start, and then fail, in the supplement business, the jewelry
business, and the mortgage business. I was lucky when 
I chose
to start, and then
fail, in four network marketing schemes. I was lucky when 
I chose
to stick to my

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entrepreneurial dreams despite three more business failures thereafter. I was
lucky when 
I chose
to swallow my ego and suffer jobs more appropriate for a
high school dropout: delivering pizza, flowers, and newspapers, all while my
buddies had cushy corporate jobs. I was lucky when 
I chose
to work as a
limousine chauffeur because, just maybe, I’d like to own a limo business
someday. I was lucky when 
I chose
to read books every day about emerging
Internet technologies while camped out at airports, weddings, and drinking
holes. I was lucky when 
I chose
to do something after I spotted a need in the limo
business. I was lucky when 
I chose
to work on that business every day instead of