The four misconceptions leading to failure: “Recklessness”, “lying”, “paying” and “luck”

Well, let’s take a shot at illustrating some, otherwise, evident facts of “real life”. (Henceforth “real life” meaning something completely different and unforgivingly unforgiving compared to our “wannabe” life.)

Fact one: “Recklessness” is not an “accident”

Take a really hard look at the following educative illustration:

Now, call me a liar but didn’t you just think “accident” when you saw this? I bet you did. Well, in “real life” (as described above), this is called “recklessness”. The guy that drove this car or the guy that was driving the car opposite him or the guy that fixed the brakes or the guy in the factory assembly or ... - any of these guys did NOT just pay the necessary ATTENTION to the task at hand.

Fact two: “Lying” is not “just business”

Lying is NOT a good way to do business. It is NOT. There is a crystal clear explanation for this fact: Lying is the tool that often people use when they want to avoid unpleasant situations. What is really interesting to observe is that people who lie do it systematically. Very quickly they believe that they take the easy way to money. In fact, really easy money comes with a product or a service that offers real value to customers - the difficult part is to make such a product. Lying about the value of your product is a one-way ticket to business hell. That is mainly because lying will “eat” you alive, you will be “damned” to live in your “virtual reality” thinking you are

“the smartest of all”, until the moment the mask drops, and then you drop - big time. In fact, such a fall is already here: people that lie cannot kid … themselves. They simply know that they are liars, so, deep in their hearts, they do not respect themselves. It does not get lower than not respecting yourself.

Note: This segment is focused on lying because, lying is this little devil people tend to forgive while conducting business. That is exactly what makes it so dangerous. Luckily, the business communities (still) maintain effective reflexes for people that break off a deals, take back their word and the like.

Fact three: “Paying” is not actually “losing”

Giving is a bliss. Almost in any situation the word “giving” brings to our minds noble things like “helping”, like “offering”, like “contributing” and many more similar ones. In “real life” the art of giving brings back the equally positive impact to the giver no matter what the subject of “giving” is. And, you guessed it right, that applies when you “give” money. When you “pay” or “invest”. Sadly, most of us consider giving money as losing money. And, this is a major contributing factor for the mediocrity of most of us. Quite simply, we get to keep “our money” with us as long as possible, so money do not circulate, so business do not flourish. It is as simple as this.

And, there is (much) more: For the real business people (as an analog to “real life” described above) to take the initiative to invest in a business area is the excellent business move of being able to set the board where other people will play chess on. On your board.

And there is (much much) more: For the real business “gurus” a.k.a. “the richest people on earth” the art of giving has been the very “in” thing to do. And, please don’t tell me that these folks don’t have another zillion ways to avoid the tax office. Don’t be so naive. The human race is (still) in the healthy position to acknowledge the nobility of philanthropy. The richest guy on earth is saving millions of African kids from malaria as we speak. And he knows a bit more about wealth than any of us, don’t you think? Maybe he knows this: “the more you give the more shall you receive”

Fact four: “Luck” is not “accidental”

Luckily, (sic) Lucius Annaeus Seneca saves me on this one, as he put it excellently in his quotation: “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity”. Now, the interesting thing about this awesome (and so “real life”) statement is that we are free to replace the word “preparation” with any other word suitable to carry the burden of such a strong statement. You can replace it with “hard work”, with “smart thinking”, with “dedication” to name a few good replacements.

But even more interesting is to see the whole quote in reverse. It actually says that “luck” does not come to the “unprepared”. Without preparation there is not luck. Hence “luck”, my dear friends, is just not “accidental” (...!!!). You “awesome” and “unique” guys have to get prepared for it. You act about it and it may come! “Sitting around” waiting for “luck” just won’t do the trick.

There you have it then: “The four misconceptions leading to failure: “Recklessness”, “lying”, “giving” and “luck””.

It is time for me to go now, and for you to spend some serious time in front of your mirror.

Cheerio.