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Porus P. Munshi

Opportunities don't come knocking every time. You have to seize them when they do.

Luck has always seemed to be something coming to one from outside, from a benevolent destiny. But is it really something external, or is it a competency that we all have and miss developing on through ignorance?

I spoke to some people whom their colleagues considered to be lucky. Taking a leaf out of George Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon, I asked the lucky ones if any of them had ever won a lottery; the answer was no. Had any of them had a rich relative die and unexpectedly leave them money? Again no. Did at least 80 per cent of all that they started turn out right for them? Again the answer was no. Did a talent scout suddenly spot any of them and catapult them overnight to senior executive positions? No.

If the answer to all these questions was no, then why were these individuals considered to be lucky? Others considered them to be lucky because they seemed to move from one position to the next, from one stepping-stone to another. So, were more opportunities coming their way than were coming to others? Again, the answer is no. Opportunities seem to occur about equally between the lucky and not so lucky. The key, differentiating factor is that the lucky had a do-it-now sort of philosophy that the comparatively unlucky seemed to lack.

The lucky are those who just don't procrastinate. It seems incredible that something, we've come to believe as having been handed down by destiny or by a fairy godmother luck, is something as prosaic as lack of procrastination.

When Ali Baba went into the robbers' cave by saying `Open Sesame', he didn't procrastinate. He took the first chance he got and took it. He didn't worry too much about the consequences or wait for an auspicious day. He just said `Open Sesame' and went for it. Think of all the lucky people you know. How often do they say `Open Sesame' when they spot an opportunity and just go for it?

One person I know often says, with sagging shoulders and down-turned mouth, I have just no luck. And I happen to know that this person throughout his life has consistently turned down or lost through procrastination all the offers and opportunities that have come to him. He has just not wanted to step out of his comfort zone and has either turned down or delayed deciding on anything that seemed even a bit risky or unusual. And at the end of it all, he says, I have no luck. How can he get lucky when he never says `Open Sesame'?

Ironically, this person just does not procrastinate when it comes to his day-to-day affairs. He's a very organised and seemingly proactive person who finishes every item on his daily to-do list. He prides himself on being a self-starter, and yet has not really gone anywhere. This person doesn't procrastinate in daily or routine tasks. He procrastinates in making decisions.

Another person seizes every opportunity that comes his way. He says `Open Sesame' about six times a week. Wonderful offers and opportunities open up that he grabs with both hands. And yet, he's still on a treadmill going nowhere because he procrastinates in his daily, routine tasks. He puts off paying the bills, renewing the insurance, following up on a letter and hundreds of other petty things with the end result that he ends up constantly wasting time in putting out self-ignited fires that in turn hold him back. This person doesn't procrastinate in making decisions. He procrastinates in the routine, daily things to do.

It's comparatively easy to make the second person lucky. He needs a course or schedule in time management that he can stick to. If he's able to manage his day-to-day procrastination, he can soon become one of the lucky ones. The first person is more difficult to make lucky. Since he doesn't go after opportunities and holds back waiting for a better offer or for more information to emerge, he doesn't create the conditions conducive for luck, for luck never comes to the hesitant procrastinator.

Think back to instances in your life when success or good fortune seemed very close, only to slip out of your fingers. Why did it slip out of your hands? If I think about these situations in my own life, I realise that in every case where opportunity came to me and yet I snatched failure out of the jaws of success, it was only through procrastination. As George Clason writes, "In my younger days, I thought it was my poor judgment that caused me to lose many profitable deals. Later, I thought my losses were caused by my stubborn disposition. At last I recognised it for what it was a habit of needless delaying where prompt and decisive action was required." The opportunities that I did seize have invariably enriched my life and contributed to growth even though at times it seemed as if I'd made a mistake and seized the wrong opportunities.

Someone once said that the harder he works, the luckier he gets. I agree that no one has succeeded without hard work. However, hard work by itself is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success. I know of many people who work both hard and smart and yet don't get anywhere. On the other hand, if I see a person who works hard, doesn't procrastinate when it comes to making decisions and seizing opportunities, who finishes off his daily routine tasks, I know I'm looking at someone lucky — the Ali Baba who says, `Open Sesame'.

The author is a Chennai-based HR consultant. He can be reached at porusmun@hotmail.com

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