Greg, all your talk about finding your Passionate Purpose, finding a strong why that supports it, creating goals that go with it, then creating action plans to support those goals, and then taking consistent daily action sounds like a lot of hard work. Besides, we all know it really comes down to how lucky you are.

Well, it is a lot of hard work. If it were easy, everyone would do it. But the hard work is worth it. And, when you’re pursuing your Passionate Purpose, even hard work can be enjoyable.

As to the second point that it’s really just luck, for just a second forget about whether that’s true or not. Let me ask you a question. If you really believe that your success is out of your control and is determined by luck, will that belief help you achieve your goals?

If you believe you’re not lucky enough you will be right.

How would you ever expect to succeed with those beliefs holding you back?

Unfortunately, we are bombarded daily by so-called leaders, experts, and friends telling us how we will never be able to fulfill our dreams and accomplish our goals. Some of them are trying to help. Some of them are jealous (consciously or unconsciously). Some of them are trying to excuse themselves for not reaching the level of success they’d once hoped for.

Regardless of their reasons for feeding us that defeatist philosophy, if we believe them, they will be right. But if we reject those negative beliefs and stay focused on our Passionate Purpose we will achieve more than we ever thought we could.

If you believe you can find the husband or wife of your dreams, you’re right.

If you believe you can run a marathon, you’re right.

If you believe you can become a financial success, you’re right.

If the American dream really is dead, then how are people still going from rags to riches every day in this country? How are some people able to go from nothing to super successful in one generation?

Luck?

I believe in preparing yourself to take advantage of opportunities that will appear as you stay focused on your goals.

If you are constantly thinking about where you want to go and improving yourself in every way to be the person you need to be to achieve the success you are working towards, you will see opportunities appear with increasing frequency. Is that luck? No. It’s the result of hard work and taking consistent action.

Some people would rather believe that it all comes down to luck. For them, believing in luck is a way to feel better about themselves when they don’t reach their goals or someone else is achieving the success they want.

Before and after I had my own syndicated radio talk show, I guest hosted for other national programs. I can’t tell you how many people would comment on how lucky I was to fill in for so many big-name radio stars.

The truth is luck had nothing to do with it. I worked hard at becoming a good host. I asked for, and acted on, the constructive criticism that I received and kept getting better. I kept making demos and sending them to program directors all across the country.

Then I started asking the producers and hosts of the national shows if I could fill in for them when they were on vacation or whenever they needed someone on short notice.

Now, when one of these hosts got sick and they needed someone to fill in at the last second, was it luck that I often got the call? Once I filled in and they liked what they heard, was it luck that I was asked to guest host again?

When a smaller syndication company was looking for a new national host, was it luck that I was one of the ones they interviewed for the position?

I like what Don Sutton says: Luck is the by-product of busting your fanny.

Let’s GO!

(If this post resonated with you, check out my book, GO! How to Find and Pursue Your Passionate Purpose, available in paperback and audiobook.)