Friday, March 14, 2008

Do You Control Your Own Luck

If you’re like me, you know people who seem to be lucky in nearly any circumstance? They find a good parking space when not even bad ones are available. By some uncanny coincidence, they meet the right people at just the right time. They win more drawings they enter than the average person (yes – that’s you, Bertha)!
Richard Wiseman, the head of a psychology research department at the University of Hertfordshire in England, and author of the book, "The Luck Factor," did in-depth studies with his colleagues at the university's Perrott-Warrick Research Unit focusing on what makes some people lucky and others not. After conducting hundreds of experiments and thousands of interviews, he discovered that lucky people think and behave in ways that create good fortune in their lives. They are 1) particularly open to possibility; and 2) they expect good fortune to come their way.
Are you open to possibilities or do you think “I’ll never succeed.”? Do you honestly expect good fortune to come your way – or do you have the attitude, “It always happens to other people”?
This concept applies to your business as well!

June Van Klaveren, Compelling Communications, helps her clients attract and keep customers. She can be reached at 636-394-4148 or through the website at http://www.compelcom.com/.

Never Give Up On Your Dreams

As an entrepreneur, Fred Smith knows better than most that success often comes to those who don't give up. For Smith, the lesson began in college. As a graduate student at Harvard University, Smith was excited to discover one of his class assignments was to develop a business plan. The students would develop the plans and the professor would grade the work on the viability of a fictitious business.
Smith came up with the idea for a one-of-a-kind, overnight package delivery business. The more and more he became involved in the project, the more passionate he became. He really felt the business could work. He spent day and night fine-tuning the business plan and finally submitted his dream to the Ivy League professor. His grade: C.
The professor said the business would never work.S mith decided to prove the professor wrong. When he graduated, he began turning that plan into the American dream. Today, smith's dream is Federal Express, a billion dollar company. And when you walk into the Memphis, Tenn., headquarters of Federal Express, you'll find Smith's original college paper framed for all to see. Complete with a red C slashed through the top. The paper sites in the front lobby to remind Smith and his employees of a simple lesson: Never give up on your dreams. All successful entrepreneurs possess two important characteristics--passion and perseverance. In order to succeed, these entrepreneurs never allow naysayers to bring down their dream.