Hard Work vs. Luck: What Actually Creates Opportunity | Networking Education Moment

0:00 Hard Work vs Luck Introduction
Okay, so this is gonna be, uh, episode nine six one, Hard Work Versus Luck. Um, thought it was an interesting, interesting thing, so let’s jump into it. Um, and gotta love my Gamma, man, really love this tool. Um, so this was episode nine six one, and it was Ivan Misner. Um, and so you can look it up yourself. Um, the question really that they brought up in the podcast was,

0:29 Luck Opens Doors Hard Work Keeps You In
does luck really drive success? And of course, this is an old debate that’s been out there for a while. Um, and really kinda like you have this situation where luck plays a role, but it’s never the whole story ’cause luck is kinda like being in the right place at the right time and stumbling into an opportunity. Um, but it’s like luck d- luck may open the door, but luck isn’t what gets you through it, right? It’s what– And hard work is what, you know, keeps you in the room while you’re there. And there’s this whole, there’s all these b- little podcasts out that I’ve heard before about grit,

1:01 Grit Refusing to Stop vs Giving Up
and it’s something that we don’t really talk about in our society, but grit is the ability to stay focused and keep working even when things get hard. Because it’s not the fastest starters, but it’s the ones that refuse to stop, who stay in the game long enough for the real results to emerge. And so refusing to stop is not really giving up. It’s basically pivoting, um, and it’s adjusting the path. You don’t give up on the destination, you find a d- a better route. Um, and, and it really is just so interesting, the whole aspect of grit. What hard work actually does is accomplish three things.

1:36 Three Things Hard Work Actually Builds
It builds capacity. You don’t actually become… You know, Becker didn’t suddenly become amazing at cutting woods and, and trim work, you know. Julia didn’t become a, a realtor overnight. It’s that– it’s all, it’s expanding your skills. And research, um, shows that mastery with c- mastery comes with doing the work over and over with intention. It builds credibility. Of course, in BNI, we have the visibility, um, you know, blah, blah, blah, and it’s really just about the visibility and profitability, and it creates opportunity. Um, so, so that’s really momentum. So when you’re building capacity and building credibility and creating opportunity, you’re creating momentum and earned serendipity.

2:19 Earned Serendipity Ivan Misner’s Concept
Did I say that right? It’s not a word I say all the time. I got a nod from Julia. Um, and this is ano- a concept that Ivan loves. It means that you’re creating the conditions where the good things are more likely to happen, and you’re not waiting for the opportunity to knock, but you’re building a life where the opportunities are finding you. One of my favorite affirmations was from a, um, a artist who taught me about manifesting, and he would say that, um, he said, "Try this for a month. Um, I’m the bee," and, uh, as an affirmation, "I’m the bee and, and not just the, um, I’m the flower and not just the bee. People come to me with opportunities. People are paying me.

2:56 Be the Flower Not the Bee
Um, people are seeking me out, you know, and they want, they desperately wanna work with me," right? Things like that create this sort of energy field around you, uh, but I’m getting too woo-woo. Um, but anyway, um, so it’s like this… So it’s, so it’s, so interesting.

3:12 Luck Is a Moment Hard Work Is a System
So luck is a moment, but hard work is a system. And for all you people that love graph, right, graphs out there, right? You know, you’ve got a high chance of high luck and low effort. Um, you know, you wanna be right here in this high luck, high effort, um, graph there.

3:30 How Ivan Misner Built BNI
Um, and then of course, we all know about how, um, he built BNI. Um, there was no roadmap. He was near bankruptcy, and he just, he just, you know, started a system, made small improvements, and keep looking back. Ivan calls it fun work, but it was hard work, right? And so we are now part of that system because of all the work he did. Um, and so it’s– One, a couple last things is, it’s never just, you should never say it’s all about luck, um, because if you believe luck is the only driver of success, then you’ve removed your own hard work from the equation, right? Um,

4:04 Key Takeaways and Closing Quote
so, um, and then, you know, BNI, um, members who commit for the long term don’t get lucky. They’re building trust and deep, consistent results. Um, you’re getting, you’re getting more engagement, you’re building deeper relationships, and you’re being a dog with a bone. Ivan person’s per- Ivan’s personal mantra is, "I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I am the most persistent." Great thing to say. Um, so these are just takeaways. Um, hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but acknowledging luck and moving on, building your system, pivoting, and then earning your serendipity. The harder work, the, the harder you work, the less you need luck, and the more it seems to show up anyway. And there’s your quote. Bam. I try to keep this to two minutes, but it’s always longer.