Luck doesn’t exist!

Throughout our lives, different doors will open from time to time, and often they appear in the form of luck. I say it’s simply opportunity, and when things come up, we then have a decision to make on how we choose to deal with it.

So many times in our life we put things down to plain old luck, either for ourselves, or for others. Think how many times you’ve looked at a celebrity and thought “man, they sure got lucky!” where in reality you didn’t see the 70-hour weeks they’ve been doing for the last 5 years, or the challenges they had to face or opposition they were forced to deal with along the way to their success, any of which would have been enough for a lesser person to throw in the towel and simply give up.

Australia is quite unique in that we don’t honour those of us who make it to the top, we don’t ask for their advice and opinions, we don’t highlight their success and make an example of their path. Unfortunately, as a nation, we tend to put people down. We don’t like people, who tell us of their success and are annoyed with anyone who has the audacity to highlight their own track record. This affliction our country has is often referred to as the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’, rightfully named for the way some people are able to stand tall above the rest and, in so doing, they are the first ones picked on, ending their life (or success) prematurely.

If the Tall Poppy Syndrome only affected the very wealthy celebrities it wouldn’t be such a massive national problem as it has become, however, the Tall Poppy Syndrome has crept into our schools, into our way of thinking, and settled into our personal lives. The average Australian won’t tell their mates about their successes for fear of being labelled in Aussie terms ‘up himself’ or, simply put, a ‘w****r.’

This, unfortunately, has even more ramifications than first appears. For someone to believe that when they achieve success they will be labelled that way and shunned in some way or another by their friends, they begin to stop telling people of their success and some stop aiming for success all together as their existing friendships mean too much to them to chance jeopardising.

In our schools they don’t explain the line between boasting and being proud, or between having a big ego and justified confidence. As children, we are conditioned to hide our pride and stow away our confidence so that only our mothers can see it and reward us. (Thank goodness for mothers!) As adults, however, we often fail to recognise and reward our own successes as this Tall Poppy Syndrome kicks in.

So, if you are a hard worker, if you have solid morals and are a generally a good person, (which you all are) notice that success and not luck, is coming your way. Perhaps you’ve been hiding your success from friends and family in fear of being labelled as boasting or gloating. Even the small wins that may not seem important to others, if you keep them to yourself you’re sending a message to the universe that they are simply not significant and don’t rate a mention.

If you believe in the quantum physics, every thought has an energy attached to it and everything with energy has the power to influence and impact everything around it, then acknowledging your own successes is a very important step.

This week start your own success rolling by stepping out of your comfort zone and telling a friend about a success or a small win you had. Perhaps the dog training is going really well, perhaps you made a delicious pasta dish last night, or maybe you simply made it to the gym class this week rather than watching Home and Away.

Whatever the success, start sharing it and let’s work together to abolish the Tall Poppy Syndrome and bring back good old fashioned credit where credit’s due!

To check out workshops available and what’s scheduled for the rest of the year, go to www.advancedcoachingsolutions.com.au/Workshops.html