Success Equation

Today's blog is from a podcast on The Art of Manliness:

How much of a role does luck play in success as opposed to skill?

When it comes to the factors that lead to success, there’s a tendency in folks to discount the role of luck. We like to think we’re the complete masters of our fortune — that we can control everything that happens to us and make our own luck. But by not giving luck its due, we actually prevent ourselves from effectively managing this force so we can experience success in the long run.

The podcast is based on an interview with Michael J. Mauboussin the author of the book "The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing"  which talks a lot about how skill and luck can be measured and compared.

One of the key takeaways that I got was on why you should focus on processes and not outcomes, which means to focus on what you can control, not what you can't control. You can control the process, but you can't control the results. I hear this a lot in the context of network marketing...you can share the product and/or opportunity (the process), but you can't control if a particular person becomes a customer or distributor (the outcome).

The diagram shows that with a good process, you'll occasionally have bad results but overall you'll have good results. And if you have a bad process, you may have good results occasionally but overall you'll get bad results.

Interesting days

Today - Love Your Pet Day, Cherry Pie Day and Handcuff Day

Tomorrow - Sticky Bun Day and International Mother Language Day

Next Tuesday - Pokémon Day, Polar Bear Day, Strawberry Day and Kahlua Day

March 20 - Snowman Burning Day, Kiss Your Fiance Day, Ravioli Day, World Storytelling Day, Proposal Day, Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day and International Day of Happiness