Subject: Re: Bohr's way From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 08 Oct 2002 20:12:32 +0000 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3243096752137597@naggum.no> * Vassil Nikolov | Of course, being lucky can only be determined for the past. There are two parts to luck. There is the getting an opportunity part. This is very hard to predict or control or even bet on. Then there is the taking advantage of an opportunity part. This is a personality trait -- or so it seems. A psychologist I know who has studied personality types and tests for them and who works with safety on ships and oil rigs and such and who uses breaks down safety instruction by personality type for best effect, claims that the ability to be surprised is near constant through a person's life. Thrill seekers and the like thrive on surprises and their ability to deal with them. People who run their own business have to be able to cope with a vast array of surprises, one of the worst being completely unpredictable and untrustworthy politicians who may change regulations or taxation or other serious threats to their business with very brief if any notice, and at a distant second, the market, their competitors and the stability of their suppliers and their own personell. While it is clearly luck to be able to offer a prospective customer what he wants when he wants it where he wants it, actually making money on that beneficial predicament is /not/ luck, it is simply hard work. solid risk management, and discipline. More often than not, people who fail in business or in life have had no shortage of opportunities, but have only failed to take advantage of them or follow up on the initial "leads". | Can I really plan on going to be lucky? Google has that feature. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.