Alright guys, let's continue from where we left off yesterday talking about some good wealth lessons learned from The Richest Man In Babylon. Yesterday, we saw how the feeling of underachievement is linked to depression and the fact that it's important to question everything to be successful.
You can check out part one from this link:
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Today, we're going to look at another interesting thing.
Let's start questioning then, shall we?
You know how we think wealthy people are the luckiest people on earth? Yeah, to be lucky in the sense that some kind of fortune has favored them. This philosophy means that some invisible hand or factor is at play here, and that if it doesn't make you great, there's basically nothing you can do about it. You just have to accept your fate and die as nothing.
Now I'm not saying I doubt that, I'm just saying I don't know about that, and those successful people I know don't admit to that. In fact, their routine and lifestyle don't show it was luck. I watched a Michael Jackson documentary some years ago, and it was showing the kind of intensity with which MJ rehearsed for a show. In one of his rehearsals, he collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital according to the documentary. He looked to me like he really deserved what he had based on the effort he put in.
So Does Luck Exist?
One hundred percent it does. I know people who had the gut feeling to stake a lottery, buy a crypto coin, or made some bold investment that took them to certain heights in life. But one thing has been clear in those people's lives: if you didn't build to that level, it's certain you will come down. To go to the top, you need to learn a lot of stuff, and those things you learn on the way to building are what is going to help you sustain the success.
From the story of Bansir, he met his old-time schoolmate and friend Arkad, who was now the richest man in all of Babylon. Since he desired to be rich, he began to ask him questions. He tried to see if it was fate that had made his childhood friend rich and him poor.
"Nor have you worked harder or more faithfully, insofar as we can judge. Why, then, should a fickle fate single you out to enjoy all the good things of life and ignore us who are equally deserving?" Thereupon Arkad remonstrated with them, saying, "If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them. 'Fickle Fate' is a vicious goddess who brings no permanent good to anyone. On the contrary, she brings ruin to almost every man upon whom she showers unearned gold."
I love the answer that Arkad gave him, and I don't forget it. There are laws to be followed to be wealthy or successful. If you follow them, others will look at you with your results and assume you're lucky. If you read the chapters after that in the book, Arkad began to share with Bansir and his other childhood friend why he turned out differently. In my next blog, I will start sharing on that.
Lessons learned today:
There is a path you can follow that can make you successful. It's based on the decisions you make; they determine the outcome of your life and not some fortune cookie which will only give you a taste of success and make you crave it for the rest of your life. Build with the principles that will sustain what you build.
See you in the next blog.
You can listen to the audio book on YouTube through this link:
