Shooting Your Shot Will Change Your Life
Good Morning Digital Family,
Today I want to talk a little bit about shooting your shot and creating the environment for serendipity and amazing things to happen in your life. I will share a little bit about an example too so read this entry till the end.
I’ve been away from home for a week, staying in a hotel in Manchester and doing a range of speaking engagements. It's been stretching and I've had a lot of time to think. This entry comes from that place.
One of the biggest killers of people in today’s age is Pride. I see so many people, who would be great and amazing if only they could overcome their ego and pride. The fear of asking for help and failing to put yourself out there is keeping many of us in a rut and we just really need to take a step and get out. Hear this, your life changes when you put yourself out there so do it. When you step out and shoot your shot, a world that you didn't know about opens up to you and you almost never regret it.
If there is anything I have learned in my short time, it’s the importance of shooting your shot. A friend of mine, Dr Christian Busch published a book a few years ago called The Serendipity Mindset on this very topic. From social mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa to accidental energy-saving multinationals in the West, Dr Buch studied hundreds of subjects internationally who improved their lives by learning to see opportunities in the unexpected. It's really fascinating. In fact, I interviewed on the Common Sense Podcast not too long ago and we had a fascinating conversation.
In short, he makes the case for shooting your shot and putting yourself in the position for luck and serendipity to happen. It all starts with just taking a step and getting things going.
Serendipity in the Netherlands
I remember a moment in 2018. I was at a major conference in the Hauge. It was one of those conferences with really famous and successful people like Terry Cruize, Meghan Markle and more. I was backstage with a friend of mine, a very courageous lady. We had just finished hearing a keynote speaker speaking and I didn't know what my friend was about to do next.
She began walking towards the keynote speaker who at this stage was with her entourage, resting after the speech. I was just thinking, 'what on earth is my friend going to ask this lady?'. That’s when my friend asked this lady 'i loved your speech, I’m a big fan of yours, would you mentor me'. The lady paused for a few seconds and replied 'no'. My jaws dropped. I was not expecting that question but also the response was shocking to me.
The lady said no, however, she said she would connect my friend with her PA and that someone in her team will be able to mentor her. I love this story because my friend did not get what she wanted but she got what she needed. The keynote speaker was just too busy to do it. However, by asking the question in the first place, she put herself in the position for serendipity to happen.
The guy from Instagram
It happened to me this week when a guy from Instagram asked me to mentor him. Believe it or not, I don't actually get asked that much anymore because most people assume I’m too busy. They are often right but you never know what will happen when you put yourself out there. If I can't help, I will often find someone who can. You just have to put yourself out there and get over ego.
In your life, this may look like
Apologising to someone and rebuilding a relationship
Direct messaging or emailing that person and asking for advice or mentorship
Asking that company about volunteering or about work
In all these cases, the worst that can happen is that you get a no. The best thing is that your life changes forever. I don't know about you but I like those odds.
Here is how you can create some luck
1. Take the initiative.
If you go through life knowing only one Latin phrase, make it this one: Audentes fortuna iuuat, or “fortune favours the bold.” (If you would like a slightly more modern interpretation, look to hockey great Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”) Regardless of how you articulate it, you increase your odds of winning dramatically simply by stepping up to the plate.
2. Meet more people.
When Bill Murphy Jr. was single, he set a goal: Date 100 different women in a single year. The idea was that he only needed to be right once. It worked. The same thing applies in other contexts. Would you feel lucky if a new connection led to a great opportunity, or would you think that you had improved your odds of knowing the right person simply by meeting more people?
3. Call old friends.
Meeting new people is important, but networking isn’t just about adding people to your LinkedIn profile. Instead, the most powerful relationships can be the longtime ones you’ve had, based on friendship, trust, and shared experiences. So, instead of just reaching out to new people, be the one who nurtures old relationships.
4. Make a game of failure.
No matter what you try, you will fail sometimes. The trick is to overcome your fear of failure, so as to have many more opportunities to succeed. Each day, give yourself a little reward for winning the failure game–making 10 failed sales calls, or making the effort to do 10 seemingly fruitless introductions. This attitude also stops you from resting on your laurels. If you have a big victory on any particular day, you still need to go out and fail a few times to win the game.
5. Craft your story.
Stories are the most powerful form of communication. The great news is that you get to craft your own story. The way you tell it impacts everything about your relationships with other people. Remember, the story needs structure. It needs a theme and compelling characters. And it needs to involve a worthy struggle. Can you describe those elements in your life?
6. Copy from the greats.
Consider how creative people benefit from being organized. Doing so frees your mind from the routine so that you can focus on truly unique challenges. Apply the same principle here. Pick a few successful mentors and imitate them. Their past performance isn’t a guarantee of your future results, but it’s probably a good place to start
My goal in writing today is to get you to take action and start thinking about serendipity. Namely how you can create your own luck. Good luck.
M.T. Omoniyi