Fossil Man is the Poker player who beat 2500 to win a world Poker Championship.
He was asked how he did this? Was it Luck, Was it Skill?
“Most people don’t think of these in the proper way” he said.
We see these as a linear line – with Skill on one end and Luck at the other end of a line
That would mean that there is always a % that favours or relies on one or the other. This would change for every endeavour
Fossil Man insisted they are on separate axis’s
These are all factors of SKILL
- There is a great amount of luck in the cards you are dealt with in poker – you have no control over this – so WHY allocate any energy to it?
- NOW there is a great amount of Skill in the decisions you make about allocating the cards you are dealt and what bets you place in relation to this and how you conduct yourself at the table
Factors on LUCK
- On the LUCK side the odds for everyone at the table are the same so you cannot use skill
- BUT the skilled players better their odds over time
- More Skill = Better decisions over time
- Fossil Man added you have to be realistic about how much luck is involved in whatever you are doing – you kind of ignore it – And then you have to say what is the smartest decision I can make NOW?
- Ignore the initial results because they have only little relevance to the final outcome
In the Business World we are all being dealt different hands of cards on a daily basis
The Cards are not just your childhood or in your past BUT everyday new cards appear
- You are stuck in traffic and late for work – there is nothing you can do about it
- You have to present an important presentation – you will be late – nothing you can do about it
- The printer wouldn’t work last night – don’t kick the printer – it still isn’t working
- You are having a bad hair day – your hair is really fine
- You are in a brain storming meeting and someone cuts you down – best do nothing in the moment and catch up much later if needed. Let the session flow.
These cards keep getting dealt – you cannot control it – so don’t get emotional/angry/frustrated about it – IT IS JUST IS WHAT IT IS
The only question is – NOW WHAT – can you bring your skill to bear and make the most of the situation
Or if there is nothing you can do you may just have to FOLD – at least the emotion
So, no matter the luck – YOUR skill will improve your achievement over time because you remain focused and not FOLD in an emotional and physical MESS. And ruin what you have otherwise achieved that day.
Yes, there is LUCK in life. An old friend may drop in. You may inherit some money from a relative. People may do you unexpected favours. Your 1 in hundred’s of millions chances of winning Lotto make come up – but best not wait for that one. Because as a person you will still have the wrong mindset and probably lose it all in a few years. Don’t rely on LUCK.
But skill applied over time eliminates poor decisions. Increases WISDOM through CHARACTER.
Only Skill really matters however……
It has little to really with Skill either and everything to do with CHARACTER
Because Skill needs the long horizon to take the skills of character – Discipline, time, patience focus – applied consistently and daily over time – to Succeed and sustain that Success
It is the COMPOUND EFFECT of all that applied skill that basically guarantees you will be a Winner
This should be good news.
It says it doesn’t matter what cards you have been dealt in the past now or the future
Just keep applying the small cards consistently and as skillfully and wisely as you can – it will Compound for the GOOD
The Compound Effect = Success when applied consistently with Character
And this requires Character to be worked on day after day and little by little the odds start turning your way
Let it me firmly and honestly said:
No matter what has happened to you take full responsibility for it
For as Jim Rohn said:
“The day you graduate from childhood to adulthood is the day you take full responsibility
for your life”
To start name the ONE THING that bugs you daily and causes all types of negative emotions and loss of productive time and DECLARE you will own you to and resolve it?
This is the start of placing LUCK in the background to Relying on YOUR SKILLS – AND BUILDING YOUR CHARACTER.
