Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement by Brian Tracy
Authors: Brian Tracy
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financial success at a young age, people say he was
“just lucky.”
Some people use luck to describe something remarkably good that happens that is out of the ordinary. But it is not luck at all. The fact is that all so-called lucky outcomes are really the result of probabilities . There is no such thing as luck.
The Law of Probabilities says that there is a probability for everything that happens. These probabilities can often be determined with considerable accuracy. The entire insurance and under-writing industry is based on probabilities, which are expressed in actuarial tables.
■ BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE
There is a probability that you will become a millionaire in the course of your working lifetime. Today in America, one family in 20 has a net worth of more than one million dollars. This means that your likelihood of acquiring a million dollars is one in 20, or 5 percent.
However, this also means that your likelihood of not acquiring one million dollars, should that be your goal, is 95 percent. These are not good odds.Your job must be to improve the odds in your favor.Your aim should be to dramatically increase the probabilities of achieving financial independence by doing more and more of those things that will help you to achieve your goal. This principle applies to anything you want to accomplish.
The more different things you do that are likely to help you to achieve your goal, the more likely it is you will do the right thing at the right time. If you set clear, written goals, make detailed plans, and continually upgrade your skills to increase your income, you increase the probabilities that you will earn a good living.
If you study money and investments, save and put aside 10 percent to 20 percent of your income every month, keep tight control ccc_tracy_4_52-76.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 60
60
➤
CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
over your expenses, and think long-term about your financial life, you will eventually become a millionaire. It is not a matter of luck.
It is just a matter of probabilities.
■ PROBABILITIES ARE EVERYTHING
Imagine you are an inexperienced dart thrower, slightly inebriated, in a darkened room, standing some distance from the dartboard.
Even under these conditions, if you throw enough darts in the direction of the dartboard, you would eventually hit it. And if you continued to throw darts, almost in spite of yourself you would become more accurate. As a result, by the law of probabilities, you would eventually hit a bull’s-eye.
This metaphor explains why people who start off with high levels of desire and determination ultimately succeed. They just keep trying. And by the law of probabilities, they finally win. It is not luck. They create their own luck by what they do, or what they fail to do.
Now, imagine the conditions are different. Imagine that you are a skilled dart thrower, and that you practice every day to get better.
In addition, you are fully rested, clear-headed, and completely prepared. The lights in the room are bright and you stand at a reasonable distance from the dartboard. Under these conditions, all of which are under your control, the time it would take you to hit a bull’s-eye would be greatly reduced. And of course, when you do hit a bull’s-eye, everyone would tell you how “lucky” you were. But you made your own luck.
Throughout your life, you must be constantly thinking about all the things you can do, in every area, to increase the probabilities that you will be successful in achieving your goals. You should leave nothing to chance. You should refuse to wish or hope, or trust to luck.You must take control of your situation.You are responsible.
■ YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE
You will achieve financial success only after you accept that everything that you ever become is completely up to you.You are respon-ccc_tracy_4_52-76.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 61
Decide to Become Rich
➤ 61
sible. No one is going to do it for you. Keep
“just lucky.”
Some people use luck to describe something remarkably good that happens that is out of the ordinary. But it is not luck at all. The fact is that all so-called lucky outcomes are really the result of probabilities . There is no such thing as luck.
The Law of Probabilities says that there is a probability for everything that happens. These probabilities can often be determined with considerable accuracy. The entire insurance and under-writing industry is based on probabilities, which are expressed in actuarial tables.
■ BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE
There is a probability that you will become a millionaire in the course of your working lifetime. Today in America, one family in 20 has a net worth of more than one million dollars. This means that your likelihood of acquiring a million dollars is one in 20, or 5 percent.
However, this also means that your likelihood of not acquiring one million dollars, should that be your goal, is 95 percent. These are not good odds.Your job must be to improve the odds in your favor.Your aim should be to dramatically increase the probabilities of achieving financial independence by doing more and more of those things that will help you to achieve your goal. This principle applies to anything you want to accomplish.
The more different things you do that are likely to help you to achieve your goal, the more likely it is you will do the right thing at the right time. If you set clear, written goals, make detailed plans, and continually upgrade your skills to increase your income, you increase the probabilities that you will earn a good living.
If you study money and investments, save and put aside 10 percent to 20 percent of your income every month, keep tight control ccc_tracy_4_52-76.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 60
60
➤
CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
over your expenses, and think long-term about your financial life, you will eventually become a millionaire. It is not a matter of luck.
It is just a matter of probabilities.
■ PROBABILITIES ARE EVERYTHING
Imagine you are an inexperienced dart thrower, slightly inebriated, in a darkened room, standing some distance from the dartboard.
Even under these conditions, if you throw enough darts in the direction of the dartboard, you would eventually hit it. And if you continued to throw darts, almost in spite of yourself you would become more accurate. As a result, by the law of probabilities, you would eventually hit a bull’s-eye.
This metaphor explains why people who start off with high levels of desire and determination ultimately succeed. They just keep trying. And by the law of probabilities, they finally win. It is not luck. They create their own luck by what they do, or what they fail to do.
Now, imagine the conditions are different. Imagine that you are a skilled dart thrower, and that you practice every day to get better.
In addition, you are fully rested, clear-headed, and completely prepared. The lights in the room are bright and you stand at a reasonable distance from the dartboard. Under these conditions, all of which are under your control, the time it would take you to hit a bull’s-eye would be greatly reduced. And of course, when you do hit a bull’s-eye, everyone would tell you how “lucky” you were. But you made your own luck.
Throughout your life, you must be constantly thinking about all the things you can do, in every area, to increase the probabilities that you will be successful in achieving your goals. You should leave nothing to chance. You should refuse to wish or hope, or trust to luck.You must take control of your situation.You are responsible.
■ YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE
You will achieve financial success only after you accept that everything that you ever become is completely up to you.You are respon-ccc_tracy_4_52-76.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 61
Decide to Become Rich
➤ 61
sible. No one is going to do it for you. Keep
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