What's more important than skill or luck?...
Positioning! The missing ingredient.
Your Starting Point Is Important! It’s easy to make great choices when you have good options and are in a strong position. Good positions create options, while bad positions reduce them.
You don’t have to be an expert decision-maker to get better results, you only need to put yourself in a better position. Anyone looks like a genius when all the options are good. Always work toward better positions, whether it’s skills, savings, friendships, relationships, or health.
For example, it’s no big deal if you get a flat tire when you have a spare, a jack, a cellphone, and money in the bank. It’s another matter when you’re stranded, and the jack handle is missing.
Another example is delivering an important presentation. If you don’t prepare well, sleep well, or eat well, you are likely to fail. You will have fuzzy thinking and poor answers to questions. But if you prepare, rest well, and eat, you are likely to succeed. You will be clearer and more confident.
Positioning is not luck. Sometimes things go wrong even from a good position. Luck is surviving a flash flood because you sleep on the top floor. Positioning is building your house outside the flood plain.
Always be moving toward a better position. If you drift, random chance picks where you end up. This usually leads to a stagnant swamp. Swimming in the direction you want to go can be rewarding. Deciding to go and moving toward the position you need makes all the difference.
If you don’t know where you want to go, three good strategies are:
1. Move away from the bad things.
2. Explore many options.
3. Move toward options you like.
Here are some examples from “Clear Thinking” by Shane Parrish. This book is a masterclass in decision-making, emotional intelligence, and personal growth. It also follows a great rule of thumb, Learn from the best.
1. Start with health. No health, no good options.
2. Spend less than you make.
3. Invest in your relationships.
4. Design your environment for good behavior (Friction for snacking, buddy for exercise).
5. Align your actions with your values.
Positioning compounds your gains. Having better tools, more money in the bank, a better education, friends that will have your back, or any advantages result from a combination of your skills, random chance (the “luck”), and one usually neglected component, your starting point. Every time you improve your starting point, you open more and better opportunities.
Great perspectives! Really enjoyed reading your post!