The Secret to Getting Lucky

lucky raffle showing up Dec 05, 2024

This last week I learned an important lesson on the secret to “getting lucky”.

My wife and I were on vacation enjoying several days on a cruise and entered a raffle for some jewelry. The only requirement to redeem the prize? We had to be present when they drew the tickets.

The contest was being held during a “day at sea” as the ship had to travel a long distance between ports, so we weren’t missing scheduled excursions or anything else important. So, my wife and I showed up to the drawing… raffle tickets in hand.

When we arrived, there was a small crowd gathered of about 10 other people, each anticipating the results. As the salesperson in charge picked tickets at random from a box and read the numbers, we all stared at our ticket stubs carefully following along.

The first ticket he drew? The person was a no show. We all looked around seeing if anyone had a delayed reaction, but after a 20 second awkward silence, the salesperson sighed, placed the drawn ticket on the table, and continued the drawing.

The second ticket? Same. No one was there to claim the prize.

A third ticket was chosen, and had the same result. All these “winners” were no shows, and missed on the opportunity. Those of us standing there clinging to our own tickets looked around in baffled amusement, shaking our heads. Similarly, the salesperson looked increasingly surprised as ticket after ticket was selected… and no one stepped forward. After several other drawings with no result, the pile of drawn- but failed- tickets on the table steadily grew.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the salesperson read the number I had been waiting for all along: my ticket number 195.

We won! As we excitedly walked up to claim our prize (a necklace and pair of earrings for my wife), a new person entered the room holding a ticket in their hands and loudly asked, “Where do we go for the raffle?” One of the sales reps took them aside and explained the raffle had already ended. However the person said, “But I bought these tickets!?” and looked frustrated and began to argue.

Only after several minutes of discussion did the person eventually leave. But as they did so, the sales rep said to me, “They had a winning ticket too… but they didn’t show up.”

What does this have to do with influence and success?

Just like this raffle, the first requirement to capitalizing on an “opportunity” or the chance for success? You have to show up for it. You may be the most talented, the most prepared, and the most intelligent. You could have all the raffle tickets in your favor. But if you don’t show up? It doesn’t matter.

In this story there were two groups of people:

1. The people who were no shows (or late)

2. And the group of us who had shown up

I find it interesting that of the 16 tickets drawn… 15 were no shows. Each of them had a better ticket, a better position, and could have won the prize way before me. I’m no statistician but despite their chances, and despite how many tickets they bought, when I did the simple act of just showing up? I vastly improved my odds compared to them.

Showing up for an opportunity can look like a lot of things. It could be finding small and consistent moments to read that important book. It could be making simple efforts to keep in touch with that important person. And it can also look like sending weekly emails to people and telling stories about success.

And I’ll be honest, sometimes showing up ain’t pretty.

(Photo: A friend gave me this shirt to wear. It has avocados!)

I recently had a conversation with an individual who wanted to expand his reach by creating content. “Im worried,” he said “about it not being at the level I want it to be. It is so time consuming to do it right…”

To which I replied, “Ugly consistency beats absent perfection. Your ability to create content and to create it well…will improve over time. It will be ugly at first, but simply showing up consistently is the real secret. Start small, but make consistency your goal above all else.”

Together we brainstormed simple milestones he could reach, and I tried to help lower his expectations of what he thought his first piece of content should look like. By the end the looming and intimidating goal he had avoided for months now seemed a lot smaller and do-able.

Can you see how sometimes we get in our own way?

Sometimes our hopes and expectations of how perfect a thing could be… gets in the way of us actually starting, getting in the trenches, and making it happen. Similarly, sometimes we talk ourselves out from even trying by saying things like, “Oh, I don’t even have a chance. That never happens to me. Other people always win.”

To that I would say, “15 people should have won that jewelry before me… but they didn’t show up.”

What opportunities are you wanting to take advantage of?

What things have you wanted, what changes do you want to make… but have avoided?

You can’t ever guarantee success (let alone on the first try) but just like the raffle, simply showing up vastly improves your odds compared to those who don’t. And showing up consistently, no matter how ugly it may be, IS guaranteed to increase your chance of success in whatever you pursue.

So what is the secret to getting lucky? Keep showing up! Ugly consistency beats absent perfection.

And who knows? Maybe your ugly consistency will pay off in something incredibly beautiful.

Just ask my wife and her new necklace.

Christian

CHRISTIAN HANSEN has gone behind the scenes in some of the biggest organizations in the world to find out the reasons why some people get chosen and why others don’t. As the #1 bestselling and LinkedIn Top Ten ranked author of “The Influence Mindset: The Art & Science of Getting People to Choose You” Christian helps teams and organizations who want to stand out and be the obvious choice. With degrees from Brigham Young University and The London School of Economics, he’s helped thousands of individuals position and sell themselves. A fan of international communication, history, and choral music, he currently lives in Utah with his wife. Reach him at: TheChristianHansen.com

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