Today is Friday the 13th. A day we normally consider to be very unlucky, but the question is why? I’ve always heard that Friday the 13th was unlucky but never knew why. I’ve asked a few people leading up to today, turns out they don’t know why either! I did a bit of research and found that actually NOBODY really knows why Friday 13th is considered unlucky.
Historically, there are accounts of it being considered unlucky from as far back as hundreds of years ago, but no one actually knows the source of where these traditions really come from.
It’s just something that we’ve all grown up with as being a part of our culture. For most people, it’s nothing more than just superstition and they don’t take any notice of it. For some, they take it very seriously, some people don’t leave the house of Friday 13th. Whilst others think that it’s all probably just superstition but they don’t take any chances anyway, just to be safe, they won’t start any new ventures, buy lotto tickets and so on. As an aside, I once knew a guy who always included the number 13 in his lotto numbers because he figured that logically it had as much chance of being picked as any other number, but he figured that a lot of people wouldn’t include it, so if he won there’d be less chance of him having to share his winnings with anyone!
This got me thinking, how something of unknown origin can have people changing their habits because of thinking that something bad may just happen. What if we were to reverse this and started to change our habits because we believed that something good would happen.
How often do you start the day with the belief that something good is going to happen today? How often do we ever really feel lucky in life? But what if you really believed that today was the day that something good was going to happen. What if you just knew that some really seriously major piece of luck was going to show up in your life today. You didn’t know what, you didn’t know when, but you just knew that at some point today it would happen.
Would you approach life differently? Every time you had an opportunity, would you go for it? If any kind of opportunity came your way, would it cross your mind that something good is going to happen today, this might be the way it happens, this could be your chance. I’d better say YES when I might otherwise say no.
For so many people, when the see an opportunity, the first thought that comes to their mind is all the things that could possible go wrong. As a species, we’re trained to think in worst case scenarios. We have evolutionary biology built into each of us. Thousands of years ago on the plains of Africa, if you heard something in the bushes, you instantly thought the worst. If you thought it was a predator, and it turns out you were wrong, no big deal. If you thought it was a predator and it WAS, you have a chance to save your life. If it was a predator and you thought, it’s probably nothing, you’re toast! So we’ve evolved to think in worst case scenarios, because in the past, that was crucial to our survival.
These days however, we don’t have so many things to worry about, but we’re still left with this residual sub-conscious desire to always think in worst case scenario’s. What’s the worst that could happen. Unfortunately these days, not only is that not necessary, but it actually doesn’t serve us. It actually costs us. We miss opportunities because of our psychology.
Now I’m not saying that there aren’t predators still out there. When you get the email promising millions of dollars if you help smuggle gold out of Africa, and all you need is to deposit $10,000 now! Probably a good opportunity to let go!
But how many times do we miss out on opportunities just because we close ourselves off to EVERY OPPORTUNITY! Mark Twain was given the opportunity to become an initial investor in the telephone, he declined because he didn’t think there’d be much demand for the device. Ronald Wayne, the 3rd Co-Founder of Apple, sold his 10% stake in the company for $800. History is littered with these examples. The problem is that they failed to properly analyse the situation. They let fear overcome their rational thought. Mark Twain was impressed by the telephone. He wanted to buy one, and he thought the Mayor of the town would want one, and he assumed the local newspaper would want one too. But that’s only 3 people, he couldn’t imagine why anyone else would want one, so he assumed that there’d never be enough demand to make any money from it. Ronald Wayne became worried about a $15,000 debt that the company had, so he sold his share for $800 rather than risk a $15,000 debt. (had he kept his nerve and sold his 10% stake today, he’d have enough money to repay the $15,000 debt in full and still have enough left over to split 2 ways with me!).
So, what I’m saying is, at least consider every opportunity that comes your way. Don’t be naïve, but also don’t be scared. Do your due diligence, ask yourself what is the worst case scenario? But also, ask yourself what is the BEST case scenario.
What if this DOES work? Ask, not just what can go wrong, but what can go right. What if this did work out, what effect would that have on your life? How might this change your life? How might this provide you with an opportunity to grow more as a person.
Here’s your homework. What are some of the things that you’ve passed on before because you were thinking worst case scenario. I’m not saying that they’re all going to be great, but did you ever really think about it before you made a decision.
If not, go back and actually evaluate these decisions, maybe you haven’t missed the boat, maybe there’s still time to get on board. What have you said no to that perhaps on closer inspection may just have been the perfect opportunity for you? And it goes without saying, that from now on, every time an opportunity falls into you lap, you really want to check it out before you automatically say no out of fear.
Leave me a comment below to let me know how you go with this.