MAKE YOUR

OWN LUCK
Success Tactics You Won’t
Learn In Business School
PETER KASH

PETER KASH is senior managing director and co-founder of Paramount Capital Inc., a venture capital firm
specializing in biotechnology start-ups. He has also taught at the Wharton School of Business and currently
serves as a visiting professor at a number of educational institutions, including Japan’s largest c ollege, Nihon
University. Peter Kash also serves on the board of directors of the Hedge Fund Association, and has
personally raised more than $500 million in venture capital while starting more than a dozen succes sful
companies.

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 Make Your Own Luck - Page 1

MAIN IDEA
You make our own luck in life by gradually learning how to better read the signs of opportunity kno cking. The key to long-term
success is to recognize and then seize the seemingly random moments and coincidences that can turn dreams into reality.
In business as in life, there are four factors which are inextricably linked together:
1. True success – however you personally define it.
2. The basic human values – respect, integrity and trust amongst them.
3. An opportunity for personal development – to feel that whatever you do makes a difference.
4. A personal sense of fulfillment – the satisfaction that comes from doing something to the best o f your abilities.
Many people go through life assuming these factors are mutually exclusive – any time you have one, the other three will remain out of
reach. In reality, however, these factors are all bound together. A life well lived or a successful business career will, in fact, have all
four rather than just one or two. All that’s required to achieve that will be to seize the moments that will present themselves from time
to time, and get into action.
“Good luck” doesn’t just happen to someone else. Nor does “the fickle finger of fate” work strictly by chance. Admittedly, there is an
unexplainable element which comes into it to some degree, but the majority of the good and bad brea ks we get are self generated.
When we learn how to better pick up on the clues that flood our senses every day, we soon realize t he world is full of interesting
opportunities. Make the most of those opportunities and in effect we are changing our luck for the better. Fail to take advantage of
these same opportunities and we miss out on all the benefits that can be derived.
Call it serendipity if you will, but luck is nothing more than opportunity knocking. It’s up to us to open the door and make the most of
each opportunity that comes to us.

1. The Magic of Coincidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2

Unexpected events play an important role in the success or failure of many business projects. Being able
to recognize the opportunities implicit in any apparently coincidental event is an essential key to success.
2. Personal Values – The Foundation of Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Your personal value system helps you make the most out of every opportunity. The primary place where
your values will be revealed to others is in business, simply because business transactions are alw ays
carried out in an atmosphere of trust. People that show by their actions they are unworthy of being trusted
cannot prosper over the long haul.
3. There Is No Success Without Some Failures First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Failure is an essential ingredient of success. The difference between a highly successful person and one
who isn’t is not failure – they both have plenty of that – but how they respond to difficulties.
4. The Path To Success Is Always Littered With “No’s” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
In every sales or negotiation situation, never make the mistake of thinking “no” means “never”. More likely,
it will mean “we need more information before we can make an informed decision”. The path to almost
every successful venture is strewn and littered with “no’s” along the way.
5. When To Make A Leap Of Faith – And When To Walk Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6
Taking a risk is an essential part of any successful project. You cannot become the type of person you
genuinely want to become unless something valuable is put at risk. Otherwise, life is unable to generate
the level of rewards that will make a difference to you. Therefore, look for those situations where the stakes
are high if you aspire to earn some worthwhile rewards.
6. The Power of Specialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Specialize in an area of life in which you have talent and a passionate interest. Become an expertin your
chosen field, and develop that aspect of your personality. Great success will flow to you if you do this well.
7. Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
The 10 positive things you can do to increase the coincidences and opportunities that flow to you a re:
1. Attend conferences.
2. Take a course in public speaking.
3. Read to understand people and the world.
4. Learn some history.
5. Learn a second language.
6. Set goals and work to realize them.
7. Be proactive, not simply reactive.
8. Collect business cards.
9. Pick a sport, play it regularly and become good at it.

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10. Be grateful.

1. The Magic of Coincidence
Main Idea
Unexpected events play an important role in the success or
failure of many business projects. Being able to recognize the
opportunities implicit in any apparently coincidental event is an
essential key to success.
Supporting Ideas
Most opportunities to do business transactions arrive at
unexpected times. In fact, they will regularly appear at
inconvenient moments, dressed in humble attire as a problem or
in some other disguise. For those reasons, many incredible
possibilities are ignored or dismissed lightly by people who are
unprepared to act.
There is no rational reason to explain why some many business
opportunities arise as improbable events or coincidences, other
than to say there is a “Web of Life” that unites all humanity. This
web constantly brings people together who are pursuing similar
projects from different directions. This is true also of all “first
meeting” situations – meeting your spouse, meeting a business
partner, coming into contact with a highly influential mentor. The
odds of these first meetings occurring are so small that there is
always an element of magic in such occurrences – as if they
were orchestrated by an unseen hand. This is the web of life in
action.
On closer examination, many people find most of their key
connections in life – personally and professionally – occur
accidentally or by chance. Yet, keep in mind these are only the
occurrences that they are aware of. There are probably an equal
(or even much greater) number of occurrences which were
offered but not taken up on for one reason or another. Thus, if
you become more aware of these occurrences as they arise, big
things are possible as you position yourself to take greater
advantage of them.
Why do we sometimes hesitate to take advantage of these
opportunities?
 We may feel uncomfortable about accepting gifts – preferring
instead to do something to earn everything we get.
 We may be afraid – that we will be hurt in some way or
disappointed if we fail.
 The unknown may seem daunting – compelling us to cling to
the familiar rather than plunge in and try something new.
 Our imaginations may be shackled – preventing us from
realizing the potential good in any situation or person we
come into contact with.
 We don‟t know where this will lead – and for that reason, it’s
better to be safe and stick to what we know rather than try
heading off in a new direction.
Albert Einstein actually had one question that he asked and
sought the answer for each day: “Is the universe a friendly
place?” For those who perceive the universe as essentially a
friendly place, their lives are rich with new possibilities. Every
day, they will work to harvest every opportunity that presents
itself, both coincidentally and by design. By contrast, anyone
who sees the universe as a predominantly negative environment
will greet each day with fear and suspicion. They will be far less
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likely to see coincidences as new opportunities but view them as
threats instead. And random occurrences will be accredited to
bad luck more than anything else.
Make Your Own Luck - Page 2
With that in mind, how can we become more open to the
coincidences generated by the web of life?
 Be open to new possibilities – especially those you have not
anticipated.
 Listen to your gut – and follow through on any random events
that just “feel right”.
 Be willing to look ahead – whenever coincidence and
inspiration align.
 Be opportunity oriented – constantly on the lookout for new
and unexpected possibilities.
 Have a long-term perspective – and trust that the good deeds
you do will be like seeds that bring forth an abundant harvest
of future possibilities.
 Try and make more friends than enemies along the path to
success.
Help others to succeed – by acknowledging the basic human

values of dignity and self-respect.
 Maintain high standards of personal ethics.
Key Thoughts
“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success.
We often discover what will do by finding out what not to do; and
probably he who never made a mistake never made a
discovery.”
– Samuel Smiles
“Life becomes larger, richer and more exciting when you open
up to the greater possibilities for yourself, your family and all the
people you care about. At the same time, you will also
experience more of your own power, because you will see how
you can be guided by your own abilities and intuition. Today,
when my gut tells me to pursue something, I try to listen. Not
every endeavor succeeds, of course. I have failed as many times
as I have succeeded, but I‟ll take a .500 batting average any day.
I have learned that my inner voice can provide very good counsel
indeed.”
– Peter Kash
“Tremendous opportunities occur when we connect with people
in a positive way. Very often, coincidence is opportunity
knocking. In order to make the most of these golden chances, we
must first understand that something good often lies in events
that seem humble and even meaningless, at least on the
surface.”
– Peter Kash
“Most people enter the workforce with a single priority in mind:
financial reward. As we move along in our careers, we eventually
realize that we need more than a paycheck to truly feel satisfied
and fulfilled in our work. As Maslow stated, once our survival is
take care of, other needs awaken. Sooner or later, we find
ourselves wanting our work to be the medium through which we
develop our talents and abilities. We realize that we need to work
in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. We want to be
recognized for our contributions, not just to the company we
work for, but also to the community. We want to grow in such a
way that we become our best selves. The type of work you do,
the spirit with which you do it, and the atmosphere within your
workplace, all combine to mold you into the person you want to
become. It‟s not too far fetched to say that work is destiny,
because your job will transform you.”
– Peter Kash

2. Personal Values – The Foundation of Success
Main Idea
Your personal value system helps you make the most out of
every opportunity. The primary place where your values will be
revealed to others is in business, simply because business
transactions are always carried out in an atmosphere of trust.
People that show by their actions they are unworthy of being
trusted cannot prosper over the long haul.
Supporting Ideas
In business, a true sense of fulfillment only comes if you develop
your humanity at the same time as you achieve your goals.
Without a strong personal value system, people who achieve
any measure of success become arrogant, selfish and
mean-spirited. Conversely, those who have strong value
systems come to treat others with respect and appreciation.
They do business on the strength of mutual respect rather than
exploitation.
The keys to developing and maintaining a strong personal value
system are:
 Whenever you break your values, own up to it.
Don’t deny or run away but deal with the consequences
directly. It always turns out better in the long run. If you try and
ignore the fact you’ve broken your values, all you’ll end up
with is emotional or psychological pain. And stay focused on
your own life more than worrying about whether others are
living up to their own value system or not.
 Live the law of cause-and-effect.
In short, do good to other people and you’ll create a chain
reaction of good effects in your own life in the future. Act on
the basis that the universe really isn’t good or bad, but it can
be either depending on how you act. Sow some good seeds
today in anticipation of receiving benefits in the future.
 Have true integrity.
People with integrity understand what they are committing to
and why. In practice, if you would like to increase the amount
of integrity in your life, stop and evaluate yourself before you
make a commitment to anything. Don’t agree to do anything
that’s asked of you if you won’t have the time or interest to
follow through. The same also applies to unforeseen
difficulties. If you commit to a project, be prepared to work
through any and all of the challenges that crop up. Nothing
that has enduring value is easy, but if you are committed
100%, you’ll see a project through to completion. This is all
part and parcel of having integrity.
 Believe in whatever you‟re doing.
Quite directly, if you believe in what you’re doing, you’ll be
more likely to give it everything you’ve got, which then means
you’ll be more likely to succeed. The human spirit demands
that we find meaning in our work and our personal lives, and
that we make some kind of contribution to society. If you
believe your work makes a difference, you’ll be more likely to
throw yourself into your career, and opportunities for service
will crop up in unexpected places and situations.
 Think “we” rather than “me”.
Spread the rewards around everyone who contributes. If at all
possible, help every person own stock in the company. That
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way, either everyone succeeds together or everyone fails
together.
Make Your Own Luck - Page 3
 Treat others with respect and dignity.
Business opportunities never come flowing out of a computer
or a copying machine. Rather, business happens whenever
two people get together to do things. Keep that in mind, and
treat others with courtesy. Before long, an increasing flow of
business opportunities will come.
 Treat those who work for you with respect.
How you treat the people below you on the totem pole of life
reveals volumes about your character and personal value
system. Respect their dignity and treat them well to increase
the opportunities that flow into your own life. Also, don’t forget
that the roles have a funny way of being reversed quite
regularly, and you may end up working for one of your juniors
in the future. Treat them now the same way you’d like to be
treated in the future should that occur.
 Be grateful.
Gratitude is the basis for satisfaction in business as well as in
life. Keep one eye on the future but don’t neglect to thank
those who are helping you in the present. If you stop and
think, there are loads of things you can and should be grateful
for. Take the time to thank those responsible.
 Help those in need.
When you achieve success, find ways to give something back
to others. In particular, the greater your personal level of
success, the greater your responsibility to care for those who
are less fortunate.
In the end, our value system defines who we are as people and
whose company we keep. Everyone needs to give serious
thought and commitment to growing and expanding their own
personal value system.
Key Thoughts
“First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then
prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”
– Dale Carnegie
“One of the axioms I tell my students is this: One thing, more than
any other, will determine how your life turns out. That thing is
neither money nor fame. Rich and famous people wind up
miserable and ruined every day of the week. The thing that will
determine whether you are loved, respected, successful and
fulfilled will be your values – not the values you think you have, or
the ones you‟d like to have, but those you live every day.”
– Peter Kash
“A Scottish farmer by the name of Fleming saved the life of the
young Winston Churchill, who, when he was just a boy, got stuck
in a bog and was about to drown. When Churchill‟s father found
out what had happened to his son, he went to the farmer and
offered him a reward. The farmer refused the offer. Just then, his
son ran out of their house. The senior Churchill saw the boy and
offered to give him a good education. The farmer thought about it
a few seconds and agreed. The boy eventually went to St.
Mary‟s Hospital Medical School in London and went on to be
knighted as Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.
Of course the young Churchill made good as well, becoming one
of England‟s greatest prime ministers. Interestingly, the two
would cross paths once more. At one point in his esteemed
career, Churchill became severely ill with pneumonia; his life
was saved when he was given penicillin. The good we do – or the
bad for that matter – somehow finds its way back to us again and
again.”
– Peter Kash

3. There Is No Success Without Some Failures First
Main Idea
Failure is an essential ingredient of success. The difference
between a highly successful person and one who isn’t is not
failure – they both have plenty of that – but how they respond to
difficulties.
Supporting Ideas
Society at large tends to think of failure as a static and
permanent condition – as an end point to one’s personal quest
for success. Yet, that contradicts the fact that many highly
successful people have had often extended periods of failure on
their way to achieving enduring greatness. For these people,
failure was not permanent, but just a phase that had to be
navigated.
The real key is not whether failure is present but how one
responds to difficult times. Everyone’s life has its temporary ups
and downs. What’s important is not whether its good times or
bad at the moment, but how one thinks and believes.
Examples of great people in history who failed their way to
enduring success include:
 Abraham Lincoln – who had business failures, the death of his
fiancé, a nervous breakdown and numerous electoral defeats
before he became the 16th American president in 1860.
 Pete Sampras – who was prepared to accept a more modest
professional tennis career until a crushing defeat in the finals
of the 1992 U.S. Open motivated him to go on and
subsequently win 13 Grand Slam titles.
 Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank – who had their hardware
store and do-it-yourself repair center put into Chapter 11
bankruptcy before they decided to start a new business,
Home Depot, which has gone on to become the largest chain
of hardware stores in the world.
 Herman Meier – the Austrian skier who fell in a preliminary
race of the 1998 Winter Olympics before coming back and
winning two gold medals at the same Winter Games.
 Nathan Pritkin – who was diagnosed with incurable heart
disease and then went on to develop his own cure involving
exercise and diet – forever changing the way heart disease
was treated in the future in every country of the world.
So what’s the best way to turn failure into success? There are
five rules:
#1. Listen to your heart.
Before you react, reflect on what it is you truly want, at the
expense of every other option. Determine your greatest inner
desire and resolve to never give up. One of the first things
failure forces us to do is to determine whether or not we are
serious about accomplishing something. Take stock, find
what you’re good at, take note of your weaknesses and then
set your future direction.
#2. Listen to your critics rather than ignoring them.
Try and learn from what your critics are saying, even if you
don’t agree with their final assessment of your abilities. All of
the best companies in the world encourage their customers
to point out where they are failing as a way of developing
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better products in the future. Follow a similar approach.
Thank people for pointing out your current weaknesses,
reflect on what they are saying and then move forward.
Make Your Own Luck - Page 4
#3. Believe you can succeed.
If you’re determined to achieve your goals, have confidence
you’ll find a way, even if your first attempts didn’t exactly work
out as planned. Have faith there are solutions to every
roadblock that will crop up. Realize the solutions exist and all
you need to do is find them.
#4. Pay the price required for success.
In short, the greater the success you aspire to in the future,
the more numerous the short-term failures you’ll need to
endure before you get there. Don’t stop. Don’t think that life is
unfair because you don’t succeed at your first attempt.
Failure forces you to train harder, upgrade your skills and
tempers your soul so that you’ll enjoy your successes even
more intensely. Adversity is the constant companion of every
success story in history. Don’t complain about it, just work
with it.
#5. Have faith in yourself, in your efforts and in the web of life.
Life follows a wave pattern, with periodic ups and downs. A
short-term failure is just a trough, and the energy of the wave
will still be present to propel us upwards with incredible
momentum at a later stage. Little things will come along, that
seem insignificant at the time but from a later viewpoint
become a key turnaround point. Therefore, when things
aren’t going well, step away. Refresh your perspective. Rest
a little. Then commit everything you have to the effort to
succeed. You’ll usually be pleasantly surprised by how well it
all works out in the end.
Key Thoughts
“Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not
fish they are after.”
– Henry David Thoreau
“History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually
encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed.
They won because they refused to become discouraged by their
defeats.”
– B.C. Forbes
“During the past decade, I have carefully examined the lives of
highly successful people and found that all people who succeed
go through periods of their lives when all their efforts seem to fail.
The difference between a successful person and someone who
is unsuccessful is not failure – they both have plenty of that – but
how they respond to difficult times. Today I realize life is a wave
pattern – there are ups and downs, good times and bad. Life
doesn‟t stop at any one point on the wave. Success and failure
are just words that we use to describe different points on the
wave. Wherever you may find yourself on the wave, know that it
is temporary. There will be plenty of ups and downs to come.
People maintain their general life circumstances – either as
failures or successes – by what they fundamentally believe
about themselves. From our beliefs about ourselves flow our
judgement and actions.”
– Peter Kash
“Many people believe that the single greatest obstacle to their
dreams is money. People tell me all the time that they have a
great business idea, but lack the capital to create it. In nine cases
out of ten – or perhaps 99 out of 100 – that‟s not the real problem.
If you have a dream you can believe in, you can raise the money
yourself, or start your enterprise on a shoestring. Solutions are
waiting to be found, but there is no substitute for searching.”
– Peter Kash

4. The Path To Success Is Always Littered With “No’s”
Main Idea
In every sales or negotiation situation, never make the mistake
of thinking “no” means “never”. More likely, it will mean “we need
more information before we can make an informed decision”.
The path to almost every successful venture is strewn and
littered with “no’s” along the way.
Supporting Ideas
To succeed in business, you have to learn how to deal with
rejection. Rejection is really a badge of honor, showing you’re
prepared to put yourself into a position where you might fail.
Without the courage to take risks and experience some failure,
there’s not a lot you can do.
Thus, to really get ahead:
1. Try and experience more rejection rather than less – on the
basis that it ultimately will make you stronger in whatever you
do in the future.
2. Use rejection to learn and grow – to improve the quality of
your ideas, the caliber of your presentation skills and the
inner traits of your personality.
No matter how far you go in your career, people will still keep
telling you “no” along the way. Keep taking risks. That’s the only
way you can differentiate yourself from the herd. Keep believing
in yourself and grow from the experience. Make the changes that
seem sensible, but never get disheartened solely on the basis of
a few “no’s”. This is especially true when dealing with people
whose professional careers depend on their ability to say “no”.
To find a way to get to the “yes” that lies just beyond each “no”:
1. Be totally trustworthy.
Before people will enter into a business transaction with you,
they must trust you. If you’re aggressive and too eager to
make a deal, people will find it harder to trust you. Similarly, if
your focus is solely on the money, that will make others
become uncomfortable. In all, develop a personal
relationship with clients before attempting to transact
business, and that’s only feasible if you’re worthy of their
trust.
2. Be knowledgeable.
Everyone dislikes doing business with people who are
incompetent. There really is no viable substitute for the basic
elements of competence – skill and know-how. If people
believe your knowledge base is superficial, they will be
unlikely to want to do business with you. Thus, become an
e xp er t i n you r fi eld . Unde rsta n d th e n eed s an d
characteristics of those you need to deal with. With enough
knowledge, many barriers will melt away.
3. Honor and be worthy of all your previous successes.
Most people only want to do business with others who have a
solid track record of similar successes. Therefore, if you
don’t have a solid track record to fall back on, communicate
to people that at least you have the character traits that will
ultimately lead to success – integrity, trustworthiness,
knowledge and skill. Try reversing the roles – if you were
your client, would you feel comfortable doing business with
yourself? If there are some issues that give cause for
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concern, address those before attempting to do business.
Unless and until you project the right appreciation for your
past successes, future success will remain elusive.
Make Your Own Luck - Page 5
4. Put trust in the web of life.
To do this means to have faith things will get better in the
future, even in the middle of particularly dark and stormy
sections of the journey. Have confidence that good acts will
return, with interest, in the future, thanks to the effects of the
web of life.
5. Recognize the power of anyone who can say “no”.
At the very least, realize that if you’ve found someone who
says “no” to what you are proposing, at least you are dealing
with a decision maker rather than an intermediary. Celebrate
that fact. Build this person’s role up, and make them feel
important. They will be far more likely to change their “no” to a
“yes” if you treat them with the respect they deserve.
Key Thoughts
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the
acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme
of skill.”
– Sun Tzu
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist
sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
– Winston Churchill
“When you hear the word „no‟, realize that you are that much
closer to making a deal, because mathematically you have just
eliminated one more „no‟ on the way to „yes‟. In reality,
negotiations don‟t start until you hear the word „no‟. Then you‟re
talking to someone who has authority and is in a position to say
„yes‟. That‟s when the game begins.”
– Peter Kash
“There is no succeeding in business without first learning how to
deal with and overcome any personal feelings you may have
about rejection. At this point, I‟m nearly impervious to feelings of
personal rejection, mostly because I‟ve been rejected so many
times in my professional life. One of the things I do today to
strengthen my chances of success is to take a new deal first to
the people I know will say „no‟. These people are going to ask a
lot of tough questions; they will also expose many of the deal‟s
weaknesses. I want to know those weaknesses and confront
those tough questions. In a sense, the people who say „no‟ to me
are giving me a test run; they‟re allowing me to practice making
my pitch and to confront my weaknesses, before I go out there
and deal with the people to who I want to sell this deal. People
just starting out in their careers should do something similar:
They should go to as many interviews as they can, just to
understand what it takes to perform under such conditions and to
practice responding to all the tough questions you‟re going to
face.”
– Peter Kash
“It‟s worth remembering that your job will require about a third of
your adult life, or about half of your waking hours, which means
that your work will shape you in ways that go far beyond your
bank account. The type of work that you do, the spirit with which
you do it, and the atmosphere within your workplace, all combine
to mold you into the person you will become. It‟s not too
far-fetched to say that work is destiny, because your job will
transform you. Work is a very rough outline of tasks. What
matters is how well you perform those tasks, the spirit with which
you do them, and how you relate to others as you do your work.
The job of your dreams is not dropped in your lap; no one can
give you the perfect job. Rather, it is created by you.”
– Peter Kash

When To Make A Leap Of Faith
5.
– And When To Walk Away
Main Idea
Taking a risk is an essential part of any successful project. You
cannot become the type of person you genuinely want to
become unless something valuable is put at risk. Otherwise, life
is unable to generate the level of rewards that will make a
difference to you. Therefore, look for those situations where the
stakes are high if you aspire to earn some worthwhile rewards.
Supporting Ideas
In its purest form, opportunity is nothing more or less than a
chance to realize a personal goal. Therefore, when you have a
chance to put together a deal that may change your career, seize
the moment. Make the leap into the unknown.
There is, however, a critical difference between deals that can
move your career forward dramatically and deals generated by
an ego that is temporarily overinflated. To make that distinction,
pause before moving forward and answer seven key questions:
1. What is being offered in this opportunity?
Analyze the situation rationally and look at what the real
benefits are. Don’t be vague. Find out what is really on offer.
2. What, precisely, do you stand to lose if things don‟t work out
as expected?
What could you lose if the worst case scenario happens –
money, status, credibility or other resources?
3. Are there other choices?
What are the other options, the other alternatives?
4. Are you willing to commit the time, energy and courage that
will be required to bring this endeavor to a successful
conclusion?
In other words, is it fear of failure that causes you to be
tentative or are you ultimately unwilling to give it what it will
take to succeed.
5. Do you have the maturity, experience and wisdom needed to
skillfully make the most of this situation?
In other words, can you make the step upwards that will be
required? Are you positioned correctly?
6. Does this opportunity give you the chance to do something
you feel absolutely passionate about?
If so, you’re far more likely to have the tenacity that will be
required than otherwise.
7. What does your gut say?
When an opportunity arises that’s not right for each of us, we
feel it deep inside. We all have an internal tuning fork that
generates feelings of excitement or feelings of resistance.
Pause and determine what your instincts are saying before
making a final decision.
Once you’ve asked and answered each of these questions, the
dimensions of the opportunity should become a little clearer.
You’ll then be in a better position to decide whether or not the
opportunity represents a leap forward or a risk wisdom dictates
should be avoided. Many times, it comes down to one issue:
Jump at any opportunity that allows you to become the person
you really want to be deep down and avoid any opportunity
which does not lead in that direction. If it just doesn’t feel right for
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you, most likely that’s your internal tuning fork trying to send you
the signal not to take the leap. Good opportunities will, above all,
be consistent with your own ideals.
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Opportunities have a funny way of surfacing just when they are
needed most. Stay open to opportunities that arise during
moments of crisis. You may find that if you are forced to leap
rather than having to make a conscious decision, that’s the web
of life in action.
Sometimes you may even want to leap at an opportunity just for
the fun of it. If there’s little or no downside, at the very least you’ll
end up with an adventure to tell the grandchildren about some
day.
Key Thoughts
“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”
– Linus Pauling
“Taking a risk where there is little downside actually makes life
fun and more enjoyable. It‟s the little adventures that add to our
heroic image of ourselves and makes us feel better about who
we are. These are no small blessings, even when they are only
small adventures.”
– Peter Kash
“We all must be cautious whenever we take risks – anything less
than caution is pure arrogance and the basis for a serious fall –
but life is so arranged to make risk-taking a necessary part of any
kind of success. Even more important, you cannot become who
you want to be without taking risks. I have decided for myself,
therefore, that big risks should only be taken when my livelihood
depends on it. Little risks can be taken for the fun and excitement
of them. In either case, there are no rewards without them.”
– Peter Kash
“„What if I fail?‟ people ask me. Let me put this as gently as I can: I
guarantee that you will experience failure again and again.
Failure is an essential experience on the path to success. The
question isn‟t whether you will fail, but what will you do after you
fail? All success is based on our actions in the wake of failure. I
have studied the lives of successful people the world over. Every
one of them has failed – repeatedly. Unlike many people who call
themselves failures, however, these people didn‟t let failure
keep them from succeeding.”
– Peter Kash
“A wise man once said to me, „You can have anything you want
in life. All you have to do is gamble your life to get it‟. That was
extraordinary wisdom, because he captured something
fundamental about life: Everything has a price, and even if you
pay the price, there is no guarantee that you‟ll get what you want.
Life is a gamble.”
– Peter Kash
“People argue that there is danger in asking for too much from
life, that you‟ll set yourself up for disappointment and failure.
Actually, there‟s a danger in asking for too much and too little. If
you think small, you‟ll ask little of yourself and experience only
small rewards. That‟s a formula for dissatisfaction,
disappointment and failure. If you ask for a lot, you might be
dissatisfied too, but only if you have big dreams and ask too little
of yourself as you attempt to fulfill them. Still, the real danger in
life, as I see it, is not expressed by the question of whether to ask
for too little or too much. That‟s the wrong question because it
implies that the job of your dreams can be given to you. The job
of your dreams is not dropped in your lap; no one can give you
the perfect job. Rather, it is created by you.”
– Peter Kash

6. The Power Of Specialization
Main Idea
Specialize in an area of life in which you have talent and a
passionate interest. Become an expert in your chosen field, and
develop that aspect of your personality and skills. Great success
will flow to you if you do this well.
Supporting Ideas
People always flock to an expert in a field when they want the
best advice or the best service possible. Experts with a
reputation for excellence can also charge a substantial premium
for the services and products they offer, meaning experts in any
field have all the power and influence.
So how do you become an expert in your own specialist field?
 Get a good basic education as a solid foundation.
 Accrue knowledge – by attending workshops, professional
symposiums and major conferences in your specialist field.
Listen to what other experts are saying on a regular basis – at
least four times a year.
 Attend graduate level courses at major universities and learn
what‟s happening at present in your field.
 Apply your knowledge and further develop your skills by
working alongside your professional peers.
In essence, the steps to becoming an expert are really nothing
more than common sense and sound judgement, but very few
people ever specialize because they cannot decide what area of
their profession to focus on. If you can identify something you’re
passionate about, the rest of the steps in becoming an expert will
be easy.
To identify exactly what you’re passionate about:
 Do a little traveling overseas – learn to appreciate and respect
people from other cultures. You may identify a common need
that you’ll feel passionate about meeting.
 Look at your hobbies, personal interest and pastimes – and
see whether there is scope to specialize in an area that
expands on your talents and abilities.
 Look for whatever comes naturally to you – because that may
be your inner voice pointing to the area in which you could be
highly successful as a specialist.
 Learn the basics of your profession – and then find areas
where you can do things your own way and specialize in
those. Do that well enough and you will soon become
recognized as a master within your own profession.
 Go to close friends or mentors and ask their opinion on what
you should specialize in.
As you specialize, you’ll eventually come to discover and
express who you truly are. Every member of the human race has
the potential to excel in some field. Some people find their niche,
many do not. By specializing and becoming an expert, we
increase our influence, which in turn enhances our ability to
achieve the very things we feel most passionate about. Many of
the world’s greatest success stories as specialists are people
who were motivated by an experience early in their lives, and
who then spend their entire careers doing something to address
a particular need. You can do something similar by selecting one
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part of your own profession or trade and becoming an expert in
that area of expertise.
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Key Thoughts
“Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid of standing still.”
– Ancient Chinese proverb
“Success comes as a culmination of many small but meaningful
experiences. It is the fulfillment of many events, like a series of
pearls that combine to create a beautiful necklace. Those small
events may be as mundane as learning more about your
products or trade, attending courses to increase your knowledge
and hone your skills, and improving your ability to communicate
your ideas or sell your products. Sometimes we make the
mistake of believing that self-expression must result in some
peak experience or big success, but developing your
understanding of your career and learning to express yourself in
your own unique way is a gradual, unfolding process. You have a
chance to emerge from anonymity almost on a daily basis. As
you do, you become more identified as an expert in your field.”
– Peter Kash
“We specialize in our careers and become experts for several
reasons: to know ourselves and express who we are; to gain
authority, influence and financial success; to support those we
love; to make a contribution to our professions and those around
us. What better words could be said in anyone‟s epitaph, but that
he used all his abilities, power and success to make the world a
better place.”
– Peter Kash
“If you gain knowledge and skill, you naturally develop greater
self-confidence and self-respect, which will reflect in everything
you do. Gradually, you will feel your own personal power and
authority emerging. You are the one who knows about a given
area of your profession. Consequently, you find yourself relying
on your own knowledge and creativity. In time, a kind of
graduation takes place in which you move from a dependent,
almost subservient career level, to a place of greater authority,
responsibility and adulthood. With greater knowledge and
expertise, you become your own person. You are able to move
more freely from one job to another. You realize that you are
much more in control of your career.”
– Peter Kash
“Usually, our talents and passions arise early in life, though
when they do, we rarely notice them as such. Very often, our only
clue that an activity is an expression of a special talent is that we
enjoy doing it, or experience some deep level of satisfaction. The
first hints of talent, joy and passion emerge early in life, or are
connected to experiences we have early in life – both good and
bad.”
– Peter Kash
“As we struggle to achieve our goals, we often forget that we are
getting help from mysterious quarters of life. Opportunities arise
out of the blue that we would never have expected. These
opportunities shape our careers and, in the end, determine our
destiny. I do not attempt to explain the mystery behind such
events, which I refer to as the web of life, because I can‟t. All I can
do is acknowledge that it‟s there and show people how to make it
work for them.”
– Peter Kash
“The only things you have any control over are your own
thoughts and actions. Yet, your thoughts and actions give you
tremendous power to shape events.”
– Peter Kash

7. Putting It All Together
Main Idea
The 10 positive things you can do to increase the coincidences
and opportunities that flow to you are:
1. Attend conferences.
2. Take a course in public speaking.
3. Read to understand people and the world.
4. Learn some history.
5. Learn a second language.
6. Set goals and work to realize them.
7. Be proactive, not simply reactive.
8. Collect business cards.
9. Pick a sport, play it regularly and become good at it.
10. Be grateful.
Supporting Ideas
1. Attend conferences.
By going to professional conferences on a regular basis, you:
• Learn about where important business trends are heading.
• Meet interesting people.
• Get inspired by the achievements of others.
• Come into contact with like-minded people.
• Learn how to share ideas and resources with others.
2. Take a course in public speaking.
If you aspire to become a leader in your own specialist field,
you must be a competent public speaker. There are loads of
courses in public speaking which are available in your
community. Take one. It will impact every other area of your
life for the better.
3. Read to understand people and the world.
Every newspaper, every magazine and every business
report is chock full of business opportunities – but you will
only be in a position to take advantage of them if you read
them first. Therefore, read widely. Become exposed to new
ways of thinking and different ideas. The more you read, the
more new opportunities will open to your view.
4. Learn some history.
History is the study of how other people have reacted in
difficult situations, what they thought and how they reached
specific decisions. Avail yourself of all that history has to
offer, because it can inspire and motivate. In particular, work
on learning:
• Your own personal history – by keeping a daily journal.
• Your family’s history – both strengths and weaknesses.
• Your company’s history – which explains why it exists.
• Your country’s and world history.
And always read a daily newspaper because that is an
ongoing installment of history as it happens around you.
5. Learn a second language.
With globalization and the spread of the Internet, the next
generation of successful business leaders will be bilingual.
With that in mind, learn a second language, and travel places
where you can use it. If English is your first language,
consider learning Spanish or Chinese in your spare time.
These two languages are used by the next two great markets
that will open up to business during the 21st century.
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Make Your Own Luck - Page 8
6. Set goals and work to realize them.
Goals are your compass in life. Therefore, write down what
you plan on achieving in the immediate future, 1-year from
now, 3-years from now and 10-years from now. You should
also break your goals down into major categories – family,
finances and investments, professional career, home,
physical health, belongings, your emotional/spiritual
existence. By setting goals, you specify what type of person
you’ll become, and what opportunities will open to you.
7. Be proactive, not simply reactive.
If you’re reactive, you’ll feel like you’re the victim of larger
forces which overwhelm you. By contrast, a proactive person
deals with issues directly using vision and leadership. That
way, problems can be addressed before they reach a crisis
stage. You should become proactive in bringing your goals
from the possible into reality.
8. Collect business cards.
File those cards by their professions, and don’t forget to
make a few notes on the back if the person impresses you
and with whom you’d like to work in the future. When you
need someone to work on a project, your business card files
should be the first place you instinctively go.
9. Pick a sport, play it regularly and become good at it.
Leaders in business have many demands placed on them,
and need to be physically fit. By playing a sport regularly to a
reasonable level of competence, you get a way to offset
stress and tension. And you’ll be much more motivated to
practice hard if it’s a game you really enjoy and can play
competitively. Regular physical activity enhances mental
agility, increases your energy level and puts you into a
positive emotional state.
10. Be grateful.
Always keep in mind how far you’ve come, how much help
others have given you along the way and the challenges
you’ve overcome in the past. Live a life filled with gratitude to
keep moving forward steadily and consistently. Quite often,
the simple act of remembering someone close who
sacrificed so you could excel will put you into a permanent
state of gratitude.
Key Thoughts
“A ship in harbor is safe but that is not what ships are built for.”
– John A. Shedd
“The price of every goal – whether it is in your career, finances or
family – is time, energy, concentration and commitment. Choose
the things that are most important to you and give yourself – that
is, give your time, energy, concentration and commitment – to
them. Chances are very good that you will get the things you
want from life.”
– Peter Kash
“Success, basic human values, personal development and a
deep sense of fulfillment are not mutually exclusive, but mutually
bound together. They are the basis for success, both
professionally and spiritually. And that, after all, is what we are
talking about in the end. A life well lived is one that unifies earth
and heaven, matter and spirit, survival and love. All of us are
dependent upon each other and upon the mystery that I have
loosely, and somewhat profanely, referred to as the web of life.”
– Peter Kash