13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck
I was quite excited to read his first foray into non-fiction, 13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck.
The journey of life isn’t exactly easy…Some people make it through hard work and talent. Some fall by the wayside. And some people are just plain lucky. They are blessed with Bloody Good Luck! But is it possible to attract good luck? Can we train ourselves to be lucky? Apparently, it seems that Dame Luck isn’t that fickle. She is well within our reach.
In his first non-fiction foray, bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi explores that critical, much-longed-for element called luck.
Through entertaining and informative anecdotes, narrations of personal experiences, and vignettes of homespun wisdom, Ashwin gives us a whole new insight into how people can work towards being lucky. It seems that luck isn’t entirely the twist of fate that it is made out to be!
The author explains, through examples, how people can make the best use of opportunities that come their way rather than just giving up. This is interesting because Ashwin focuses just on ‘luck’, often a misunderstood subject, in a logical manner. Ashwin talks about Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was a music director with AIR from 1949 to 1956. It was also the time when the American rock band The Byrds was popular. Shankar was invited to perform in the US, and the band incorporated some of his music in their tracks when they heard him.
George Harrison of The Beatles happened to hear Shankar’s music and visited India within six months to learn sitar from him. Shankar’s association with The Beatles made him the most famous Indian musician by 1966. Will you call this luck? Apart from Shankar, Ashwin narrates interesting stories of Ratan Tata, Indira Gandhi, Steve Jobs, Ardeshir Godrej, Chetan Bhagat, Azim Premji, actors like Amitabh Bachchan, and sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar and Sania Mirza, among others.
All the stories conclude one thing: that these people chose to take calculated risks, cut their losses, and learned from their mistakes. This shows that ‘lucky people’ are not just lucky because of their hard work. A positive attitude coupled with persistence has played an equal part in shaping their careers and life. Doesn’t this apply to you and me as well?
Ashwin writes that Jamsetji Tata in 1863 tried establishing an Indian bank in England, but brought the Tata firm on the verge of bankruptcy. However, his honesty and determination won him many friends in England. They bailed him out financially and helped him survive. Luckily, there was a strong demand for Indian cotton and Jamsetji acquired a rundown mill, thus shoring up Tata’s fortunes. It’s important to be positive and persistent, for which you need to have thick skin. This prevents criticism and negative feedback from pulling you down in life.
The book talks about 13 steps to good luck, with the first three being intuition, calculated risks, and willingness to experiment. For the remaining steps, read the book.