– and what causes them –

During the recent months, I have had the chance to reflect on my life, and among other things, I realized how lucky I have been in my professional life. I have my reasons not to use the word “success” because I think it is generally being misunderstood. For now,  lets call it luck.

There is a saying in Japanese “運も実力の内“, which means “luck is also part of your skills”. Although there is also something as pure luck, things that we have no control over, like the town we are born in, our family, our apperance and so on, there are achievable lucks as well. There is actually a book, written by Richard Wiseman, “The luck factor” that analyses this from a  philosophical point of view, and teaches how to become a lucky person.

I highlight few of my professional luck and then share what I think has been the factor of attracting all the luck. Just to keep it clear, I myself am still exploring my way; my intention is not giving advice to anyone, I just hope sharing my story can inspire someone out there, who is looking for some professional luck.

My Professional Luck

• Never paid for 8 years of university education; always had a scholarship.
• Experienced living independently in Tokyo, at the age of 19, with life expenses fully covered by the Japanese government.
• Got a master’s degree with best score in university.
• Travelled on an architetural tour around four states in the US fully free, as a prize for a won competion organized by the famous American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, Foundation.
• Got class1 licence of Japanese language profissioncy.
• Worked for one of the top 10 Japanese star architects, with high competency, right after graduation.
• Became an associate in the biggest architecture firm in Japan (second in the world), and became a permanent employee. In japan becoming permanent employee for such an “elite” company, as they call it, is a mission impossible.
• Got class1 Architecture licence, issued by the Japanese government. With a 20% acceptance ratio for Japanese, below 1% for non-Japanese. Almost 0% for non Japanese who don’t use Kanji in their mother tongue.
• Worked on projects in 15 different countries. Travelled for free, as business trips, to 9 countries, in the best conditions; with business class airplane tickets and staying in top-class hotels.
• Had a sbbatical year in Barcelona, without the need to work, and obtained a second master 15 years post obtaining the first.

Things That influenced my Lucky

• PURE LUCK

I admit, I generally think I have been really lucky, beyond the things I have control over. My biggest luck is my family, and the wisdom with which my parents brought me up, becoming the best role models for me.

• TRUST IN THE UNIVERSE

I have always had a trust in the universe. I feel protected. Deep down, I know things are going to work for me. Maybe I owe this to my parents upbringing, my culture, the society I was grown up in. During the hardest moments I have always trusted that things are going to work out for me. Thinking universe as kind as my mother, I always know it has the best provided for me. This way of thinking, gives me the extra confidense I need for example when I go to job interviews. My fate is not in the hands of the interviewer, but something greater. This extra confidence opens many doors.

• DECIDING ON WHAT I WANTED

I think there is a big difference between wanting something, or hoping to get something, with making a decision that you are going to get it. I particularly remeber the exact momet, shorter than a fraction of a second, staring at my closet door at midnight, when I decided I want to get my first scholarship. I remember the momement, staring at a building in front of Hiroshima Station, that I decided to become an architect, working on exciting projects. Still to this day, for me, the hardest part is to choose what I want because then its easy, all I need to do is just doing it!

• CHANNELLING NEGATIVE ENERGY

I know this might sound a bit wired, but it works. I have had moments of frustration, or anger of some injustice, and because of my stubborn mind, in thoses though moments I have always told myself “I will show you who I really am!” and channeled that energy to gain things. When I got my architect license, I was frustrated by the fact that everyone thought without it you are not a real architect, and worse than that, my company couldn’t promote me to an associate if I didn’t have it. This was frustrating because I saw people whose professional level was lower than me, get promotions faster because they had it! I used it to motivate myself. It helped me to go through tough times and achieve my goal.

• THINKING THE WORST CASE SCENARIO

There is a saying is Persianبالاتر از سیاهی رنگی نیست,  “There is no color darker than black”, which is not that bad at all! Thinking the worst case scenario, gives me the courage to go out of my comfort zone and dive into the un-known. It gives me the courage, and sometimes the boldness, to just do it!

• NOT BEING AFRAID OF WORKING HARD

There is a misunderstanding about working hard, generally the majority of people are scared of it. But from my experience, not working hard enough, not using your full potential is much harder than working hard! Not being scared to dive in the hardness, is the key to achieve anything, absolutely anything we want.

• DOING JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE

This is golden and workes in every field of life. Excatly when I think its good, its enough, I try to do just a little bit more. Spend 10 more minutes reviewing what I have done, stay 5 minutes later in the office, that little bit more is what makes us stand out from others.

Last Thoughts

 

There are things we don’t have control over in this life. Those things need to be accepted, without resistance. The rest, we have power over them. The power to bring much luck to our lives.