Does Luck Exist? | Ep 78

► We want to hear from you!
Do you think luck exists? Is there a time in your life where you achieved success through luck?

► Without looking it up can you tell us where Thomas Jefferson was born?

We're here to talk about how working hard can make you luckier. You know that saying, "The harder I work, the luckier I get"? Well, we're diving deep into what that really means. Join us as we share stories of people who've worked hard and found success not just by chance—but by putting in the effort. Whether you need a boost to reach your goals or just want to learn how hard work pays off, tune in to this episode for some inspiring stories and practical advice.

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https://thebusinessproj.kartra.com/portal/WbPsoEMvTKdT/subcategory/105

► Quote for today’s episode: I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson

► The presidents song that we mentioned in the podcast (just in case you were wondering): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSneelTw3lghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSneelTw3lg

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Transcript

 I find that the harder I work, the more luck I have, by our boy T. J. T. J. Way to do the intro and cover me. I got all these notes here. I couldn't find it.  Oh, Thomas Jefferson. You took my line.  You're better at the intro. I'm just trying to help a little bit. I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.

Yeah. That's a good one. By good old T. J. Yeah. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Oh, look at that. Insane.  Alright, so let's learn a little bit about Thomas Jefferson. What do you guys think about that quote? We'll get into it in a minute.  But first, we're going to learn about Mr. Thomas Jefferson. Who was that?

He was born in 1743  and he died in 1826. Wow. That was a long time ago. Yeah. It's longer by the second.  By the second. Yeah, like now it was longer than it was a second ago. And it's just now? Yeah. Now it's older now. Yeah.  He was American, uh, founding father. Yup. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president, president of the United States.

I should have made them, made them say that. What president was he? That would have been a good question. Yeah. I would have failed that one. Yeah? Really? I didn't know what, I didn't know what number he was. I knew he was a president. I know a song. Okay. George Washington, John Adams, and then Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe,  John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren.

They actually taught you that in school? No, I had a song, I don't know, it wasn't in school, it was just a CD that I had that had all the presidents. Cool. You guys like my singing, that's why I'm not a singer.  Can you share that song in the link so that we can learn? Yeah. Our presidents? Yeah, there's a couple of them, I haven't been able to find that exact one, cause I wanted it for my kids.

Cause it has their first and last name, which is what I like, but there's a lot of them with just the last name. Really? Mhm. President song. No, we should have first and last name. Yeah, that's what I think too. All right, bonus points. If you guys can tell me where Thomas Jefferson was born. Which state was he born in? 

He was a lawyer, an architect, and a statesman. He played a vital role in the American Revolutionary, Revolutionary War, and he was a key advocate for American independence. If he was alive today, he'd want to go to war again. Yeah.  He would be, he's taxing us, rolling in his grave.  We went to war for taxes. 

Yeah. Cause he was a big advocate for limited government and limited taxes. Yeah. It's very for the people.  Yeah, let the people govern themselves. Yeah  One of his big challenges talk about challenges because that's where we're going into right now is right Does luck exist is the question of the day and we want to hear from you guys.

Does luck exist? No  Easy answer to that one. No, it is not  One of the challenges that he faced as a leader Was the louisiana purchase?  and This was in 1803. It doubled the size of the united states But this it forced faced opposition because some questions it questioned can't read today It's constitutionality  But he overcame it because he was a good leader  some question the constitutionality of buying the louisiana louisiana purchase Yeah  um  He  prioritized the nation's expansion and future prosperity over strict constitutional adherence, ultimately justifying the purchase under his executive powers to negotiate treaties. 

Yeah, so he was like, poo poo on you, we're buying it. He's like, I'm the boss.  We're doing it for the best interest of our nation. I will know you'll thank me later. Yeah, kind of attitude. Do we thank him? We are thanking him. I think so. Now we have the whole United States. We wouldn't be from the Atlantic to the Pacific if it wasn't for him.

Mm hmm It's TJ. That's right. Yeah  So he he should know about adversity. That was like a crazy time in American history Yeah, during that time the development of the United States, and I'm sure people were torn. I'm sure some people Probably liked How it was and they didn't want it to change we get that way even if it's good for us to change We're like no, I I want to sit in my poopy diaper.

We're comfortable in our mess  Sometimes we don't just want to we don't want to clean the mess just lay in the mud Yeah, that's not good. No, it's not. That's why we need people like tj  Out there making those hard decisions Such as business owners that are out there making the hard decisions of being a business owner in life Because we don't do it who's gonna do it.

Yeah, and sometimes I think as business owners we see a vision like he probably saw He saw that in his head  What the Louisiana Purchase would do for our country? He saw the vision for hands. Mm hmm. He had the foresight  Trying to make it happen. We do this as business owners. We have a hard time. I think getting others around us, especially if you're like a real entrepreneur and you're creative and because some businesses owners aren't that way.

Some are just like, they want, they really good at measuring and building tables and that's what they want to do. And I, I think the ones though that are very creative and always coming up with ideas,  have a hard time getting other people on board to see your vision.  Because, like, you see the big picture, and you're like, how can you not see that?

Yeah, it's being able to communicate that to others, so, in a way that  they can feel it the way you feel it. I think that's really hard. I find that difficult. It is very hard. I find it very difficult.  Because I always have these big dreams, you know, and I try to express it to the people around me sometimes, and it's like, they look at me like. 

What are you talking about? 

Yes, but there are people we're about to go over some examples of some people that had big dreams and saw things and they made it happen. And sadly, now that we're talking about it, I think that's probably one of the biggest reasons that businesses close is not because they have a bad idea. It's just because maybe they have a hard time getting the people around them to see the vision.

Of what they're trying to accomplish. I think of like, you know, an ice cream shop that opened in our community and there's a lot restaurant specifically things, even boutiques that open and I walk in and I can immediately tell  they might be really good at making ice cream, but this place looks like a dump.

Their logo was created on word and you know, it just is not good. And.  I think if that person, if they're really good at making ice cream, and they would have brought other people in that are good at painting walls and creating a logo and  providing funding and things like that, they probably would have had a good chance of succeeding.

Interesting you're talking about that because that kind of ties into last week's quote. Yeah. How collaboration is important. You know, this week's quote is about hard work, so obviously it's a joke. This, this week's quote is a joke. Yeah, sarcastic, I think he's being sarcastic. Right, sarcastic. You don't, you don't find luck by working hard.

Right, because, you know, when you work hard, you're just going to reap the benefits of your hard work. There's not, there's no luck around that, right? There's just, um, fruits of your labor,  per se. Sometimes your circumstances play a role in that.  You know, like if the economy takes a tank or like there's things that happen that could maybe be considered luck. 

But overall, I think it's in general, if you're doing the right things and if you're working hard, you're going to reap the benefits eventually. I feel that if you're doing the right things and working hard,  and let's say it happens in a time where There aren't the right circumstances in place. It's just going to take longer to get to the end, but you'll get there  Yeah, so you're always going to get to the end result.

It's just depending on the environment depending on what's going on Which is reminds me. There's this great book called outliers where There's it's about people that have done great things, right? um, and some of them Accomplished them quicker than others because of when they were born  All right. So when you're born plays a lot into it What you can accomplish in life because the the environment plays a major role where the country is in where the world is in as far as development, um, who plays a role into an idea that you have if I'm like if I'm a guy who loves robotics.

Right, but I grew up in the stone age. I was born in the stone age, right? Yeah, not gonna work well together, you know what I mean? Right. So, you know, making robots out of rocks. Exactly. You know, trying to, trying to make stick figures move automatically by themselves, you know, it's a, it, it's difficult in that circumstance, but  the dependent, if I live forever and the  robotic age comes, then I'm, I'm ahead of the game.

Right.  So, you know, it's, it's, Consistently, it's the hard work that reaps the results.  Yeah, I agree.  And if y'all didn't listen to last week's podcast, you should definitely go back and listen to it because it was a really good one. We just started this new series that is, it's probably going to go on for a really long time because I'm excited and we've got like a hundred quotes lined up.

So many good ones. A lot of really good ones. We're taking quotes from successful people and we're talking about them. If you haven't noticed, it's a little different. This is what we're going to do for a while. So let's talk about some of your successful people you have there that we're going to.

Highlight Or do you wanna, don't we have to have some videos? Show some videos? Lni. Lth. We gonna go to Lni. Lne. I love Lni. Yeah. If you guys are listening and not watching, I think that this one is a visual and Mm-Hmm. So no worries. Just hang with us just for a minute or fast forward through it. But the, um, the actual video, if you wanna see it, is available on  www. 

Dot the business project. com and www first www where we're fixing it. There's also a link in the description of the video. If you want to just click on it, but head on over to the business project. com and all of these videos, Christina that we do and with Lauren and lots of other free resources. And one more that we're going to talk about that goes along with this episode, if you want to see the video, then head on over there.

To that, create your free account, all free. We don't spam you. We don't do anything. And this is all for you guys. So, um, let's get into it. Let's great resource. See from Lauren. Yeah, let's do it. Hi everyone. I'm not sure on my face today because I have a great tool that I would love to share with you. My name is Lorna Peters, director of marketing and communications at better business Bureau serving middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.

If you need to reach out to us. Our information will be available. Casey and John can let you know where to find me. But in the meantime, if you do need to reach out to us, email addresses, info at go bbb. org info at go bbb. org. So what is this tool? I would like to share with you today. It's called BBB scam tracker.

And what does this tool do? It allows you to use the tool or use Scam Tracker to report a suspected scam or if you want to find out more about scams in your area. So, for example, let's go to look  a scam.  So once you go to look up a scam, it brings up all the scams that are active currently as of today.

If you want to narrow down where you're viewing scams, you can always go to a step code, you can go to a state. So for  this particular example, or this time that we're spending together, I want to spend some time on viewing our state of Tennessee. So you'll go down to Tennessee. search  and it brings up all the active  scams that are happening currently in our area in Tennessee.

If you want to find out about Montgomery County or other counties, you can do that also. But if you go down, you see in detail,  the information this person is sharing with us. They're even provided that email address. So by chance, if you receive an email address from this particular person, or if someone you know is receiving an email address, you can tell them, hey, if you're not too sure about it, let's visit SAM Tracker first and find out if others are experiencing the same thing or are receiving the same email.

So this is the great tool for anyone and everyone to use. It's called scam tracker. So you just go to bbb. org backslash scam tracker. If you're interested in reporting a scam, you can do that at this landing page also. So you go to report a scam. You will need to provide your information, your address and. 

Specific information that identifies you will not be available. But on the back end, we need to verify that this is not a scam  that you're submitting. It's a scam tracker, right? It's a real person who's submitting this information and not a robot or not a scammer. So you can complete a scam request there or report a scam.

Or you can look up a scam. So that's all I wanted to share with you today. I think it's a great tool we should all be using. So before I go again, if you need to get in contact with us, send me an email info at go bbb.  org  until next time. Talk to you soon. Have a great day. That was good. That was good. I love  Lorneth.

So Lorneth  is with the better business bureau and she was providing some very good information for those that weren't able to follow along. On how to track down and learn about what scams are out there. They have a tool to use which is pretty cool That is a pretty cool tool. That's a good one because they are always changing.

There's always so many scams It's a chess game. Mm hmm. So you got to stay on top of it Don't click any links and don't answer the phone if you don't know the number let them leave a message. Yeah  So crazy. This world today that we live in 100%. All right, let's go back some, put it some to Tom, to people.

It was going to be a good one. I know. What is up with us? Okay. I was this way last week too.  All right, so we are going to talk about some, some people because the quote of today is I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have by our man, TJ Thomas Jefferson,  third president of the United States.

If you missed my song, go back and listen, because I have an amazing voice. The first person that I have on here is Howard Schultz.  Do you know who Howard Schultz is? I do now. Yeah. I do. I knew who he was. The Starbucks guy. Starbucks guy. The CEO of Starbucks.  He grew up in a poor family and he faced financial, financial difficulties from a young age.

He started working at Starbucks in 1982 and it was a very successful business.  just couple locations and it was a storehouse. So they sold coffee beans and equipment. They didn't actually have a place that you could go in and order coffee like they do now.  What, what is nice and pretty cool is that he started working at a Starbucks location and now the CEO.

Yeah. You can work your way up. You can. Sometimes. Yeah, and sometimes so this is a good thing that I didn't think about talking about today but I think sometimes We think that in order to be a success you have to come up with a great idea and you have to build it off from scratch but Sometimes god places you in a position to where all he wants you to do is just be diligent where you are.

Yep  Yep, just give your best wherever you are Because that's That's where the opportunities arise sometimes. Yeah  So mr. Schultz was working there and  he traveled to italy and he was just  Loved italy and they had places where you would go in and sit and enjoy coffee and it was an experience And so he came back To his starbucks in the u.

s. And he's like, hey guys, I have this idea. I saw I went to the coffee houses and I saw In italy and they're really cool Yeah, we need to make a place where people can enjoy coffee and enjoy each other and make it an experience and so They after a little bit they're like, okay  All right. Let's give it a shot and it didn't like take off like this.

It wasn't They started it and then it was like bam, bam, bam, bam everywhere. It took some time Because again change I think also for people is Take some time to adapt,  but they adapt, adapted, and now he grew Starbucks into one of the largest coffee house change in the, in the world with over three thirty,  three thirty?

I quit today,  without, with over 30, 000 stores globally. They gotta be the largest. Oh, they have to be. Yeah. Duncan is, Coming up on their tail though. Duncan's pretty big. Yeah, I mean between the two of them. They're definitely the the largest  Um, but I consider duncan a donut I mean, they sell coffee, but I don't think they're like people coffee house.

Oh, yeah people go to duncan now for coffee Really? Yeah, they've redone they've  They're popping up everywhere. And I know a lot of my friends would rather go to duncan than starbucks I personally like duncan donuts coffee more, but i'm not a You  I like my own coffee. Yeah. Like I make my own coffee at home.

Starbucks for me is not the best coffee. It's kind of bitter, but the fact that they've, they've created, they've grown from that idea to being,  I'm going to say the largest, the largest coffee,  whatever in the world is pretty, pretty darn cool.  Go ahead, Howard. Yeah, that is, that's amazing. And it took some time.

I mean, we look here.  Um, he started in 1982  and there's 30, 000 stores globally.  Um, in the like 20,  2000, I know that there was a point in time where they were just opening up stores like crazy left and right across the street from each other. Yeah. Starbucks everywhere, everywhere.  So it took, it took a long time.

It took some time to get there. It wasn't just something that happened overnight. And we look at Starbucks and we're like, Oh, they're success. They just popped up overnight everywhere, all over, but that didn't really happen. Not true. Not true. But what's cool about him is he started out as a worker  and, you know, wanted to make the company better, make the company who worked for better.

So he offers a solution to  to, to trying to, to take that company to the next level.  You know, it's hard to find that today,  but he did it.  And how cool of the owners of the company to be like, all right, we'll give it a shot. Yeah. Cause that's a, that's a, not a guarantee. It's a hard thing to do. It's true.

But I think it's easier for small companies.  If you have employees, if you're a small company, you have employees that are like, Hey, I have some ideas on how to make your company better. You know, if you do this, this  I would listen. I would love employees to come at me with ideas on how to better the company.

Yeah, even encouraging that. Not that you can use all of them or everyone is going to be a good one. But I was talking to my son this morning actually on the way to school and I was telling them about leadership and how he feels like I think when they're kids, they feel like leaders are the ones that are in charge, like they're first in line and they're bossing everybody around and they're picking the teams and they're making the decisions and they're making the rules, but in all reality, a good leader doesn't do any of that.

A good leader lets the team do that.  A good leader lets the team get all the credit for all of the things.  I agree. Yeah, so it seems like he did that well. And that, that was actually, when I was reading his bio, that was part of their culture too, was their team. Their commitment to employee welfare. Mm hmm.

Yeah, I know that they're, they're known for that. Mm hmm. Um, very cool. Yeah.  Who else you got? So, Go Howard. Alright, next we're going to hear from a quick word from our girl, Christina,  and then we've got one more person that we're going to talk about, and then we're going to close it out. We're going to talk about the free resource that y'all get with this podcast, then we'll close it out.

So here we go with Miss Christina.  Hey there. Thank you for tuning in to the business project. I'm Christina Stubblefield, a digital marketing strategist and business coach and co owner of Sew In Media Group. I've got a quick tip for you today that can really boost your social media game. When it comes to standing out on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or any platform, authenticity is key.

Personality is key. People want to see the real you. So don't be afraid to let your personality shine through in your videos. My tip for you is to embrace the power of storytelling. Instead of just showcasing your products or services.  Try sharing a personal story that resonates with your audience.

Whether it's a behind the scenes look at your business or a heartfelt narrative, storytelling is a powerful way to connect with your followers on a deeper level. So the next time you're creating content for social media, remember to To keep it real and share your story, your authenticity will not only help you stand out, but it also fosters stronger connections with your audience.

If you would like to connect with me, visit my website, Christina stubblefield. com.  I hope you have a great day.  Our girl,  always some good tips. Yeah, she's a gem. Yeah.  She is she knows her stuff and she shares it. Well, she does very professional. She's come a long way. I love her  Yeah, we are experiencing some powder hour power outages There's like some thunder in the background and going on to this podcast if it seems a little clipped up I apologize where we've had to start recording over several times because we're losing power  Hey, you can't compete with god.

No, we just keep on moving keep on trucking  So the last one that I want to talk about, I bet people could guess,  I bet you could guess who the last one is. Who's the biggest name all over the place in everything right now? In business? That is going across  opposite grain.  Elon Musk. Yes. Elon Musk. Elon Musk is the man.

Yeah, he's the man. He's the man. Talk about richest man in the world. A success story, and he didn't come from a rich family. No. He was born in South Africa in 1971.  He's not that much older than me.  and he almost, I have a lot of work to do.  , you better get moving. Jeez.  . I'm behind the power curve. Yeah.  by billions. 

By billions, yes. With a beat. Got a lot, a lot of work to do. Me too.  He,  he overcame a lot of challenges. I think he almost went bankrupt a couple times.  A lot of things happened. See that? Yeah. Yeah.  It didn't just happen overnight to where he's like from South Africa and then to America as a billionaire.

Yeah, it's a long journey to get there. For sure. Yeah, he's a genius though. He is a genius. He's an outlier. Yeah, he's like one of those outliers from the book.  Because he's definitely a genius.  So he was able to take his genius and create things with it.  And I think that once you, when you're a genius and you're able to create things with your geniusness,  then you're unstoppable in the world.

Yeah. Like in that area. Yeah. Yeah. He is a genius,  but I think sometimes, like you said, I think even being a genius, we're all given different strengths and  different tools to make it through this world. And I think when you're able to take the tool that you've been given. And I guarantee you he didn't do it alone, too.

I guarantee you he put himself around people that filled in the gaps where he wasn't strong.  And he wouldn't be where he was with people around him. Nope. Not at all. He would definitely not be the richest man in the world. No. Because you're a genius and you can create  what you're thinking. You can create it, but it doesn't mean you know how to manage a business and things.

So he's got definitely had To surround themselves with some good business people for sure  Yeah, put in the work. And I think probably I'm not a genius. Well, I am a genius, so I can relate to this. I'm just kidding.  I think genius  in a different way. I think that he, um, it's probably hard to, when you're very smart and you're looking at other people that are not as smart as you, it's probably hard to let down your ego and just be like, Hey, come on this journey with me.

I need your help with this. Right. Right. That is true. I can, I can, I can imagine. I can see it being difficult. Yeah.  He did it. He did it. He still does it. Yeah. He's still doing it. Tesla is now a leader in electric vehicles, and SpaceX has revolutionized space travel,  including successful missions to the International Space Station and the development of reusable rockets.

And now X. X. X. He's got new, he owns X now. Neuralink. Neuralink, yeah. The boring company. That's right. X SpaceX. He was one of the founders, the co-founders of PayPal too. PayPal, yep. That's what made him a billionaire. Yeah. When he sold PayPal. mm-hmm.  . See  hard work and you'll find.  Hard work gives you luck.

You hear that, Rain? It is. I hear it. Coming down hard. Yeah.  The show must go on.  Alright, so that's the podcast we got for you today. Find, I find that the harder I work the more luck I seem to have by Thomas Jefferson. We want to hear your favorite quotes. We might do a podcast on it. We also want to hear what you think of that quote.

Yeah, I'll tell you what I think of that, that quote, here's my, my write up on. Yeah, let's see, let's see. And it pertains to, of course it pertains to business and entrepreneurial stuff. So here we go. A young entrepreneur spends late nights and weekends developing a business idea. Elon musk right learning from failures and adapting strategies  When their business finally takes off it might seem like a stroke of luck to some  Blakely Right.

Mm hmm. She was stayed up late nights and changing up her strategies and learning from her failures She probably cried. She probably cried a lot. Yeah But it's really the result of their persistent effort and hard work  See, luck, hard work does not bring luck. It presents, it brings results.  That's good.

Boom. That's John's  phone drop conclusion.  We should end our podcast with the John's conclusion. Boom. Yeah, that was good. Yeah, it is good.  So I hope you found some value in that, um, put in there, you know, cool.  Are you lucky or are you going through some hard work, right? Let us know what you're going through and what you're trying to accomplish with that.

And, um, share this as well. Yes. There's some, uh, there's a whole lot of other people that can definitely benefit from this information. We need you guys. To help us find luck. Yes. There's a free printable also that comes with this episode with this new format. This is another thing that we're doing because the business project is launched and ready to go.

And there's lots and lots and lots of goodies. There's videos, there's printables, there's articles, there's lots of stuff. So.  Make sure you head on over to the business project. And the printable that goes along with today's episode is called unlock luck through hard work.  And it kind of incorporates the quote from today.

And it gives you actionable steps for your business  to achieve success. So there's seven tips on there. Wow. And then there's like some little things, some questions for you to ask yourself. So if you want the blueprint to getting lucky in business, I mean, okay. Dirty minds. You have the blueprint to get lucky. 

Go to the Business pro www dot. It took me a second to figure out what  I got it. 

go to www do the business project.com.  You'll find it there. You'll find it a, along with a bunch of other stuff. Yeah,  next week. We will be back to you on Friday new episode every Friday and the quote for next week is from Franklin D Roosevelt we're not gonna tell you what it is. You're gonna have to wait.

Mm hmm. That's a good one. Yeah, I like that one Thank you. We'll see y'all next week. Peace