Work Creates Luck

Levi Strauss did not invent jeans. He had no idea what jeans were. He has a poor immigrant who moved to America at the age of 16 from Europe.

He joined the only trade he knew that of merchants and trading with his brothers. Learning from them he worked for 6 years honing the craft. He worked hard, learning the business and sharpening his commercial acumen.

He then moved west with the gold rush to see how he could capitalize on the opportunities. He then set up his own shop, hustled, sold all manner of materials and goods including canvas cloth to the prospectors looking for gold, silver and other precious metals.

He worked hard and tirelessly for 20 years building a reputation for efficiency, quality, service. As a result he became a trusted name in the industry.

In 1873, 20 years after he started a miner came to a tailor Davis stating his problem “ his pockets used to get torn very fast with all the nuggets of metal in his pocket. Davis fixed the issue with metal wire. He wanted to patent the idea but didn’t have the money. Who did he turn to – his supplier of canvas and clothing material Levi Strauss. Together they filed the patent. The rest is history !!

Theodore Vail worked as a clerk in a small local railway mail in the US. He saw how disorganized the whole operation was and manually set about re setting the entire time table of trains and mail deliveries. He was successful. When the US government wanted to solve the same problem and were looking for the right person, they could only find one – Theodore Vail. He was made head of the national program. From there he got connected to alexander graham bell and went on to found AT & T.

Vanderbilt lived on an island and the only way to go to new York was via boat. Service was poor and cost was high. He started a boat service. He cut prices. He worked hard to ensure his service was always running. He built a reputation for service, quality and good value. When the steamboat monopoly was broken he was the first person ready to take advantage. Vanderbilt outworked his competitors – he hence found and capitalized on more opportunities to become the first transport magnate in the world.

He who turns over the most rocks finds the most gold.

He who works the hardest and hustles the most finds the most opportunities.

The harder you work, more luck will come your way.

Get to work. Work hard.

Work creates luck.

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