How to Create Your Own Luck: The You Never Know Approach to Networking, Taking Chances, and Opening Yourself to Opportunity

258 Pages·2004·0.73 MB·English

by  Susan RoAne

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HOW TO
CREATE
YOU R OWN
LUCK
The “You Never Know” Approach to
Networking, Taking Chances, and
Opening Yourself to Opportunity
S R A
USAN O NE
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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PRAISE FOR
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN LUCK
“Some people wait and wait for luck to come their way. Others
have a knack for creating their own luck. In this inspiring and
entertaining book, Susan RoAne reveals the secrets of success-
ful people who embrace the You Never Know! philosophy. Since
this book has found its way to you, you can let it open your
imagination to new life possibilities. Will it change your life?
You Never Know!”
Father Paul Keenan
Author, Good News for Bad
Days, Stages of the Soul,
and Heartstorming
“The first step in creating your own good luck is to read and
practice Susan’s sage advice to open yourself to opportunity,
expand your network, and take chances. Soon, your life will
overflow with abundance and joy.”
Michael J. Gelb
Author, DaVinci Decoded:
Discovering the Spiritual
Secrets of Leonardo's
Seven Principles
“If you have ever wondered how you could bring more luck into
your life, Susan RoAne has the perfect answer. With her trade-
mark sense of humor, she distills the stories of real people who
turned serendipity and You Never Know! opportunities into suc-
cess. She provides insights and a game plan so we can do the
same.”
Connie Glaser
Best-selling author, What
Queen Esther Knew and
Swim with the Dolphins
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“The best advice I ever got from my mother was: ‘Don’t be afraid
to ask. The worst they could say is no.’ Susan RoAne offers that
same kind of straightforward, commonsense approach to cre-
ating a life of personal, professional, and spiritual fulfillment.
And she does it with love, insight, and humor.”
Robert Spector
Author, The Nordstrom Way
“There are those people who say ‘if only,’ and then there are
those who ask “what if?’ In How To Create Your Own Luck,
author Susan RoAne gives us the keys to making good things
happen in life rather than wishing they would. The inspiring
and practical stories show that if it’s “luck,” then it's luck of our
own making and how we can make the choices that make our
dreams come true.”
Joe Calloway
Author, Becoming A
Category Of One
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HOW TO
CREATE
YOU R OWN
LUCK
The “You Never Know” Approach to
Networking, Taking Chances, and
Opening Yourself to Opportunity
S R A
USAN O NE
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2004 by Susan RoAne. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy-
ing, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107
or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior writ-
ten permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the ap-
propriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web
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addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River
Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone].
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have
used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this
book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fit-
ness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales
representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained
herein may not be suitable for your situation. The publisher is not engaged in
rendering professional services, and you should consult a professional where
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profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
RoAne, Susan, 1948–
How to create your own luck : the “you never know” approach to networking,
taking chances, and opening yourself to opportunity / Susan RoAne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-61280-4 (cloth)
1. Success in business. 2. Social networks. 3. Serendipity. I. Title.
HF5386.R523 2004
650.1'3--dc22
2004008611
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To my grandmothers, to those who came before us,
and to the legions of wise people who are now
with us who always answered, “You never know!”
when we asked, “Why?” Well, now we know.
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C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction xi
1 The Eight Traits 1
2 Lemons to Lemonade 27
3 It’s a Small World 47
4 The Kindness of Strangers 77
5 Necessity Is the Mother (and Father) of Invention 95
6 Staying On and Straying Off the Path 121
7 Get a Job 147
8 Happy Accidents 175
9 Who’d’a Thunk It? 195
“You Never Know!” 219
Appendix
The Ten Commandments for Turning Serendipity
into Success 221
Yiddish Glossary 222
Notes 228
Resources 230
Index 231
For Those Desperately Seeking Susan 238
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