The BIGG Successs Show
Is It Better to be Lucky or Smart?
We explore one man's success to find the answer. Plus, enjoy a special treat in honor of St. Patrick's Day from comedian Jake Novak. Read the show summary at biggsuccess.com.
- Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today we ask, is it better to be lucky or smart? - The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. (upbeat music) - Hey, happy St. Patrick's Day. - Yeah, green beer and everything. (laughing) - That's a luckily Irish. - And we have a special treat coming up in honor of the day, just a little later on in the show. - Right now, Mary Lynn, I wanna just share a story with everybody. I have a friend who's very successful at buying and selling businesses, very successful. - Yes, you are correct. - You get the idea, right? He's been doing this for about 13 years, started out by buying a whole bunch of businesses for a relatively small amount of money. A few years later, he was able to sell those businesses for a relatively large amount of money. Turned around and did that all over again. So bought him for a low amount, sold him for a high amount. It just seems like he's been able to time his activity so he's always buying when the market's low and selling when the market's high. - And you gotta have a knack for doing that. So is he lucky or smart? - Well, he says it's better to be lucky than smart. - Obviously though, he is very smart. He's gotta be joking. - Well, I think he knows that, but there's three points in what he says. And the first one is this, you have to be smart in order to do well. That's why I probably haven't done so well in life. (laughing) - You've done just fine. - He's mastered the craft of buying and selling businesses. - You know, as in with any subject, when you first look at it as an outsider and you first get into it, a lot of times it seems rather simple. Oh yeah, this is nothing. Then as you dig deeper, you start seeing all the complexity. You're like, "Uh oh, what have I got myself into?" Then as you wade through that, you begin reducing it to its essence and then you start to see it as simple again. - And so we went from simple with no complexity to simple with a full understanding of the complexity. That's how you know you've mastered something. - That's right, you're an expert on the subject. You are smart. - Thank you, Marilyn. I'm glad you said so. Second thing is this, you have to be humble about it, just like I was. (laughing) You have to recognize that you're not in control of everything. Luck definitely does enter the picture to some degree. - The opposite of that is arrogance. People who don't realize or won't admit that luck is involved and things are coming easy for them now, so they think it'll always come easy. They don't have to waste time doing menial activities, but those are the things that made them successful in the first place. - Keep that attitude up and the next thing you know, you'll be facing an unlucky turn of events. - Ah, which brings us to our third point, which is don't push your luck. My friend leaves a lot of money on the table. He often says, I sold it too early. But that's exactly the point, he's not greedy. Another friend of mine said once, it's okay to be stupid if you're not greedy and it's okay to be greedy if you're not stupid. That's why I'm never greedy. (laughing) - That thing is if you're stupid and greedy, look out. - So is it better to be lucky or smart? - Well we think you're lucky to be smart. - Speaking of luck, some people just don't seem to have any of it. And coming up, comedian Jake Novak shares his top five signs that you are unlucky. - Today we've discussed whether it's better to be lucky or smart. And what we've said is it's best to be both, and hopefully you're smart enough to know that luck plays into it. But there are some people who just are plain unlucky, no matter what they do. And comedian Jake Novak is with us. How you doing Jake? - Doing fine. I'm both dumb and unlucky. (laughing) So it's helpful. - As long as you're not greedy. - Right, no. - Well that's why we knew this was the perfect show to have you back on. And so here's Jake's take, the top five signs that you're unlucky, Jake number five. - You've been asked to lead the marching band in your local St. Patrick's Day parade, but the thing is, you play the cello. (laughing) So it's not a lot of fun. - That's a heavy duty work there. - Yeah, you gotta carry the chair and the cello. - Number four. - You don't have some people reaching to their pants pockets and find loose, change your money. You try to reach into your pants pocket and realize you're not wearing pants. (laughing) - George, you never wear pants. Number three. - Like everyone else this year, you're getting a lot of those automated campaign calls during dinner. But these recorded calls urge you not to vote for their candidate. (laughing) - I've had a few of those. (laughing) - Number two. - Yeah, you've always been the first one on your block to buy all those cool new electronic equipment, like HTRAC tapes, the Betamax and HD DVD. You always buy those first knowing they'll be around forever. - I didn't realize that the HD DVD was kind of out now at this point. - It could put, yeah. Blu-ray is the winner. I was rooting for Blu-ray all week. I was on the edge of my seat, I couldn't wait to find out who won. (laughing) - And finally, the number one way to know that you are definitely unlucky, Jake? - Well, when you go to the doctor, they ask you for your insurance card, your life insurance card. (laughing) - Well, there you go. - No, it doesn't that mean they're unlucky? - Yeah, well, not really. (laughing) I guess you're the one who has to suffer, right? - Yeah. - All right, and you can get some more St. Patrick's Day Fund by visiting our big fund page at bigsuccess.com. That's also where we have a written summary of today's show. And instead of doing a big quote today, George, you're gonna give us a lucky Irish toast. - Yes, if I can only speak it with an Irish accent, but here it goes. May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold, and at the end of all your rainbows, may you find a pot of gold. - And hopefully it's not full's gold, right, Jake? (laughing) - That's right, that's right. I was just thinking, you know, here in New York, that it's a big issue. St. Patrick's Day is a huge, huge day, and I'm thinking that, you know, St. Patrick's, we're a Jewish holiday, a lot of things would make a lot more sense, like the eating, the corn beef, and cabbage. (laughing) But some of them gotta explain that one to me. - It's gotta be kosher corn beef. - Yeah. (laughing) - Good night, good night, good night. - Oh, well Jake, thanks so much for being a part of The Big Success Show again. - Always my pleasure. - Next time, we'll talk about nine presentation tips to make you a star. - All right, not American Idol. - There you go. - Until then, here's to your big success. - The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] You