Chapter 2 The second letter: luck depends on planning

Motto: Everyone is the designer and architect of his own destiny. I don't live by luck, but I thrive by planning luck. When waiting for luck, you must know how to guide luck; designing luck is designing life. (He who marches in rank and file has already eared my contempt.He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.) January 20, 1900 Dear John: Some people are destined to be dazzling kings or great men because of their extraordinary talents, such as old Mr. McCormick, who has a head that can make luck, and knows how to turn the harvester into a scythe for money. .

In my eyes, McCormick Sr. will always be an ambitious and business-minded industrial tycoon who liberated American farmers with the harvester and at the same time propelled himself into the ranks of the richest people in the United States.The French seem to like him more and praised him as "the man who has contributed the most to the world".Oh what a bonus. This business prodigy, who could only be an ordinary farm equipment dealer, once said a profound saying: "Luck is the residue of design." This sentence does sound like a lot of brains. Does it mean that luck is the result of planning and strategy?Or does it mean that luck is what remains after planning?My experience tells me that both meanings exist. In other words, we create our own luck, and it is impossible for us to completely eliminate luck by any action. Luck is an inescapable blessing in the planning process.

McCormick had an insight into the true meaning of luck and opened the door for luck to come over.Therefore, I am not at all surprised that McCormick harvesters can be sold all over the world and become a product on which the sun never sets. In our world, however, it is rare to find a man who is as good at planning luck as Mr. McCormick is, and it is hard to find a man who does not believe in luck, and does not misunderstand luck. In the eyes of ordinary people, luck is always innate. As long as they find someone who has been promoted in a position, has a strong position in the business world, or has achieved success in a certain field, they will casually and even say in a contemptuous tone: " What a man's luck, and it helped him!" Such a man can never catch a glimpse of the great truth on which his success depends: that each man is the architect and architect of his own destiny.

I admit that, just as one cannot live without money, one cannot live without luck.But you can't wait for luck to make a difference.My creed is: I don't live by luck, but I live by planning luck.I believe that good planning can influence luck, and even successfully influence luck in any situation.My plan to turn competition into cooperation in the oil world is a testament to this. Before that program began, refiners were siled and driven by profit, resulting in a destructive rivalry.This competition has certainly been a boon for consumers, but falling oil prices have been a disaster for refiners.At that time, the vast majority of oil refiners were losing money and were slipping into the quagmire of bankruptcy one by one.

It was clear to me that if we were to return to being profitable and making money forever, we had to tame the industry and get people to act rationally.I see it as a responsibility, but it's hard to do, and it requires a plan—a plan that puts the entire refining business under my control. John, to be a good hunter in the hunting grounds for profit, you need to be thoughtful, careful, able to see all possible dangers and opportunities in things, and at the same time, like a chess player, to study all possible threats to your supremacy. various strategies.I thoroughly studied the situation and assessed my own strength, and decided to use the base camp of Collieverland as the first battlefield for me to launch the war to rule the oil industry. The second battlefield, until all those opponents are conquered, the oil industry and the new order are established.

Just like a commander on the battlefield, when choosing what kind of target to attack, he must first know what kind of firearm to choose to be the most effective. In order to successfully realize the plan to unify the oil industry under my command, a thorough solution to the problem is needed. That's money, and I need a lot of money to buy up refineries that are creating overproduction.But the little capital I had was not enough to realize my plan, so I decided to form a joint-stock company to bring in investors from outside the industry.Soon we registered and established Standard Oil Company in Ohio with millions of assets, and the capital expanded by three and a half times in the second year.But when to do it is a matter of knowledge.

Farsighted businessmen are always good at finding opportunities in every disaster, and that's what I did.Before we started our journey of conquest, the oil industry was in chaos, and every day there was no hope. Ninety percent of the refiners in Colliforland were almost crushed by the increasingly fierce competition. If they didn't sell the factory, they would You can only watch yourself go to perish.This is the best time to acquire a rival. It seems unethical to take an acquisition at this time, but it really has nothing to do with conscience.An enterprise is like a battlefield, and the meaning of strategic goals is to create the most favorable state for one's own side.For strategic considerations, the first target I chose to conquer was not a vulnerable small company, but the most powerful opponent, Clark Payne.This company is well-known in Colliforland and ambitious, and wants to eat my star refinery.

But before the opponent decides, I always have to strike first.I took the initiative to meet with the largest shareholder of Clark-Payne, my old friend from high school, Mr. Oliver Payne, and I told him that the era of chaos and downturn in the oil industry should be over, in order to protect the industry that countless families depend on for survival , I want to build a large, high-performance oil company and welcome him in.Penn was so impressed by my plan that they agreed to sell the company for $400,000. I know that Clark-Payne is not worth the price, but I didn't refuse them. Eating Clark-Payne means that I will gain the status of the world's largest oil refiner, and will quickly take the oil refiner of Colliforland. Pinch together to act as a powerful pioneer.

This trick really worked.In less than two months, twenty-two competitors had gone to Standard Oil, and I was the big winner in the takeover battle.And this gave me an unstoppable motivation. In the following three years, I successively conquered the oil refiners in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, and became the only master of the oil refining industry in the United States. Thinking about it today, I am really lucky. If I only lamented my bad luck and drifted with the tide, I might have been conquered already.But I plotted out my luck. Anything can happen in the world, but nothing can happen for nothing. I don't care about those who follow the trend and stick to the rules.Their brains are entangled in the wrong thinking that they are worth complacent about getting out of the way.

John, if we want our good luck to continue, we must carefully plan our luck, and planning luck requires a good plan. A good plan must be a good design, and a good design must be effective.You need to know that when conceiving a good design, you must first consider two basic prerequisites. The first condition is to know your goals, such as what you want to do, and even what kind of person you want to be; the second condition It is knowing what resources you have, such as status, money, relationships, and even abilities. The order of these two basic conditions is not absolutely unchangeable. You may have an idea and a goal before you start looking for goals suitable for these resources.They can also be mixed together to form the third and fourth methods, such as having a certain goal and a certain resource. To achieve the goal, you must selectively create some resources, and you may have some resources and a certain goal. You must raise or lower your goals based on these resources.

After you adjust your goals according to your resources or adjust your resources according to your goals, you have a foundation—a structure on which to conceive and design, and the rest is to fill in means and time, and wait for luck to come. You need to remember, my son, that by designing your luck, you are designing your life.So while you are waiting for luck, you need to know how to channel it.Give it a try. love your father