Bad Luck Krav Maga
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

Most of us go through a spell of bad luck now and then, and honestly some of it is indeed out of our control. We cannot control all the forces of nature, we cannot prevent wars, we cannot control the fluctuations of the market and the currency exchange rates.

There are certainly things in life that we cannot control. But we must focus on what we can control. And we must take control of those aspects, otherwise, we will be subjected to a great deal of bad luck.

And the thing is, that sort of bad luck is mostly avoidable, if we act correctly.

Many of us are guilty of this.

We are running late and, darn, we can't find our keys. We must get to the airport but the taxi is late, there is traffic. This sort of thing can be pretty much avoided.

Plan ahead - have a standard place where you put your keys each night. Use a reliable taxi company and call the taxi for half an hour before the time you want him to arrive. If he is 15 minutes late, you are still calm and cool as a fresh blueberry.

Careful planning can help us avoid a great deal of bad luck.

This applies to all aspects of life, treat life the way you want to be treated, treat others the way you want to be treated and you, in turn, will be treated better.

Show up on time - Showing up late is a sign of disrespect to the person you are meeting. I have been told, "It is not personal, I am not insulting you, I am always late". Great, that means you are disrespectful of all others in general. Still bad.

Reply to business correspondence: "I am really bad at answering e mails". Really? Then you should not be in business. If you are in business you must answer your phone calls, e mails, etc in a timely manner. If you cannot, then have the e mails forwarded to another staff member or simply have an automated reply, "I am on vacation in the Caribbeans" or something.

Otherwise you will soon be out of business and whining about your "bad luck"."Why did my business fail?" Really you should be saying, Why did I fail my business.

I have seen people take over highly successful businesses and drive them to the ground and then complain about bad luck.

Most of our bad luck is self inflicted. Not all, but certainly a great deal.

There are those who save for a rainy day and there are those who are constantly getting caught in the rain. Bad luck.

In many ways we create our own luck, good and bad.

The great American Thomas Jefferson said, "I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it". I hold these words to be true and self evident.

There are those who are constantly being "victimized". They are left behind while others are moving forward. They wonder why others have succeeded and "gotten all the breaks" while they are left behind.

Yet they constantly misplace phone numbers that can lead to new clients, they forget to call people back, they do not pick up merchandise on time.

We must learn from our mistakes.

I have hundreds of T shirts in stock but yet now and then I get an order for which I am unprepared. I received an order for XXXL instructor in Olive Green and XXL Olive Green instructor with Hebrew writing in front. I do not have them in stock. So as soon as I received the order I called the T shirt factory. They were busy. I called every morning for the next two weeks. On Sunday I will be going to the factory.

Will I be ordering only one of each item? No. Because then when the next order for XXXL instructor comes in I will be found lacking and will complain of my "bad luck". Darn, why did they not order an XL, I have so many of these, my bad luck that they ordered XXXL".

No, each time I learn from my mistakes, I learn from my shortcomings and I make corrections in my life. When I face a situation I am not happy with I look for my mistakes. Sometimes I cannot find it, but I always look.

When I bring my car in for repairs I always ask the mechanic, Eyal, "What did I do wrong? Why is this happening to my car?"

But he will usually answer, "Moshe, you did nothing wrong, this happens sometimes, you should see it as an atonement for your sins, thank God for you good health. God chose to take it out on your car. Consider yourself blessed...and that will be 3,600 shekels, cash please if you do not mind".

Nice to have a devout mechanic, and still some things are beyond our control.

What was that old saying, Give me the peace to accept that which I cannot change, the courage to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference, and the determination to do whatever the heck is necessary to succeed!! 

Now get to work, answer e mails that need to be answered. Pay for your website so you do not encounter 'bad luck' of having your site taken off, pay your dojo insurance bill so you don't have the "bad luck" that a student got hurt and your insurance just expired.

Get to work. Your luck is in your own hands.

Krav Maga T Shirts

Michal modeling one of our IKI T shirts and the IKI sun hat.

Made in Israel by hard working Israeli Jews and hard working African immigrants who came to our shores seeking shelter and longing to make Krav Maga T shirts for you!

100% Israel cotton, will not shrink.

Take into account that shirt sizes run about one size smaller than the USA.

Many colors and styles to chose from. If you do not see what you want, ask us! We aim to please.

See our Krav Maga Shop On line.

Christa Van Der M. wearing our IKI T shirt in South Africa along with EDA hat (our South African affiliate). She owns about 10 IKI T shirts.

Stacy in Puerto Rico wearing IKI racerback T shirt. comes in Black, White and Green.