The richest man in Babylon!

Chapter 5:  Meeting the goddess of luck

“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable.

If you want more luck,

take more chances,

be more active,

show up more often.”— Brian Tracy

Since Arkad finished his seven days

of teaching on how to get rich,

the Temple became a meeting place

for people determined to get out of poverty.

Young and old,

but most of them are middle-aged

– they meet here to discuss the path of making themselves

and their kingdom rich,

under the influence of course led by an experienced

and enthusiastic man

who was the richest merchant in Babylon.

That day,

like every other day,

the sun rose high,

red like a giant fireball burning everything.

The hot desert air

still didn’t stop Arkad from making his way

to his familiar forum.

At the Study Temple,

four men were sitting on small rugs on the floor waiting

for the others to arrive.

When everyone was seated, Arkad spoke up:

– What will we discuss today?

After a few seconds of hesitation,

a rather muscular weaver humbly stood up and replied:

– I have a problem

that I really want to discuss,

I don’t know what you mean

by you and your friends here?

With everyone’s encouragement,

the weaver continued:

– The story is that yesterday,

I happened to pick up a bag

with a few gold coins on the road.

I consider myself a very lucky person

and I wish I could always have the same thing.

Therefore,

I would like to ask everyone to discuss the question

“How to attract luck?”

with the aim of learning ways to get lucky regularly.

– This is a very good topic and worth discussing.

Arkad commented.

– So, tell me,

how do we find ways to attract luck to each person?

– Yes! Yes! There must be many ways!

Many people eagerly responded.

Hearing this, Arkad continued:

– To start the discussion,

we first need to hear stories of luck that some people have met,

like our weaver who randomly picked up gold without any effort.

Can anyone tell us about their luck?

Suddenly, the whole hall fell silent.

Everyone looked around and waited,

but still no one spoke.

– Is there no one?

Arkad asked again.

– So this kind of luck is certainly rare

and we also very rarely encounter it.

If so, does anyone have other suggestions

for us to continue the discussion?

– I would like your opinion!

A well-dressed young man stood up.

– When talking about luck,

do we often think of casinos,

where the goddess of Luck blesses us to win a lot of money?

As soon as the man finished speaking,

he sat down,

and suddenly another person spoke up:

– Please don’t stop!

Please keep talking!

Have you ever been blessed

by that goddess and won at casinos?

Another young person chimed in with humor:

– Did you see her there?

Did you see her manipulate the dice to help you?

– What a great start!

– Arkad supported.

– We gather here to discuss,

consider all aspects of issues.

If we do not know the activities of the casino,

we do not know in one sense the general tendency of those

who want to try their luck

when they spend a small amount of money in the hope

of winning a large amount of money.

– This issue reminds me of yesterday’s horse racing bet.

Another person spoke up.

– If the goddess often visited the casinos,

she would not forget to visit the horse races.

Waiting for everyone to be quiet,

Arkad smiled generously at the joke,

then said:

– What makes you think

that the good goddess pays attention to the red

and black games in the casino

or the bet slips in the horse races?

I’ve always been looking for this goddess,

but not in casinos or at horse races

– where people often lose more than they win

– but in the things people do regularly

and generate a lot of money for yourself.

For example,

the work of plowing,

farming,

trading,

or other legitimate

and honest occupations … has a much better chance

of bringing in profits than those red

and black games.

The harder you work,

the higher the amount of income.

In fact,

it is possible

that business is not always smooth

and profitable,

as we sometimes make wrong judgments;

or farming is still difficult due to bad weather;

But in general,

if we persevere and work hard,

we will still reap achievements.

As for the other red,

black,

and betting games,

in fact the player always loses

and the casino owner always wins.

You all know that

when we throw the dice,

if we win,

the dealer will give us four times the amount we bet.

But if we miss,

then of course we lose.

But there is an important point

that you often don’t know,

or don’t think about.

It’s a six-sided dice, we

only win when hitting one of the six faces;

so every time we roll the dice,

it takes us up to five times of luck,

but if we win,

we only get four times together,

which means only four wins.

Each time,

the dealer always holds the winning hand in hand,

at least an amount equal to one-fifth of the bet amount.

Under such an arrangement,

it is certain that the player always loses.

– But sometimes players still win huge sums of money!

– Someone protested.

-Sometimes it does! – Arkad said.

-However, I would like to ask you,

are you sure you will make money this way

before you lose your pocket?

And if luck wins a few times,

do you think making money in this way is common?

I know many successful people in Babylon,

but I cannot name one person,

even one,

who started his career in this way.

To all of you here,

if anyone has successfully launched his career from the casinos,

I would love for that friend to tell his story frankly.

Isn’t that so, guys?

Everyone was silent, no one answered Arkad’s question.

Moments later,

someone timidly spoke up:

– Does what you just asked include casino owners?

Arkad replied:

– If you think there is no other person but these people.

Please tell me,

do casino owners often hesitate

when we ask about the source of their income?

The answer to Arkad’s question was only the muffled hums

of many people.

Seeing this,

Arkad continued:

– Certainly,

finding luck at the casino,

at horse races

or picking up a dropped bag does not bring us wealth

and long-term success.

So now let’s discuss about going business, trading

I believe that a profitable business transaction is not a coincidence,

but a worthy reward for our efforts.

Does anyone suggest another matter for discussion?

As Arkad finished speaking,

a rather elderly merchant stood up and said:

– Dear friends and esteemed Mr. Arkad,

please allow me to speak my mind.

If, as you say,

trusting ingenuity

and sharp mind will make us successful in business activities,

then why don’t we consider the aspect

of chance opportunities that can arise?

can lead to success and huge profits?

Chances may be rare,

but sometimes they do.

Surely there are many people here

who have met the case where the opportunity to succeed is lost.

So, please,

if anyone has experienced the above incident,

please tell us about it?

– What a subtle thought!

Arkad spoke up in approval.

– So which of us has ever had luck and lost it?

Many hands went up,

including the merchant who just spoke.

Arkad suggested:

– Since you are the one who raised this issue,

we would like to hear your opinion first.

– I am happy to tell a story

so that you can see how a person can come very close to luck,

but then miss it,

making him extremely regretful.

And the merchant began to tell.

“Many years ago,

when I was young and newly married.

At that time,

I did not have a business,

but I still worked for others every day

to support myself and my family.

One day,

my father excitedly approached me

and convinced me to participate in an investment.

He said that his close friend’s son was planning

to buy a piece of dry land not far from where we lived.

That person plans to build three waterwheels

after buying

that land to bring water into the land,

turning it into arable land.

Then he would divide

that land into small lots

and sell it to people

who need to build houses and grow crops.

Because this guy is in the same situation as me,

just a young man working

for a daily living

and his family is very poor,

so he doesn’t have enough money to carry out that plan.

So he decided to invite many friends to contribute capital.

This plan had twelve participants.

They are both working to support their families,

so they agree to put a tenth of their earnings into the project

until the land is sold.

The proceeds will be distributed according to the proportion

that each person contributes capital.

– Son! – My father said.

Now you need to think and act like an adult.

I hope you learn

from my mistakes at a young age

to boldly start building yourself a valuable

and respected asset.

– This is what I want too,

Dad! – I replied.

– Then follow my good advice now.

You should do the work

that I should have done when you were my age.

From the money you earn every month,

take out a tenth to participate in investments that.

When you are the same age as your father,

you will own a valuable asset for yourself.

– I really want to be a rich person.

You also need to earn a lot of money to live on.

However, I am wondering

if I should follow your advice,

because I am still very young

and have plenty of time to do everything.

“I used to think

so when I was your age, son!

Well,

as the years went by,

there was nothing I could do.

The era I’m living in is different from your youth, dad!

I will avoid the footsteps of my father.

Please don’t worry.

– You have a great chance in life, son!

This opportunity will help you become rich,

I advise you not to be late.

The very next day,

go to him

and negotiate with him to contribute a tenth

of your earnings

to that plan.

This is an important investment in your future,

so hurry up.

Opportunity never waits for anyone.

It is here today,

but tomorrow it will go somewhere else.

So, never be late!

Despite the great advice

and urging of my father,

I still hesitated to do that work.

And then,

I was attracted to the beautiful,

luxurious robes in the market

so I spent money to buy two for me and my wife.

If I spent one-tenth of my earnings to invest in that plan,

I wouldn’t be able to buy such nice shirts.

Why do I have to sacrifice my hobbies to do such a time-consuming job?

It was because of such thoughts

that I did not follow my father’s precious,

experienced advice.

After a while,

the project turned out to be very profitable,

and each person involved in the scheme,

received a sum of money,

ten times more than the capital invested.

This made me extremely regretful

and secretly blamed myself for being unwise,

stubbornly disobeying my father’s proper advice.

My story is a concrete proof

that I missed my chance to get rich.”

– In this story,

we see that luck will come to those

who know how to receive it.

– The man sitting next to the merchant

who had just told the story spoke up.

– The fact that a person has built a fortune

he always has valuable lessons for us to learn.

We can start a business with just a few silver coins,

or with some money extracted from our small income.

Like myself,

I started my career as a young boy

and bought a calf for one silver coin.

Until now I have owned a cattle ranch

with the number of up to a thousand animals.

The beginning opportunity

for wealth can come to anyone,

but it is up to people to seize that opportunity

or not and how to do it.

1. The first thing is grasping,

determined to do it to succeed

and own valuable assets;

2. The second is to miss the opportunity

or not have the will to do it,

and then spend the rest of your life in poverty and regret.

I would also like to speak on this matter.

– Another person said – I am Syrian.

Although your language is not very fluent,

but I really want to call the business friend just now.

If I call this merchant’s name in your language

I’m sure I’m not pronouncing it correctly,

but if I call it in Syrian,

you probably won’t understand.

So, ladies and gentlemen,

if you want a common name to call someone

who deliberately avoids

or refuses to work for his own benefit,

what would you call that person?

– A procrastinator,

inactive.

– A voice spoke up.

– That’s it!

– The person from Syria waved his hand in agreement.

With a state like that,

he just lost his time waiting.

When the opportunity came,

he said he had a lot of work to do

and asked to wait.

Little did he know

that luck does not wait for a slow person.

If anyone wants to seize an opportunity,

he must hurry up,

must be determined to do it

until the end to take advantage of that opportunity.

Therefore,

I affirm that any person who is slow,

hesitates before a good opportunity,

is indeed a regrettably inactive person,

and he will surely regret it

as much as his friend in our young merchant.

The merchant stood up and bowed in reply:

– I pay my respects to you!

You didn’t hesitate to speak frankly on the matter.

– To understand the problem,

we need to hear as many different experiences

of luck as possible.

Can anyone tell us more? Arkad asked.

– I will tell! A middle-aged man,

wearing a red robe replied.

– I am a cattle collector,

mainly camels and horses,

but sometimes

I also buy sheep and goats.

The story I am about to tell will demonstrate the fact

that a rare opportunity often passes quickly

– as in my case,

it came overnight,

even though I longed for it.

And unfortunately

I let it go.

How you rate this is up to you.

With a thoughtful voice

as if reminiscing about the past,

he recounted:

“One afternoon many years ago,

after a long

and arduous journey to buy livestock,

I still could not buy anything.

Depressed,

tired,

I returned to Babylon

and was very upset

that the city gates were closed.

While my slaves stretched out their tents

to sleep for the night,

I was sad and could not sleep,

so I got up and went to get some fresh air.

By chance,

I met a middle-aged farmer walking around,

looking very impatient

and worried about something.

Like us,

his caravan was also outside the city.

– Dear Mister!

– The farmer told me.

– From the outside,

I guess you are a cattle collector.

If that is true,

I would very much like

to sell you all my fat sheep.

I have come from afar.

I am planning to bring

these sheep to the city tomorrow morning to sell,

but just recently I received the news

of my beloved wife.

Mine is currently seriously ill at home.

I have to return as soon as possible

so I want to sell the sheep right now.

Please help me

and my slaves to return tonight.

At that time, it was very dark

so I couldn’t see his sheep,

but based on the cry,

I guess the number of sheep must be very large.

I spent ten days in vain wandering

and still did not buy and get nothing.

Therefore,

I was very excited about that offer

and immediately negotiated with the farmer.

Because he was so nervous,

he offered a very low price compared

to the usual price for a sheep.

I immediately agree.

Because,

I know for sure,

tomorrow morning my slaves will be able

to drive a whole flock

of sheep through the city gates

and sell them for a much higher price.

When the negotiations were over,

I called the slaves with torches to count the sheep,

for according to the farmer,

the herd numbered nine hundred.

Despite our best efforts,

we couldn’t count.

So, out of luck,

I told him that,

until tomorrow when the count was over,

I would pay him.

– Please, sir! – He implored.

“You can pay me two-thirds of these nine hundred sheep as well,

so that I can depart now.

I will leave here my most intelligent

and knowledgeable slave.

Tomorrow morning,

he will help you count the sheep.

I trust him very much,

and often delegate important tasks to him.

So he can adjust the remaining payment,

if there is a deviation in the amount.

But due to my ignorance and calculation,

I was determined not to give the money

as he offered at that time.

My business transaction is considered terminated.

Early the next morning,

before I woke up,

the city gates were open

and four people came to buy the farmer’s sheep.

They are cattle collectors like me.

Seeing the sheep,

they were so pleased

that they paid a very high price

– three times higher than the price the farmer

insisted on selling

to me last night.

These people said that

because the kingdom was threatened

by the enemy,

but the food in the city did not have much stock,

they bought livestock and poultry instead.

That means

I have lost a very profitable trading opportunity.

So has the rare opportunity slipped out of my hands?”

This is a rather special story.

Arkad commented.

– It gave us a lesson in wisdom.

Do people see that?

– Right! – A respectable saddler contributes.

– It is wise to seize

and respond immediately to every request

of the opportunity when we see clearly

that its results will bring many good things.

In trading,

if there is a negotiation

that is successful

and sure to bring profit,

then you need to protect your achievements,

avoid your thoughts of hesitation

or lack of confidence,

and at the same time Be wary

of the opinions of others.

Of course,

choosing the wrong thing is

because we are stupid.

And if we choose the right thing

and we tend to hesitate,

hesitate and ponder,

it will only make the opportunity pass.

The first judgment is usually my best judgement.

However,

often in negotiations,

I always find it difficult to convince myself

to believe those judgments.

Therefore,

just as a self-defense against my own weaknesses,

in negotiations,

I always analyze the situation to find strengths

to strengthen my confidence.

By doing so,

I will avoid regrets later

and always seize the opportunities that come my way.

– Thank you!

I would like to speak further.

The man from Syria stood up.

– These stories are very similar,

because every time a chance slips away

there are similar reasons.

But why is it that every time

we are faced with an opportunity,

we often hesitate and retreat,

rather than thinking

that this is a good opportunity

to take advantage of.

Is it true that if we keep thinking in such a way,

we will not succeed?

– You are very correct, my friend!

– The cattle collector replied.

– In the two stories above,

the opportunity that slips out of our hands is

due to our procrastination.

It shows that hesitation

still exists in everyone,

while we always want to be successful and rich.

And so when the opportunities came,

due to hesitation and inactivity,

we refused to seize them.

If we understand it like that,

our temperament has indeed become our own worst enemy.

When I was younger,

I didn’t realize it.

The words of a friend from Syria are truly profound.

Before,

I thought I missed many business opportunities

because my judgment was very bad.

I later believed that it was

because of my stupid brain.

But I finally realized the truth,

it was due to the habit of procrastination,

slowness, not keeping up

with the requirements

of reality to make quick decisions

in order to act successfully.

When I understood the incident,

I really regretted

and clearly saw the harmful effects of inertia in myself.

Therefore,

I have sought to break out of that enemy to rise up

and achieve the results I am today.

– Thank you!

I have a question that I would like the merchant to answer.

– The friend from Syria continued.

– Looking at his appearance today,

I think he is already a very successful person.

So tell us, how did you fight your inertia?

The merchant slowly replied:

– For me,

inactivity is an enemy that is always lurking,

waiting for an opportunity to interfere with work.

The story I told you earlier is just one of the stories

that I have experienced,

showing that I myself have missed a lot of good opportunities

in my life.

You see,

we can’t let thieves get into our rice bowls,

and no one wants to let their competitors run wild on potential customers

who can bring them a profit.

Once I became aware of the harmful effects

of such behaviors,

I immediately removed them.

We have to improve our indecisive

and stagnant nature to get rich.

“What’s your opinion, venerable Arkad?”

Because he was the richest man in Babylon,

many people used to call him a lucky man.

But in fact,

if we do not overcome our inert,

stagnant nature,

then we cannot achieve success and become rich.

Do you agree with me like that?

– Exactly like that, mate!

Arkad admitted.

– Throughout my life,

I have witnessed many people pursuing their own goals in fields

such as business,

commerce,

science,

art; and many of them have been successful.

I can confirm that,

the chance of luck is the same for everyone,

but only some people seize the luck

and become successful.

There are many other people,

often because of hesitation,

trying to lose more,

so that the opportunity passes,

and then their lives remain unchanged,

when you can’t get out of

that miserable life all your life.

Arkad turned to the weaver and continued:

-You have suggested a very good topic for us to discuss.

So what do you think about luck?

– I want to look at luck in a different light.

Before,

I thought it was something everyone wanted

and it could happen

without any human effort.

But now,

through the very interesting discussion just now,

I have realized

that luck is not just waiting to be obtained.

But to be lucky,

we need to know how to take good opportunities

and be determined to do it right away.

So in the future,

I will try my best to make sure good opportunities come to me.

-You have very well absorbed the issues we just discussed.

Arkad replied.

Occasions often bring us opportunities

that are rarely repeated twice.

Our merchant friend had a rare opportunity

but did not know how to seize it

and of course missed an opportunity

that could bring him wealth.

So was our cattle-buying friend,

who could have made a huge profit

if he had made the immediate purchase of the sheep.

So we’ve discussed a lot about this to find ways

to attract luck to us.

I think, now we have found

that method

and through it we know a truth about luck.

That is: Luck can be attracted

if we know how to take chances.

Remember this,

if we know how to seize the good opportunities

that come our way,

we have attracted good luck

and if you decide to act at the right time,

it will bring you to the top of the world,

the success you most expect.

Success usually comes to those

who are too busy to be looking for it. — Henry David Thoreau