It seems being hardworking isn鈥檛 enough to achieve success. The workaholic is only noticed after he has already reached the top, thereby ascribing to long office hours (what does he really do?) the rise of his hefty net worth. What about the grunt who accompanies him even to the gym? He鈥檚 still struggling.
Gamblers and tycoons happen to be a superstitious lot. The uncertainty of the market or the randomness of chance invites the belief that not all the planning, hard work, and card counting are sure to bring in big winnings.
About this time, the overweight men in silk jackets pontificate on the impact of the earth dog. What are the hottest businesses to get into? How will the cocks, rams, and moneys fare in the coming lunar new year?
When moving to new offices, tycoons are known to employ feng shui masters to guide them on where their office should be and where to put the door. Paintings cannot be depicting desolate beaches.
Horoscopes for one are regular features of magazines. Those born under different signs have separate though sometimes similar fortunes. You can read any sign and it will seem to refer to your personal circumstances — you have been losing money at the stock market. Next week, your stock tip on an obscure paging company shooting up will bear fruit.
While a semblance of science is affected with charts and numbers, even questions on the hour of the day one was born, the result still comes out a lot like good-news-bad-news stuff… and how to improve one鈥檚 aura by wearing a red shirt to lunch.
Do hard-nosed tycoons steeped in 鈥渃osts and benefits鈥 analysis really postpone a construction during the ghost month when beset by stern warnings of 鈥渁 financial storm headed in his direction?鈥 If the warnings are ignored and ill fortune befalls the project, the unlucky one may well regret not heeding his astrological consultant. And why is the stock market thinly traded at this time? Maybe the expats are on their usual vacation leaves.
Anticipation of bad news can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Indecision and wavering before taking the plunge can result in unfortunate results. Is the hesitation a foreboding of ill fortune or just a case of undigested pork belly?
Reading of one鈥檚 good fortune in the coming year creates its own problems. The false sense of security can lead to smugness that challenges the gods (or the writers of the horoscope) to back up their promise. They don鈥檛 guarantee results. And anyway, their forecasts from last year are seldom checked.
The idea that a certain group of people sharing an accident of birth dates will undergo a common fate may be hard to rationalize, given their different situations.
Horoscope readers tend to be self-centered and see the prediction as intended only for them. 鈥淪omeone who has crossed you and derailed you out of a promotion will see her good fortune flip. You will be given a chance to include her name in a redundancy program. She will be screaming your name as she is led out the door and not allowed to bring along her cactus plant.鈥 Such gory details are usually left out.
Classmates who may have been born under the same astrological sign and starting off from the same career line may digress in wealth and fame. Of course the successful one is seen to have been in the 鈥渓ow-bat鈥 category in school. The one headed to the rutted service road of life will always believe — it is better to be lucky than smart.
Military leaders, who understand the randomness of battle, with the unpredictability of weather, momentum, and fatigue, rely on good fortune to bring them victory. They too are a superstitious lot. Are there really lucky generals?
Life presents random events that favor or derail us. Often one man鈥檚 luck is another one鈥檚 misfortune. The little speed bumps along the way to seeming success can be jarring, as when you are promised a cushy job which a few months later is unexpectedly eliminated.
There are surely lucky streaks that carry some along their path. But, like all streaks, they sometimes abruptly end鈥 just when all the chips are on the table.
A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.
