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Press Your Luck

In MJ DeMarco’s book Unscripted, he talks about life through a concept of a gumball machine. This gumball machine has four types of gumballs in it:

  • White
  • Orange
  • Red
  • Gold

You can insert a coin to which you’ll twist the handle and a gumball will come out of the dispenser. Majority of the gumballs are white, to which there are a few orange and red ones. However, there are only one or two gold balls.

He later breaks each of these colors to represent the following:

  • White – Things you tried and never got feedback about.
  • Orange – Things you tried and got positive feedback.
  • Red – Things you tried and got negative feedback.
  • Gold – Hitting the jackpot.

There are two things you can consider about this concept. The first being that you can increase your odds of getting a gold gumball by following a system. The second being that you will eventually get a gold gumball.

Although it is easy to never put a coin in the gumball machine, there is nothing to gain if you do that. Each and every time you put a coin in the gumball machine, you are growing as a person. With every new gumball, you increase your chances of success. The longer you continue to do it, the eventual success you will have.

Don’t give up, and “chews” wisely how you spend your time.

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