 |
|
|
|||||
Where success is concernedin whatever way you choose to define successeffort matters. So does skill. Experience. Perseverance. A willingness to do what others will not. And a little bit of luck: A study published in Physics and Society found that while some degree of talent is necessary to be successful in life, almost never do the most talented people reach the highest peaks of success, being overtaken by mediocre but sensibly luckier individuals. Outworking, outthinking, and outlasting other people will definitely improve your odds of success, but still: You need a little luck. Fortunately, all luck isnt necessarily random. According to neurologist James Austin in his book Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty, there are four basic types of luck, and three of them you at least partly control: Blind luck. Opportunity, or outcome, without effort. Unforeseen, and more important, uncontrollable. Counting on blind luck? Good luck with that. Luck from motion. Taking action. Trying things. Doing things. Like when I cold-emailed someone to tell them I admired their work. (Which, although I couldnt have predicted it, nor intended it to happen, wound up landing me one of my most lucrative and fulfilling ghostwriting gigs.) You cant luck into meeting the right person unless you meet a number of people; the more people you meet, the more your odds of getting lucky increase. Lucking into meeting the right person is just one form of luck from motion. Because luck is often found, but its almost never found on the literal (or figurative) couch. Luck from awareness. Spottingand then seizingopportunities. Being lucky enough to recognize an opportunity is one thing; youre only truly lucky if you also possess the skills, experience, resources, etc. required to take advantage of the opportunity. While I was lucky enough to live next door to a cofounder of Rosetta Stone, I didnt have the foresightor moneyto invest. Even so, according to an experiment described by Richard Wiseman in The Luck Factor, people who consider themselves lucky tend to spot and seize more opportunities than people who consider themselves unlucky. Oddly enough, simply believing youre lucky is causal. In the experiment, people who saw themselves as lucky spotted an opportunity much more quicklyin some cases, people who saw themselves as unlucky never spotted itand were also quicker to believe it actually was an opportunity, and act on it. The difference was self-perception, not access to opportunity. The key is to pay attention, and believe that paying attention will make a difference. Because it will. Luck from uniqueness. Austin says this involves distinctive, if not eccentric, hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors (think actions). Keep in mind you dont have to be a little wacky to be unique. Im decidedly average in all things. But the fact that I know a lot about Formula 1, and Australian rules football, and construction, and Henry VIIIs six wives turned a chance meeting in an airport lounge into an hourlong conversation that sparked a decades-long, mutually beneficial professional and personal relationship. It was partly blind luck I ran into that person. But I was also in motion. And I did quickly realize he was a fascinating conversationalist. And the fact that we share a fairly esoteric blend of interests made us both distinctive, at least to each other. Bottom line? If you want to get luckier, meet more people. Do more things. Try more things. Try more unusual things. Be generous, especially with congratulations and praise. And when you see an opportunity, dont be afraid to ask. Luck sometimes results from the right person saying yes: to your idea, to your startup, to your pitch, to your proposal, to your request. But no one says yes unless you ask. As Steve Jobs said, Most people never ask, and thats what separates, sometimes, the people who do things from the people who just dream about them. You cant control blind luck. But you can, to some degree, control the other forms of luck. What you can control is how you respond to chance or circumstance. And, most important, how often you put yourself into a position to be lucky. Inc.
Category:
E-Commerce
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” took top honors at Sunday’s 83rd Golden Globes in the comedy category, while Chloé Zhao’s Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” pulled off an upset over “Sinners” to win best film, drama.“One Battle After Another” won best film, comedy, supporting female actor for Teyana Taylor and best director and best screenplay for Anderson. He became just the second filmmaker to sweep director, screenplay and film, as a producer, at the Globes. Only Oliver Stone, for “Born on the Fourth of July,” managed the same feat.In an awards ceremony that went almost entirely as expected, the night’s final award was the most surprising. While “One Battle After Another” has been the clear front-runner this awards season, most have pegged Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire thriller as its closest competition.But “Hamnet,” a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller, won in the dramatic category shortly after its star, Jessie Buckley, won best female actor in a drama.It was a banner night for Warner Bros., the studio behind “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.” Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to be sold to Netflix in an $83 billion deal. Paramount Skydance has appealed to shareholders with its own rival offer.In his speech after winning best director, Anderson praised Warner co-chief Michael DeLuca.“He said he wanted to run a studio one day and let filmmakers make whatever they want,” said Anderson. “That’s how you get ‘Sinners.’ That’s how you get a ‘Weapons.’ That’s how you get ‘One Battle After Another.'”The final awards brought to, or near, the stage a handful of the most talented filmmakers together in Anderson, Zhao and Coogler plus Steven Spielberg, a producer of “Hamnet.” Regardless of who won what, it was a heartening moment of solidarity between them, with a shared sense of purpose. Zhao fondly recalled being at Sundance Labs with Coogler when they were each starting out.“As students, let’s keep our hearts open and let’s keep seeing each other and allowing each other to be seen,” said Zhao, while Coogler smiled from the front row.“Sinners” won for best score and cinematic and box-office achievement. The win for box office and cinematic achievement, over franchise films like “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” was notable for Coogler’s film, a movie that some reports labeled a qualified success on its release.Yet “Sinners” ultimately grossed $278 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it highest grossing original film in 15 years.“I just want to thank the audience for showing up,” said Coogler. “It’s means the world.”Coming off years of scandal and subsequent rehabilitation, the Globes and host Nikki Glaser put on a star-studded ceremony that saw wins for the streaming sensation “KPop Demon Hunters” (best animated film, song), a meta triumph for Seth Rogen’s “The Studio” and an inaugural award for podcasting that went to Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang.”Many of the Oscar favorites won. Timothee Chalamet won his first Golden Globe, for “Marty Supreme,” after four previous nominations. The 30-year-old is poised to win his first Oscar. Fellow nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney stood to applaud his win.“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” said Chalamet. “It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.” Glaser comes out swinging The Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, got underway with a pointedly political opening from host Nikki Glaser and an early award for the night’s favorite, “One Battle After Another.” Emceeing the show for the second straight year, Glaser kicked off the show with self-aware satire.“Yes, the Golden Globes, without a doubt the most important thing happening in the world right now,” she said.In a winning, rapid-fire opening monologue that landed some punch lines on the usual subjects the age of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dates, Kevin Hart’s height Glaser also dove right into some of her most topical material.For the on-the-block Warner Bros., Glaser started the bidding at $5. Referencing the Epstein files, she suggested best editing should go to the Justice Dept. The “most editing,” however, she suggested deserved to go to Bari Weiss’ new CBS News a dig at the Paramount Skydance-owned network airing the Globes. Globes mix glitz and gloom Political tension and industrywide uncertainty were the prevailing moods heading into Sunday’s awards. Hollywood is coming off a disappointing box-office year and now anxiously awaits the fate of one of its most storied studios, Warner Bros. Following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, several attendees wore pins reading “Be Good.”The Globes, formerly presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have no overlap or direct correlation with the Academy Awards. After being sold in 2023 to Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, a part of Penske Media, the Globes are voted on by around 400 people. The Oscars are voted on by more than 10,500 professionals.But in the fluctuating undulations of awards season, a good speech at the Globes can boost an Oscar campaign. Winners Sunday included Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”) for best female actor in a comedy or musical, and Wagner Moura, the Brazilian star of “The Secret Agent,” for best male actor in a drama. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s period political thriller also won best international film.“I think if trauma can be passed along generations, values can do,” Moura said. “So this to the ones who are sticking with their values in difficult moments.”Other winners Sunday included the supporting actor front-runner, Stellan Skarsgrd who won for the Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value.” It was the first major Hollywood movie award for the 74-year-old, a respected veteran actor who drew a standing ovation.“I was not prepared for this because I, of course, thought I was too old,” said Skarsgrd. ‘The Studio’ and ‘Adolesence’ win In the television awards, “The Pitt” took best drama series, while Noah Wyle won, too, brushing past his former “ER”-star Clooney on the way to the stage. Netflix’s “Adolescence” won four awards: best limited series, and acting awards for Erin Doherty, Stephen Graham and 16-year-old Owen Cooper.Other winners included Rhea Seehorn for “Pluribus” and Jean Smart for “Hacks.”But the most comically pognant award of the night went to “The Studio,” the best comedy series winner. Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire memorably included an episode devoted to drama around a night at the Globes. (Sample line: “I remember when the red carpet of the Golden Globes actually stood for something.”) Rogen also won best male actor in a comedy.“This is so weird,” Rogen said, chuckling. “We just pretended to do this. And now it’s happening.” For more coverage of this year’s Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday the Department of Justice has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony this summer about the Fed’s building renovations.The move represents an unprecedented escalation in President Donald Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting its key interest rate as sharply as he prefers. The renewed fight will likely rattle financial markets Monday and could over time escalate borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans.The subpoenas relate to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chair said, regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive.Powell on Sunday cast off what has up to this point been a restrained approach to Trump’s criticisms and personal insults, which he has mostly ignored. Instead, Powell issued a video statement in which he bluntly characterized the threat of criminal charges as simple “pretexts” to undermine the Fed’s independence when it comes to setting interest rates.“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” Powell said. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”It’s a sharp departure from the Fed’s understated response to Trump this year. The central bank has attempted to placate the administration by dialing back some policies, such as efforts to consider the impact of climate change on the banking system, that the administration clearly opposed.The renewed attacks on the Fed’s independence, and Powell’s full-throated defense, reignite what had appeared to be a dormant battle between Trump and the chair he appointed in 2017. The subpoenas will renew fears that the Fed’s independence from day-to-day politics will be compromised, which could undermine global investors’ confidence in U.S. Treasury securities.“We expect the dollar, bonds and stocks to all fall in Monday trading in a sell-America trade similar to that in April last year at the peak of the tariff shock and earlier threat to Powell’s position as Fed chair,” Krishna Guha, an analyst at Evercore ISI, an investment bank, wrote in a note to clients.“We are stunned by this deeply disturbing development which came out of the blue after a period in which tensions between Trump and the Fed seemed to be contained,” Guha added.In a brief interview with NBC News Sunday, Trump insisted he didn’t know about the investigation into Powell. When asked if the investigation is intended to pressure Powell on rates, Trump said, “No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way.”Powell’s term as chair ends in May, and Trump administration officials have signaled that he could name a potential replacement this month. Trump has also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented step, though she has sued to keep her job and courts have ruled she can remain in her seat while the case plays out. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in that case Jan. 21.At the Senate Banking Committee hearing in June, Chairman Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, said the Fed’s building renovation included “rooftop terraces, custom elevators that open into VIP dining rooms, white marble finishes, and even a private art collection.”Powell disputed those details in his testimony, saying “there’s no new marble. there are no special elevators” and added that some of the controversial items are “not in the current plan.” In July, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a letter to Powell that his testimony about changes to the building plans “raises serious questions about the project’s compliance” with previous plans approved by a planning commission.Still, later that month, Trump visited the building site and, while standing next to Powell, overstated the cost of the renovation. Later that day, Trump, speaking to reporters, downplayed any concerns with the renovation. He said, “they have to get it done” and added, “Look, there’s always Monday morning quarterbacks. I don’t want to be that. I want to help them get it finished.”When asked if it was a firing offense, Trump said, “I don’t want to put that in this category.”The Justice Department in a statement Sunday said it can’t comment on any particular case, but added that Attorney General Pam Bondi “has instructed her US Attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuse of tax payer dollars.”Timothy Lauer, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, said they don’t comment on ongoing investigations.With the subpoenas, Powell becomes the latest perceived adversary of the president to face a criminal investigation by the Trump administration’s Justice Department. Trump himself has urged prosecutions of his political opponents, obliterating institutional guardrails for a Justice Department that for generations has taken care to make investigative and prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House.The potential indictment has already drawn concern from one Republican senator, who said he’ll oppose any future nominee to the central bank, including any replacement for Powell, until “this legal matter is fully resolved.”“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who sits on the Banking Committee, which oversees Fed nominations. “It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.” Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Eric Tucker, Michael Kunzelman, and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report. Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||