Murphy's law - Wikiquote Murphy's law Jump to: navigation , search Murphy's law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." A number of variants on the rule have been formulated, as have several corollaries. Original phrasing by Edward A. Murphy according to George E. Nichols [ citation needed ] If it can happen, it will happen. Precedent condensed by team members according to George E. Nichols [ citation needed ] If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it. Version attributed to Edward A. Murphy in "Murphy Lives!" by Robert L. Forward, in Science 83 (January-February 1983), p. 78 If there's more than one way to do a job and one of those ways will end in disaster, then somebody will do it that way. Version attributed to Edward A. Murphy in People Magazine (31 January 1983), p. 82 Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Phrasing attributed to Major John Paul Stapp [ citation needed ] If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way. According to Robert Murphy (son of Edward A. Murphy, Jr.) his father's statement was along these lines; reported in People (31 January 1983), p. 82; alternately reported as "If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it", in "Murphy Lives!" by Robert L. Forward, Science 83 (January-February 1983), p. 78; also commonly reported as, "If anything can go wrong, it will", in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (1982) edited by J. A. Simpson, p. 4.

Anything That Can Possibly Go Wrong, Does Epigraph of The Butcher: The Ascent of Yerupaja (1952) by John Sack Colonel Stapp's favorite takeoff on sober scientific laws — Murphy's Law, Stapp calls it — 'Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong' Lloyd Mallan, in Men, Rockets and Space Rats (1955), possibly the earliest printed use of Murphy's name in connection with the law. Murphy's Quantum Law: Anything that can, could have, or will go wrong, is going wrong, all at once. Paul Dickson, in The Official Rules (1982) Murphy Laws Site - Murphy Laws If anything can go wrong, it will Corollary: It can Corollary sent by Dr. Allen Roberds Corollary: It should Corollary sent by Earl R. Johnson Extension: it will be all your fault, and everyone will know it. Extension sent by Dean A.

Izett If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong Extreme version: If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong Extreme version sent by Neal Miller If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop Corollary: It will be impossible to fix the fifth fault, without breaking the fix on one or more of the others Corollary sent by Sean Cheshire Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something Nature always sides with the hidden flaw Corollary: The hidden flaw never stays hidden for long. Corollary sent by Dave M. Mother nature is a bitch Addendum: and not an obedient one at that Addendum sent by Paul Kekanovich Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics Things get worse under pressure. The Murphy Philosophy Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse. Quantization Revision of Murphy's Laws Everything goes wrong all at once.

Murphy's Constant Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value Murphy's Law of Research Enough research will tend to support whatever theory. Research supports a specific theory depending on the amount of funds dedicated to it. In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right ... something is wrong. More Laws Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. Rule of Accuracy: When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer. Corollary: Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem. Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you think. Everything takes longer than it takes. If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway. Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first. Every solution breeds new problems. The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to its importance. no matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy's law will take effect and screw it up. Sent by Mitch You cannot successfully determine beforehand which side of the bread to butter.

The chance of the buttered side of the bread falling face down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. Sent by Paul Breen The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. More Laws of Selective Gravitation. A falling object will always land where it can do the most damage. A shatterproof object will always fall on the only surface hard enough to crack or break it. A paint drip will always find the hole in the newspaper and land on the carpet underneath (and will not be discovered until it has dried). A dropped power tool will always land on the concrete instead of the soft ground (if outdoors) or the carpet (if indoors) - unless it is running, in which case it will fall on something it can damage (like your foot). If a dish is dropped while removing it from the cupboard, it will hit the sink, breaking the dish and chipping or denting the sink in the process. A valuable dropped item will always fall into an inaccessible place (a diamond ring down the drain, for example) - or into the garbage disposal while it is running.

If you use a pole saw to saw a limb while standing on an aluminum ladder borrowed from your neighbor, the limb will fall in such a way as to bend the ladder before it knocks you to the ground. If you pick up a chunk of broken concrete and try to pitch it into an adjacent lot, it will hit a tree limb and come down right on the driver's side of your car windshield. More Laws of Selective Gravitation were sent by Jack from the Classic CKLW Page The greater the value of the rug, the greater the probability that the cat will throw up on it. You will always find something in the last place you look. If your looking for more than one thing, you'll find the most important one last. Sent by Alegna It is never in the last place you look. It is in the first place you look, but never discovered on the first attempt. Sent by Peter After you bought a replacement for something you've lost and searched for everywhere, you'll find the original. Sent by ClaytonPrc@aol.com No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper. The other line always moves faster.

In order to get a personal loan, you must first prove you don't need it. Anything you try to fix will take longer and cost you more than you thought. If you fool around with a thing for very long you will screw it up. If it jams - force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway. When a broken appliance is demonstrated for the repairman, it will work perfectly. Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it. Everyone has a scheme for getting rich that will not work. In any hierarchy, each individual rises to his own level of incompetence, and then remains there. There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over. When in doubt, mumble. When in trouble, delegate. Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening. Murphy's golden rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules. A Smith & Wesson beats four aces. In case of doubt, make it sound convincing. Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference. Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. No good deed goes unpunished.

Sent by John Cougar and by getalife who asks "who wrote that?". Illustrious Blackbird knew the answer, it was Samuel L. Clemens also known as Mark Twain. Where patience fails, force prevails. Heisenberg indetermination principle applied to ill luck: The better you know the amount of ill luck that will strike you, the worse you know when this will happen, and vice-versa. and Relativistic correction of Murphy's law: Whether things can go wrong or not, it depends on your frame of reference. Corollary (otherwise said: ill luck is actually absolute): Regardless of your frame of reference, things will go wrong anyway. Were sent by Simone Penzavalle . If you want something bad enough, chances are you won't get it. If you think you are doing the right thing, chances are it will back-fire in your face. When waiting for traffic, chances are that when one lane clears the other is congested. Just when you think things cannot get any worse, they will. Remember the "Boomer-rang" effect; Whatever you do will always come back. If you re-act to actions, you've acted on actions.

He who angers you controls you, there-fore you have no control over your anger. The last SEVEN laws were sent by Leesa , Thank you. Any time you put an item in a "safe place", it will never be seen again. Your best golf shots always occur when playing alone. The worst golf shots always occur when playing with someone you are trying to impress. No matter how hard you try, you cannot push a string. (getting everyone in the family to the car at the same time for example) The fish are always biting....yesterday! You will never leave a parking space without someone in an adjacent space leaving at the same time. The cost of the hair do is directly related to the strength of the wind. Great ideas are never remembered and dumb statements are never forgotten. The clothes washer/dryer will only eat one of each pair of socks. EIGHT laws were sent by Charles L. Mays , Thank you. Being dead right, won't make you any less dead. and Having the right of way, won't make you any less dead. Sent by anonymous Whatever you want, you can't have, what you can have, you don't want.

Whatever you want to do, is Not possible, what ever is possible for you to do, you don't want to do it. Traffic is inversely proportional to how late you are, or are going to be. The complexity and frustration factor is inversely proportional to how much time you have left to finish, and how important it is. The four last laws were sent by Joe Crespins law of observation: No degree of acceptance can ever change the facts. Translation: You may come to terms with being screwed, but nevertheless you're still screwed. Hunter's Corollary to Murphy's Law: Things always go from bad to worse. Hunter's Observation on Beauty: Beauty is only skin deep, fashion even shallower. Hunter's Observation on Experts: An expert is someone with an opinion and a word processor. Hunter's Observation on Sugarcoating: All pornography is air-brushed or computer-enhanced. Hunter's Observation on hypocrites: A person without values or standards can never be a hypocrite. Hunter's Observation on Education and Oz: "We can give you a diploma, but we can't give you a brain." The last six laws were sent by Hunter Sgt. Murphy's Law Don't get into a pissing contest with a skunk.

Sent by Bird Waring The Law of Stupid Tricks Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Garbage abhors a vacuum. It will grow to fill available space. Corollary: The more space you have, the more junk you'll have. Paper is always strongest at the perforation. Sent by Mike Sent by Ken Kaplan Uffelman's Razor: [Given Murphy's law, ...] One should not attribute to evil design any unfortunate result which can be attributed to error. A mistake (or series of mistakes) is the simpler and more likely explanation. Conspiracy Corollary to Uffelman's Razor: Nothing should be attributed to conspiracy that can be explained by error or a succession of errors. Example 1: The alleged conspiracy to "fake" the Apollo moon landing. Such an undertaking would be so likely to result in multiple glitches that it would be nearly impossible to pull off. Thus, conspiracy is an unlikely explanation of events. Accordingly, the "evidence" of the "faked" landing is more likely a result of the errors of those interpreting the evidence than of the evil design of the alleged conspirators. Example 2: The Warren Report.

Any open questions in the Warren Report are more likely the result of the errors of the Warren commission, or the errors of those interpreting the Warren Report, than the result of a conspiracy to cover up the true facts. The Murphy's Law Mind Map: Whatever Can Go Wrong Will... by Adam Sicinski Murphy's Law If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, at the worst possible time, all the time, all at once. A Pessimistic View of Life? Are you the type of person who feels like… Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time, all of the time, without fail, when you least expect it? If that sounds like you, then you are living under the influence of Murphy’s Law. Many people will naturally interpret this law as a pessimistic view of life. In fact, they couldn’t be further from the truth. Murphy’s Law is built upon the solid principles of forward thinking and preparing effective contingency plans that will help ward off possible setbacks and minimize the negative impact of the challenges that lay before you. So who was Murphy? Is he a real person or just a figment of a cultural imagination?

In today’s discussion we will break down Murphy’s Law and twist it in a positive way that will allow us to take advantage of these laws to help better prepare for the unexpected setbacks, problems and challenges that life throws our way. As you read these laws, stay alert to the possibilities and opportunities that they awaken within you while interacting with the external world. The greater our capacity to think clearly about our circumstances, and spot things that otherwise we would’ve ignored, then the greater the likelihood that we can turn disaster into potential rewards that will serve us as we move forward into the future. Anything Can Go Wrong! Anything that can or cannot go wrong, will go wrong, and is your fault. Taking personal responsibility for our lives and circumstances is one of the fundamental keys to success. We must own up to our mistakes and take the blame for our predicament no matter how unfortunate circumstances may have panned out. When we do this, we will be better able to foresee possible obstacles and challenges that lay ahead as we move towards the attainment of our goals and objectives. Anything that you do or don’t expect will go wrong, and will be worse than expected.

We must always expect the unexpected, or at the very least prepare contingency plans for unfortunate circumstances, time delays, or for what seems to be nothing more than rotten bad luck. If we are personally finding it difficult to expect the unexpected, then we would be wise to ask others for their opinions and perspectives. Sometimes the most unexpected people might be able to shed some light into the darkest corners of our world. Anything that doesn’t go wrong, won’t last and creates even bigger problems. The moment we feel that we have successfully avoided a catastrophe, is the moment that the whole world can cave in on us without a moment’s notice. As an individual, we always have a very limited perspective of the impact that our behaviors, decisions and actions have on the world around us. What initially might seem like a gift, may in fact turn out to be your worst nightmare. To avoid these circumstances, we must always be alert to the potential negative impact that supposedly positive decisions, behaviours and actions can have on others, circumstances and the world around us. Anything that you try fixing will take longer than expected and cost more than you initially thought.

Whenever we undertake a task it is very easy to approach it from a limited perspective — meaning that we don’t have all the information that is required to get the job done to the best of our ability or to the standards that are expected. This essentially comes down to the questions we ask ourselves before the task is undertaken. The more thought-provoking the questions, the greater their capacity to expand our understanding of the situation, and the more likely we are to predict the potential time and cost of the tasks that we undertake throughout our day. Anything left to itself will go from bad to worse. How many times have you thought to yourself that…. if you maybe… possibly… ignore this problem… that it might just go away all by itself? Maybe other people will take care of it for you? Maybe circumstances will miraculously change? Or maybe luck will favor the ignorant? There are just too many “maybes” within this scenario. The bottom line is, that if you are not in direct control of something, then it is likely to get out of control very quickly and in unexpected ways.

Consequently, in such instances it is best to resolve the problem as best you can, or at the very least keep the problem close to you in order to progressively influence it towards a satisfactory outcome over an extended period of time. Anything worth doing has already been done. We live in a world of ideas, of motivated, creative individuals who are progressively and rapidly moving the world forward technologically, entrepreneurially, physically and emotionally. Have you ever considered that a great idea that you have today, may in fact be in the stages of development on the other side of the world? A wonderful thought that you have today may unknowingly be rewarding a 14 year old kid with financial abundance. Don’t assume that your business idea is unique, or that it hasn’t been done before. Assume instead that it has been recycled over and over again, and that you must now twist it in such a creative, ingenious way that it will become far more than what it is today — beyond what you ever expected. If you don’t stretch yourself and your imagination, you will never really know what you are capable of. Nothing Ever Goes Right! Nothing is as easy as it looks.

Under most circumstances, we don’t have all the required information on hand to clearly identify what is involved with completing a task or project successfully. The reason for this is that we either don’t have the experience, haven’t asked the right questions, or simply fail to grasp the complexity of the task at hand. In order to avoid these pitfalls we would be wise to seek out relevant information, to ask others for clarification and assistance, and to question the things that we would normally deem to be irrelevant to the situation and task at hand. Nothing is as worthwhile as it seems. When our imaginations and emotions lock onto an object or opportunity, they become an all-consuming force that puts rose-colored glasses onto our eyes, and raises our expectations beyond the realities of life. In such instances we see things not as they are, but rather what we wish them to be. Yet, the reality of life is that things are not always as they seem, and what might at times seem like a golden opportunity, ends up being nothing more than mud in the hand. Consequently we learn that opportunities are not always all that we imagine them to be, and certainly not what others make them out to be.

And as a result we critically question and examine everything meticulously before jumping to unjustified conclusions about the circumstances surrounding our lives. Nothing is ever perfect. From our limited personal perspective it is easy to imagine that things are perfect. Yet, little do we realize that from another perspective there are real concerns and problems that we just don’t see because we fail to open ourselves to alternative views and angles of the situation or circumstance that we find ourselves in. What may initially seem as a flawless plan, can quickly turn on its head; and what might look fresh on the outside may in fact have been rotting away from the inside for days on end. Unless we ask the right questions and become aware of the possibilities that nothing is ever perfect, then we will remain ignorant to the bacteria that is feeding off of our skin. Nothing is created equal. There is nothing equal in this world. People are not born equal, companies do not have equal opportunity, and nothing ever seems fair. They are the realities of life that we must accept and live with. Only through acceptance will we begin to understand how to take advantage of this law for our own personal benefit. Nothing is created equal is in fact an effect of a cause that stems from the choices and decisions we make on a daily basis.

Nothing may be created equal, however the quality of our choices and daily decisions can and will level the playing field. Therefore don’t discount the effect that small choices can have on the scales that balance the opportunities and problems that confront you on a daily basis. Nothing has a straightforward solution. We as human beings are creatures of habit who look for the quickest possible path towards the destination we are aiming for. We therefore often jump to quick conclusions and assume that there is always a straightforward solution to our problems. In some instances this might be true, however in most cases we quickly underestimate what is required to overcome the obstacles and challenges that confront us, and as a result we wilt under the pressure of false expectations, and give-up hope before hope ever had a chance to force us to think critically and creatively about the problems that confront our lives. If you always think that Nothing Ever Has a Straightforward Solution, then you will always discover creative pathways to the toughest challenges in your life. Problems Always Exist! Always smile because tomorrow will be worse. It is said that the person who smiles first has the last laugh. Life is in fact a journey of unexpected twists, of continuous problems and obstacles that divert us off the beaten track.

The simple act of smiling will allow us to get through these challenges with a greater clarity of thought, and enable us to rise through the emotional setbacks that overwhelm the many who never see past the fog that blocks their view. You are different. You understand that life is meant to test your willpower, to test your resolve and capacity to think under incredible amounts of emotional pressure. As a result you smile with a sparkle in your eye, fully knowing that you are ready for the worst that is yet to come. Always several things will go wrong at the same and worst possible time. It is said that the only certainties of life are death and taxes. Additionally, you can add to that list that life will always throw you a curve-ball when you least expect it — collapsing the domino tower you were building so meticulously for so many years. All that work for nothing, and now you must begin once again and build the tower from the bottom up. To avoid these circumstances you must identify possible scenarios, minimize the possible side-effects and develop contingency plans if the worst case scenarios were to come to fruition today. Always every solution breeds new problems.

The moment we think of a brilliant new idea that will finally resolve a problem, is the moment we become too emotionally involved within the circumstances, and therefore fail to critically examine the solution from a variety of angles and perspectives. Being unable to fully grasp and understand the effects that a solution can have long-term, short-term, on us, the world and on our relationship with others, can in fact cause further unforeseeable problems. Ideally a solution must feel good, be good for us, good for others and serve the greater good. If it doesn’t then it will probably cause more problems than it is worth. Always whatever you want you can’t have. What we want we can’t have because “want” something is an act of desperation that stems from lack rather than from plenty. All of this comes back to the universal Law of Magnetic Attraction which shows us how it’s not so much the “wanting” that gets us what we want, but rather the intention behind the thought of “having” something that attracts into our lives the desires we would like to bring to fruition. Always whatever you can have you don’t want. What we want we can’t have, and yet what we have we don’t want… How does that work?

If you know, please share within the comments!!! 😉 Always everything takes longer than expected. It is said that time contracts and expands in accordance with our expectations x 2. What this means is that however long you expect something to take, it will often take at least twice as long to complete than you initially expected. This is due to a simple lack of experience and forward thinking that fails to take into account all the possible interconnecting pieces that culminate to form the end result that you are wanting to bring to fruition. The solution lies in asking more effective questions, chunking down the task that you need to complete into distinctively small components, and preparing contingency plans for possible setbacks that may confront you along your journey. Always everything goes wrong all at once. There is always the possibility that things will go wrong all at once. As a result you must prepare the necessary resources, tools and information you will need in order to minimize or better yet, overcome the scenarios that could unfold. If you fail to prepare, than you are planning to fail. You will always find something in the last place you look.

If you always find something in the last place you look, then you might be better off to look for it beginning in the last place you would have decided to look in the first place. 😉 There is always another problem around the corner. Let’s be honest and just get down to the hard truth here… It is said that life is like a box of chocolates, and that you just don’t know what you’re going to get. Yes, there is some truth here, however it’s not entirely true. We actually do know what we are going to get. You see, what they don’t tell you is that every chocolate has a special caramel filling that’s enriched with a substance known as a problem/opportunity to grow and become more than what you are today. Additionally the problem provides you with an opportunity to expand your understanding of your world, to stretch your limits and test your resolve. And when we finally eat that last piece of chocolate from that beautiful chocolate box of life, we smile, and grab another box out of the draw filled with further caramel fillings enriched with problems, obstacles, and challenges that make life well worth living. Yes, there is always another problem hiding around every corner.

However, it’s not about the problem, it’s rather what you do with it, how you approach it, what you learn from it, and what that problem makes of you. Nothing else matters in the end. Whenever Something Can’t, it Will! Whenever everything is going right, than something is wrong. Additionally, whenever things are going well you have overlooked something. It is very easy for us to become somewhat complacent when things are progressing as we had planned and prepared for. We naturally relax, lay back and expect that nothing will change. Yet, little do we know, that beyond our awareness, yet still within our physical control, there is something stirring in the background. It is something that we don’t expect, something we actually might have overlooked. And it is this something that will throw you off balance when you least expect it. The solution lies in developing thorough checklists that prepare you for the task at hand — making sure that you haven’t overlooked something that is critical to the project’s success. Additionally you should consider preparing a maintenance checklist that is ticked-off during the task or project and takes into account as many possible scenarios as you can think of that may require your attention.

In most cases that which we don’t expect can hurt us in the end. However, what we don’t expect, isn’t often something that we can’t influence or control if we expected it in the first place. It therefore all culminates around the idea of forward thinking and the planning and maintenance tactics you use before and throughout a task or project. Whenever things seem too good to be true, they probably are. People will always try and entice us with wonderful things. In fact, these people will make a great deal of effort to convince us that what they have is exactly what we need and will help us overcome all our problems and attain the life we desire to live. These are no doubt wonderful promises that at first seem too good to be true. However, when our emotions get involved within these kinds of interactions, funny things begin to happen and we naturally reject our critical thinking mind and jump into situations head first without a second thought. In more cases than not, whatever seems too good to be true, is probably too good to be true, and may in fact cause you more problems than it is worth or at the very least leave you disappointed that you wasted your time in the first place.

In such scenarios, do your research, speak with a variety of people, seek different opinions and perspectives, and above all else, make an educated decision. Whenever something was supposed to happen, it won’t. Do you tend to worry and stress all of the time? Maybe you are one of those people who always expect the worst from every situation? Well, how about you begin expecting in advance that something you expect may not in fact turn out how you expect it. Wouldn’t that put an interesting twist on your worries and concerns? The same is obviously true in reverse. Many times when we expect positive outcomes, they will tend not to come to fruition in the capacity we expected them. This simply means that the timing wasn’t right, that you overlooked something, or simply missed the train as it passed through the train station. Either way it all comes down to good planning and meticulous focus and concentration. Whenever life seems at its worst, it gets worse. Imagine yourself paddling vigorously down a river. You’re bobbing up and down, almost crashing into rocks, and scraping through by the skin of your neck.

“This is really tough work” you think to yourself, and you can’t imagine it could get any worse, when all of a sudden you spot a waterfall in front of you, and a few moments later fall over the edge. This is a perfect example of life getting worse with every stroke. You literally crash to the very bottom of the waterfall, yet miraculously survive the fall. You think that it just couldn’t get any worse, when all of a sudden your paddle whacks you in the head with a big thump!. At this stage most people give up, feel sorry for themselves and don’t try anything meaningful ever again. However, little do they realize that they have fallen into another river — a new beginning of sorts that is calm, serene and flowing gracefully through a beautiful tropical forest filled with wonderful riches and opportunities. If they only realized that life could be this way, than it most certainly could. Whenever life seems at its worst, it does get worse — that is unless you are able to see beyond the fog and down the corridor where opportunities await. Whenever you are good at something, you will always screw it up. Complacency is the mother of all problems.

Whenever we believe that we are good at something we naturally relax and happen to overlook critical aspects that need our constant attention and energy. And as a result we screw things up and end up with problems that we never knew existed. To overcome such scenarios we must approach each task as a novice — a beginner of sorts who has many unanswered questions. From here we must develop a thorough checklist and plan that we can follow meticulously during the project or task to ensure that nothing gets overlooked or accidentally ignored. In this way we will minimize screw-ups and maximize our skills and abilities. Whenever you try pleasing everyone, nobody will like you. Everyone is different and unique in their own right. We have all experienced a different psychological path through life, and as a result we have developed a variety of ways of interpreting our world. Consequently we also developed unique ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ which means that we won’t always like what others like and vice-versa. Additionally, this means that you cannot please everyone all of the time, and when you try pleasing everyone you will naturally end up pleasing no-one because there is no middle line — there is no balance. Life is simply black and white, and the middle line is only an illusion that we think exists.

Therefore your solution is to do your very best to please the majority of the population with what you have to offer, and throw everybody else out of the picture. Everyone is Better than You! Everyone has dreams that will never be fulfilled. Humans are natural dreamers. We dream of a better life, we dream of perfect health, we dream of more wealth, and above-all-else we dream of the experience of pleasure over pain. However, dreams are exactly what they are… just dreams. They are not goals, objectives, tasks, projects, etc. They are just dreams, resting within our heads making us feel all wonderful, cozy and tingly inside. 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful to have big dreams, however dreams will never become reality unless we turn them into goals, objectives, tasks and projects. Therefore if right now you have a dream that is giving you wonderful tingly feelings all over your body, than the truth of the matter is that it will never become your reality unless it gets taken out of the realm of fantasy and into the realm of clarity and action. Everyone has tasks that will never get done.

Let us be honest with ourselves… it is not possible to complete everything when you have 50 things on your to-do list. Given the unpredictable nature of human beings, the unexpected realities of life, and the undeniable effect that a chain reaction of circumstances can have on your time, energy, money and resources — you soon quickly realize that you have tasks that will just never get done. This is a simple case of overwhelming ourselves with too much busyness and not enough substance. The solution is simple. Prepare a list of the five to seven most important things that you must do today, and only do those things. Don’t worry about the other tasks. Just get the big rocks out of the way and life will provide you with the oxygen you need to keep moving forward. Additionally, it will be worth your while to learn to schedule your time sensibly, to plan for interruptions, and create contingency plans for unexpected emergencies. Boosting your productivity should be your number one objective. Everyone has goals that are beyond them. Having big goals is a wonderful thing. However, most of us will never attain these goals because we simply fail to realize that we need to first build steps to reach them.

Just imagine having a big goal dangling up in the sky 50 meters over your head. How in the world will you reach this goal? How will you soar up into the sky and take possession of this object? The key lies in setting consistent objectives that will enable you to build ever bigger stepping stones helping you to climb progressively higher towards your goal. Objectives are like mini-goals that you work on to achieve on a daily and weekly basis. Once an objective has been attained, you effectively take one step closer towards your outcome and the attainment of your goal. Everyone has plans that are never successful. Planning is an art form. If you rush your plans, then you could very well be creating more problems than is worth your time, energy, effort and money. And for that very reason everyone has plans that are never successful. The solution lies in undertaking a meticulous planning regime where you take into account all possible scenarios you have to deal with, resources you have on hand, and outcomes that you might be confronted with if things don’t go as expected. Only by undertaking a process such as this will you successfully develop the confidence to see your plans through to the very end. Everyone is better than you at something. On the surface this may indeed seem rather depressing.

However, below the surface this is an opportunity in disguise. Life is all about relationship building. Additionally it is about leveraging other people’s skills, talents and abilities in order to create win/win scenarios that will enable the both of you to benefit from the relationship. You must therefore become aware of other people’s abilities and cultivate the forward thinking skills to identify how their abilities can be best used to help you get what you want most in life. In the end, nobody can do everything by themselves. That’s why we build companies, organizations, clubs and teams. Everything is a team effort. And leveraging off other people’s skills, talents and abilities is just another interpretation of Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest. Everyone believes in something false and unproven. Our beliefs are deeply ingrained into our psyche from the youngest age. We developed these beliefs based on our understanding of the world at the time. Whether our understanding was correct or false did not matter. All that mattered was that it made sense to us, and as a result we came to believe what we believe today — whether true or false. There are many false beliefs that are rather insignificant and can’t really hurt us psychologically.

However, there are other beliefs that are malicious and may very well be influencing every fragment of our lives in very negative and unpredictable ways. We must learn to identify these false beliefs, and then transform them into new and empowering convictions that will move us forward in rapid succession towards our objectives. Everyone always knows what you don’t. Have you ever stepped out of the bathroom and wondered why others were smirking at you??? Well… if you are a female, then you probably tucked your skirt into your underwear, and if you are a male, your zipper is probably undone. 😉 Since everyone always know what you don’t, doesn’t it make sense to pick their brains from time-to-time and learn from their experience? Life could become so much simpler and so much more fun. 🙂 Final Thoughts Murphy’s Law is a law about life, about the importance of forward thinking, and about shifting our perspective about the ‘so called’ negative circumstances that life throws our way over and over again. From another angle, Murphy’s Law is about spotting the opportunities, and the seeds within every problem that we must cultivate and grow into positive outcomes every time we take up a new challenge.

And finally, Murphy’s Law is about you; about your approach to life, and about turning the so called ‘lemons’ into a refreshing glasses of lemonade. In the end, it’s up to you. Murphy’s Law can either work for you or against you. Which path do you choose? To learn more about Murphy’s Laws please visit the Murphy’s Laws Site which showcases many variations of Murphy’s Law. I hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any further queries or questions, or would like to share your experiences about this topic, than please do so in the comments section below. Time to Assimilate these Concepts How Murphy's Law Works | HowStuffWorks How Murphy's Law Works Photo Liu Jin/AFP/ Getty Images You're sitting in eight lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic . You're more than ready to get home, but you notice, to your great dismay, that all of the other lanes seem to be moving. You change lanes. But once you do, the cars in your new lane come to a dead halt. At a standstill, you notice every lane on the highway (including the one you just left) is moving -- except yours. Welcome to the aggravating world of Murphy's Law.

This idiom says that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. And it may just be right. This isn't because of some mysterious power the law possesses. In reality, it's us who give Murphy's Law relevance. When life goes well, little is made of it. After all, we expect that things should work out in our favor. But when things go badly, we look for reasons. Up Next How the Peter Principle Works Think about walking. How many times have you reached a destination and thought, "Wow, I walk really well"? But when you trip over a curb and skin your knee, it's a pretty good bet you'll wonder why this had to happen to you. Murphy's Law taps into our tendency to dwell on the negative and overlook the positive. It seems to poke fun at us for being such hotheads, and it uses the rules of probability -- the mathematical likeliness that something will occur -- to support itself. The law captures our imagination. Murphy's Law and its offshoots have been collected in books and Web sites. Several bands are named after Murphy's Law, and it's also a popular name for Irish pubs and taverns around the world. It was also used as the title of an action movie .

But Murphy's Law is a relatively new concept, dating back to the middle of the last century. Magician Adam Hull Shirk wrote in the 1928 essay, "On Getting Out of Things," that in a magic act, nine out of 10 things that can go wrong usually will [source: American Dialect Society ]. Even before this, it was called Sod's Law, which states that any bad thing that can happen to some poor sod will. In fact, Murphy's Law is still referred to as Sod's Law in England [source: Murphy's Laws ]. In this article, we'll explore Murphy's Law, its consequences and the impact it's had on our world. In the next section, we'll look at the story behind Murphy's Law. 1 Murphy's Law : If any thing can go wrong, it will! "If anything can go wrong, it will!" The Orginal Murphy's Law states: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those can result in catastrophe, then someone will do it." Edward A. Murphy The origins of Murphy's Law is a story of space, science fiction and seat belts .

Early in the '50s, with the advent of jet aircraft there was a debate as to whether a pilot could safely eject from the aircraft. In order to find out whether a man could survive the stresses of ejection the Air Force undertook a study (USAF project MX981). The study involved shooting a rocket sled down a track, accelerating its passenger to speeds in excess of 630 miles of hour and then suddenly stopping in 1.4 seconds, generating over 40g's. One experiment involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted in different parts of the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued to its mount. And of course, each was installed the wrong way! One of the engineers on the project, Edward A. Murphy, made the original pronouncement of Murphy's Law, "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those can result in catastrophe, then someone will do it." The test subject, Major John Paul's Stapp an Air Force flight surgeon leading the project, quoted Murphy in a press conference a few days later.

Within months, Murphy's Law had spread to various technical cultures connected to aerospace engineering and finally to Webster's dictionary in 1958. Major Stapp's research helped develop new passenger restraints and ejection systems for the Air Force. This research also found his way to your car and in fact during the '60s the Air Force sent Stapp to work for the newly formed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In fact, if you want attend the automobile industry's annual conference on crashing your car, it is named after Stapp. The traditional version of Murphy's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will", is actually Finagle's Law of dynamic negatives. Finagle's Law was popularized by science-fiction author Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of astroid miners; this "belter" culture had a religion and running joke involving the worship of the dread God Finagle and his madman prophet Murphy. Murphys Law states that if something can go wrong it - TECHNOLOGY - CSC420 Murphys law states that if something can go wrong it SCHOOL View Full Document Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will.  Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allowed.

 In traditional estimates, people often add a buffer to each task and use the additional time whether it’s needed or not.  Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from individual tasks and instead creates:  A project buffer or additional time added before the project’s due date.  Feeding buffers or additional time added before tasks on the critical path. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document 25 Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition Figure 6-11. Example of Critical Chain Scheduling 26 Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)  PERT is a network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a high degree of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates.  PERT uses probabilistic time estimates :  Duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations, or a three-point estimate. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version.

View Full Document 27 Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition PERT Formula and Example  PERT weighted average = optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time 6  Example: PERT weighted average = 8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days 6 where: optimistic time= 8 days most likely time = 10 days pessimistic time = 24 days Therefore, you’d use 12 days on the network diagram instead of 10 when using PERT for the above example. 28 Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition Schedule Control  Perform reality checks on schedules.  Allow for contingencies.  Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100 percent capacity all the time.  Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and honest in communicating schedule issues. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. Murphy's Law - Expecting the Unexpected - from MindTools.com Expecting the Unexpected Expect the unexpected. Does the phone always ring when you're just dashing out of the door?

Does your PC crash when you're in the middle of writing that really important piece of work and you haven't saved for 20 minutes? And if you're planning to get the decorative lights out for your seasonal celebration at the last minute, just what do you think is going to happen when you test them? Now, here at Mind Tools, we often emphasize that feeling out of control is a major factor in feeling stressed. So if you feel out of control when events like those described above occur, and this raises your stress levels – here's the good news that can help you get back in control: A theory exists that predicts these kinds of event, and when they occur. It's called Murphy's Law. Understanding the Theory In its simplest form, Murphy's Law states: If anything can go wrong, it will. However, as with many successful business theories, the original law has been extended over time to cover specialist areas, several of which are given below: Project Planning: If anything can go wrong, it will. Usually at the most inopportune time. Performance Management: If someone can get it wrong, they will. Risk Assessment: If several things can go wrong, the one you would LEAST like to happen will occur.

Practical creativity: If you can think of four ways that something can go wrong, it will go wrong in a fifth way. Origins of the Law Believe it or not, Edward J Murphy was a real person. No, really. In fact, he was a Major in the US Air Force in the 1940s, specializing in development engineering. As much of his work involved testing experimental designs, he was frequently faced with things that didn't exactly go to plan. Scholars differ on precisely what words were originally used when the phrase "Murphy's Law" was first coined, but the meaning is clear. Furthermore, as Murphy and his team were breaking new ground, they were unable to rely on the kind of tried-and-tested procedures used effectively elsewhere in the military to ensure zero defects. As a result, they had to depend on their own initiative to get things right, and one team member in particular could virtually be relied upon to step on the proverbial banana skin. This almost certainly led to the Performance Management application of Murphy's Law given above.

(Some people believe that Murphy's Law was first proposed by a guy named Sod and the law should be called after him accordingly.) How to Use the Tool You feel stressed when events that you did not expect to happen occur. And your stress is increased when this happens at the least ideal time. To reduce the stress you feel, you need to take back control! The following steps will allow you to predict the outcome, and because you are initiating the event, you also know when it will occur. As you go through the steps, your confidence will increase thanks to your application of Murphy's Law. Step 1: Butter a piece of toast. Step 2: Think of two or more things that could happen if you dropped it. Are any of these more likely to happen if you are wearing suede shoes or are about to set off for a job interview or meet your prospective parents-in-law? Step 3: Drop the toast. Step 4: Say "Hmm, I thought that would happen", and allow a smile to spread across your face. You are in control! When to Use the Tool There are many other situations where you can easily apply Murphy's Law to regain control.

Here are some situations when you might want to try it: Next time you lose something important, expect that you will find it in the last place you look. Don't be tempted to cut corners by looking there first, though. When standing in line in a large store with multiple checkouts, expect the other lines to move faster. Try moving to a shorter line as many times as you like, but always expect it to become the slowest. If your laptop has been misbehaving and you take it to your IT Department, expect it to work perfectly when the IT guy tries it out. Finding This Article Useful? Example Here's an example of how Murphy's Law can help when things go wrong. Simon L Tod had recently been promoted to the role of Production Manager at a toy manufacturer. He felt honored to have been chosen, and knew it was because he had always worked hard. But as the peak production season loomed, he was feeling more and more stressed. Things kept happening that he wasn't expecting, and they always seemed to go wrong at 5pm on a Friday, or just as the team were starting work on an urgent order.

Simon mentioned his concerns to his boss, who suggested he apply Murphy's Law to his work to identify what would go wrong and when. So, on Monday Morning, Simon drew up a list of the key things he had to do that week, when they needed to be completed by, and some of the ways they could go wrong. He also estimated the likelihood of things going wrong in this way. His list included the following items: Task 1 to boss for his son's birthday (on Friday). Remainder to Customer any time on Friday. Wheel supplier sends wheels late (20% chance) Wheel supplier sends wrong size wheels (10% chance) On Monday, everything progressed to plan. It was all looking good on Tuesday morning too. But after lunch, when there were still 200 teddy bears to stuff, Simon was called to the workshop by an anxious Quality Control Supervisor who was holding quite the lumpiest teddy bear he'd ever seen. Simon picked the toy up and squeezed it. Instead of being soft and cuddly, it seemed to be filled with solid items that crunched against each other. Soon, all became clear: the stuffing machine operator had managed to fill the teddy bear stuffing machine hopper with car wheels.

The machine had broken these up as they passed through it, but it had still managed to fill the bears. All of the car wheels were now in little fragments; Mostly inside furry bear bellies. As Simon stood holding the crunchy bear, he saw the courier company van draw up outside the loading bay doors. He now realized that Murphy's Law had predicted that something other than the risks he'd predicted would go wrong, just before the deadline. This allowed him to stay calm and think fast. He got his packaging supervisor to print out extra labels to put on each bear's box, offering $200 to the first purchaser who sent a bear back to the factory, un-tampered with, correctly identifying what the bear was filled with. The crunchy bear line turned out to be one of the company's bestsellers that year. Simon ordered more wheels from his supplier, who thought the teddy bear story was so funny that he gave Simon an excellent discount, not only on the repeat order but on future orders of the wheels too. That left one problem to resolve – a little boy's birthday present. The new batch of wheels couldn't get to the factory till Friday morning – which was too late.

So Simon suggested that his boss bring his son down to the factory after school on Friday for a special treat – to see his new car have its wheels fitted. The little boy was thrilled and so didn't mind the fact he'd not has his present at breakfast that morning. By apply Murphy's Law, and expecting the unexpected, Simon L Tod remained in control throughout a week that would otherwise have proved to be very stressful. Try it yourself today! This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Subscribe to our free newsletter , or join the Mind Tools Club and really supercharge your career! Murphy Laws Site - Origin The following article was excerpted from The Desert Wings March 3, 1978 Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 at North Base. It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.

One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it." The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law. Actually, what he did was take an old law that had been around for years in a more basic form and give it a name. Shortly afterwards, the Air Force doctor (Dr. John Paul Stapp) who rode a sled on the deceleration track to a stop, pulling 40 Gs, gave a press conference. He said that their good safety record on the project was due to a firm belief in Murphy's Law and in the necessity to try and circumvent it. Aerospace manufacturers picked it up and used it widely in their ads during the next few months, and soon it was being quoted in many news and magazine articles. Murphy's Law was born. The Northrop project manager, George E. Nichols, had a few laws of his own. Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome." The doctor, well-known Col. John P.

Stapp, had a paradox: Stapp's Ironical Paradox, which says, "The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle." Nichols is still around. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, he's the quality control manager for the Viking project to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars. Murphy's Law or Sod's Law? While I admit that the name of Murphy's laws is a pleasant one as is the story of how it came to light, but the original name for 'if anything can go wrong it will' was sod's law because it would happen to any poor sod who needed such a catastrophic event the least. It also removes the ability to say "I coined this phrase!" because sod's law has been around long before any living man and has existed in many forms for hundreds of years. In the English County of Yorkshire I know it to have been around for generations because it has been passed through several Yorkshire families I know. But this original name is dying out because sod over here is a cursory so is not used much.

Murphy's on the other hand is nothing insulting or lacking in hope I hope this clears any problems up and while this maybe hard to come to terms with, think about it, would such an obvious piece of logic have only come about in the second half of the 20th century???? Chris Monkman In the late 1960's I read an article that was photocopied from a magazine where I saw the term "Murphy's Law" coined. Should I say, I believe the term was coined in this article. It had a photo of a bearded man in the upper right corner. The article began simply by describing all the things that had gone wrong in Murphy's life. Near the end of the first section of the article it described the formalization of Murphy's Law, as Murphy was waiting for the pending birth of his first child. Later in the article other formulations/corollaries of Murphy's law were described. The most memorable one was the mathematical formulation. It was pictured in the text as 1 + 1 -> 2, where the -> was a hand with the index finger pointing to the right. The text defined -> as "hardly every equals".

What prompted me to write this was the foot note on this page, where the author of this comment indicated that the law was not formalized at Edwards Air Force Base, but rather another source. To the best of my memory, it was in or about the fall of 1968, I saw the photo copied article that presented Murphy's Law. I do not remember the magazine or it's date. What lead me to this site was the quest for the article described above. To my suprise and disappointment, no one has included the article. I would be interesting to publish this description and see if anyone else remembers the article or any other facts that would help find it. One more thing about the origin of Murphy Law One important fact about Murphy's Law was that it was not actually coined by Murphy, but by another man of the same name. Another thing about the origin of Murphy Law can anyone originate a law? I thought that they could only be discovered Erin How Mr. Murphy died: One dark evening (in the U.S.), Mr. Murphy's car ran out of gas.

As he hitchhiked to a gas station, while facing traffic and wearing white, he was struck from behind by a British tourist who was driving on the wrong side of the road. Another story about the origin of Murphy's Law Commander J. Murphy USN was a procurement officer for the US Navy in the 1930's. He was in charge of the procurement of aircraft. When monitoring the design and development of new aircraft, he tried to instill simplicity of maintenance into the likes of Douglas and Grumman. Apparently one of his most belabored expressions was: "If an aircraft fitter on one of our carriers can re-install a serviced component wrongly, then one day he will." Gradually, this got changed into the more familiar version we know today, according to the version on the origin of Murphy's Law I heard. Incidentally, a lot of Brits think that Murphy's Law is an Irish joke. Murphy is an Irish name of course, and the Irish have been the butt of jokes from Brits for a long time.

Anyway, a lot of Brits seem to think that what Murphy's Law refers to is that the Irish are to blame for things going wrong because they are careless or stupid or both, at least according to British mythology on the Irish. Who is Murphy of Murphy’s Law? Who is Murphy of Murphy’s Law? For those not familiar, Murphy's Law states: "Anything that can go wrong will." Early Origins Pessimists have existed long before the Murphy whose name today graces this fundamental law. One of the earliest instances of this "law" being stated explicitly happened in 1877 where Alfred Holt is believed to have said in an address to the Institution of Civil Engineers: Advertisement It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally does go wrong sooner or later… By 1908, it had become a well-loved maxim among magicians as well, as explained by Nevil Maskelyne in The Magic Circular : Advertisement It is an experience common to all men to find that, on any special occasion . . .

everything that can go wrong will go wrong… And reiterated by Adam Hull Shirk in The Sphinx in 1928: It is an established fact that in nine cases out of ten whatever can go wrong in a magical performance will do so. Later, in 1941 the great pessimist and antiauthoritarian George Orwell wrote in his diaries : Sponsored Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Spain, Darlan, Stalin, Raschid Ali, Franco . . . . If there is a wrong thing to do, it will be done, infallibly. One has come to believe in that as if it were a law of nature.[i] The Eponymous Murphy In 1949, scientists and engineers at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California: Advertisement Advertisement Were performing tests to figure out how many Gs (the force of gravity) human beings could survive. A rocket sled called the Gee Whiz would travel over 200 miles per hour . . .

and stop suddenly to simulate a plan crash for its test passenger… With some opining that the human body could only withstand 18Gs, no people were used during the first 35 test runs : At first Gee Whiz was tested with a crash test dummy, known as Oscar Eightball. Eightball would suffer a violent ejection that sent him flying 700 feet . . . . These problems were fixed, however, and then they strapped a chimpanzee in the seat. The original equipment used to measure force was found to be unreliable, so the Air Force called in Captain Edward A. Murphy, Jr., a former pilot and aerospace engineer, to create and oversee the installation of new senors. However, after a trial run with Chim-Chim, the "strain gauges" showed no readings. Upon inspection, Captain Murphy blamed the technicians who installed them, saying: Advertisement If there's any way they can do it wrong, they will. Eventually, someone fixed the gauges, and a human volunteer, Colonel John Paul Stapp, participated in several runs, ultimately reaching the force of 46.2Gs, shattering the previously thought limit for humans of 18Gs.

According to sources, the combination of the strain gauge test failure and Murphy's gibe was irresistible to the quick-witted research crew. Although some disagree, the majority identify the brave Colonel as the person who named the aphorism after the unlucky Murphy: Advertisement Advertisement At a press conference Stapp was holding, when asked how such dangerous testing had never caused a fatality, Stapp commented that he and his team always kept Murphy's law in mind when working, and planned to prevent mistakes. As a corollary, Stapp had his own aphorism, which stated: The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle. Murphy's Law, Applied: This list of alternative and specialized applications of the fundamental law of pessimism has been blatantly stolen gratefully borrowed from Murphy's Laws : Advertisement If anything can go wrong it will at the most inopportune time. The greater the value of the rug, the greater the probability that the cat will throw up on it. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong (or the one to go wrong first). The other line always moves faster.

The chance of the buttered side of the bread falling face down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. In any hierarchy, each individual rises to his own level of incompetence, and then remains there. ( Also known as the "Peter Principle" ) Anything dropped in the bathroom will fall in the toilet. After you bought a replacement for something you've lost and searched for everywhere, you'll find the original. The best golf shots happen when you are alone (and the worst when playing with someone you want to impress). Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. Traffic is inversely proportional to how late you are, or are going to be. A falling object will always land where it can do the most damage. The probability of being observed is directly proportional to the stupidity of one's actions. You will always find something in the last place you look. Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. $9

Question: What law states that if something can go wrong, it will?
Answer: Murphy's Law