Create Your Own Luck

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it" Thomas Jefferson

The dictionary defines Luck as: "Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions." 

I think the operative word in that definition should be 'apparently'. It's apparent based on what you think, believe and assume, about luck. We assume it appears by chance.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought "Man, they are so lucky. They seem to have it all. A great relationship, career, life, money. They always have good luck." Sometimes it seems and feels like Lady Luck picks only a few people upon which to smile. Fate always seems to work in their favor. How do they do it? Are they really just that lucky? Or is there a way of persuading the universe to favor you with the same opportunities? And what role do you play in it?

In the 2008 film The Dark Knight, based on the DC Comics character Batman, actor Aaron Eckhart, who plays District Attorney Harvey Dent/Two-Face, has a great line in the movie, in which he says: "I don't leave anything up to chance, I make my own luck." That is a movie quote that has always stuck with me. Because I believe that everyone has a chance to be lucky, to in a sense create their own luck. The less you leave to chance, the luckier you are likely to be. 

So, what truly makes luck? How do you create it? Like most things you want to obtain or change, the solution is quite simple, but not necessarily obvious or easy. It, like everything else, requires understanding, belief and action. I saw an acronym for Luck, which stood for: Laboring Under Correct Knowledge. Which to me says, by having the right attitude, mindset, thoughts and actions, towards and about luck, will put you in the best position to create favorable and positive outcomes, which can be construed as luck. Basically, you create your own luck by doing the right things, the right way. People who consider themselves lucky, whether they realize it or not, have learned to put themselves in the right situations, with the right people, at the right time, and take advantage of the right opportunities, to be able to accomplish their goals. But it also takes a lot of hard work. Seneca, a roman philosopher said "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." 

Here are some proven ways to create and improve your own luck:

• LIVE WITH PURPOSE, AND ON PURPOSE: Have a clear purpose. Lucky people have a crystal clear objective. They know what drives them, motivates them and inspires them. This gives their effort more meaning and significance. Which leads them to better and more fulfilling outcomes, like a magnet attracting them to their goals.
• ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: Approach everything with an attitude of gratitude. Life is a gift. We tend to get more of what we focus on. By being thankful for the people and things already in our lives, we attract more things to be thankful for.
• LOOK FOR THE POSITIVE IN EVERYTHING: The bottom line is to focus on the positives and look to find the silver lining. Lucky people maintain a positive outlook and approach to everything. A positive approach helps you stay resilient when bad situations arise. Seek to surround yourself with other positive people who build you up. Put positive seeds into their mind every single day. By proactively choosing the right positive, thoughts, words and actions, will help you overcome any limitations set by the mind, and attract positive outcomes.
• KEEP A WINNING ATTITUDE AND EXPECT SUCCESS: Expect to win. Visualizing good fortune helps you get there. If you have a goal in mind, visualize your path to success and figure out where you want to be. What does your success look like? What are the steps you have to take along the way? Seeing each detail in high resolution is key. You were born to win. You must plan for it and expect it.
• BE PRESENT:  Focus in on the present moment. There are some things you can change and some you can’t. Instead of getting fixated on things beyond your control, stay in the present. Staying in the present allows you to see all the little things that you have become oblivious to. And when it truly comes down to it, luck happens in the moment. If you are too focused on your own mind and thoughts, you will never see the opportunities right in front of you. Learn from the past and let it go. Plan for the future and work to make it better. But remain in the day to day, as it is the only thing you can affect. Lucky people direct their effort at what they can control right here and right now.
• FOCUS ON THE GOAL: Focus on the goal, not the plan. Plans can change. Chaos can interrupt the best laid plans. But goals don't. These usually remain constant but how we get there can change over time.
• WORK HARD & TAKE ACTION: Lucky people get busy working. They take lots of action. About 82 percent of lucky people are prepared to work hard and create their good luck. Lucky people have a bias for trying things, even if they may fail. They create certainty by moving forward rather than sitting still. Momentum goes when your energy flows.
• BUILD YOUR NETWORK: Build upon your social circle, and professional network. Make new friends and reconnect with old friends. Engage in conversations. By expanding your connections, you expand your opportunities. You never know what opportunities will come from conversations and connections.
• SEEK OPPORTUNITIES TO ADD VALUE TO OTHERS: Help others because it’s the right thing to do and be intentional in your actions to add value to other people. Be generous with your time and resources. And those good deeds will very often come back to us in unexpected ways. What goes around comes around.
• TAKE CHANCES AND SMALL RISKS: When we put ourselves out there, we welcome chance into our lives. Face fear head on and step out of your comfort zone. If you don’t push yourself out of your comfort zone, you’ll never know the true extent of your abilities. Take advantage of favorable circumstances and see where they take you. Allow yourself to be versatile and adaptable. And, most importantly, act when an opportunity presents itself.
• KEEP ON THE LOOKOUT FOR LUCK: Luck may occasionally strike like a lightning bolt. But luck isn’t always something that you stumble upon, or that randomly happens to you. More often than not, it is something that is always there, and is something you can spot if you allow yourself to look for it. Learn where to find opportunity, by being aware of your circumstances and surroundings. By simply noticing and acting on opportunities you allow more luck into your life.
• ACCEPT FAILURE, ANTICIPATE CHANGE & REMAIN FLEXIBLE: Accept that setbacks happen. No one is lucky all of the time. Failure happens. It’s part of life. Accept that there will be moments when you’ll feel down in the dumps. Realize that there will be times when you’ll want to throw in the towel. But don’t let negativity set in. Don't give in and don’t give up. Pick yourself up, brush of the dust, and look for a new angle to approach your problem. Things change. Circumstances change. You need to remain open that things may not always go as expected, and anticipate it. Getting to success is never a straight line, but a path full of curves and side roads. Be willing to adapt by staying flexible and fluid.  They get hurt by the setbacks and the failures as much as anyone but they keep going because they know that they'll come out of it. They have this powerful belief that tough times pass and that if they persevere long enough, they'll get through the failures.
• STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE, NOT PERFECTION: Accept imperfection. No one is perfect, nothing is perfect. Always give your best and give your all. Understand there is always room to improve and strive to improve. Strive for excellence. Be curious and ever changing. Always look to be continuously learning. Lucky people become smart and learn by trying and asking questions about everything. They want to understand how things work. They welcome new ideas, thoughts or observations. Recognizing that happiness and success in life comes from constant learning. Be open to new things. Be curious about the world around you. This will give you the opportunity to explore and gain new insights; to see things from a different perspective or meet someone you wouldn’t normally meet. When we put ourselves out there, we welcome chance and change into our lives.
• LEAD WITH PASSION FROM THE HEART: They feel more than they think. They are often driven by emotion and passion about their endeavor. Lucky people seem to lead from the heart not the head.
• BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: Lucky people believe in themselves, without arrogance. Lucky people feel that all of us have this inner strength and resiliency of the mind that can achieve great things. They don't allow the negativity to enter their mind. Lucky people smile and keep walking forward.
• BELIEVE YOU ARE LUCKY: Psychologist Richard Wiseman has studied luck and its presence in people’s lives. He found that if you think you’ll be lucky, chances are you’ll experience more good fortune than someone who thinks they are unlucky. Similarly, a team of researchers from UCLA and Columbia University did a study and found that our beliefs about luck directly impacted the individuals drive for success. People who saw their luck as stable, or fairly constant, tended to have a significantly higher drive to succeed than those who viewed it as transitory. The research also found that part of the relationship between luck and achievement motivation was attributable to the fact that people who possessed stable luck beliefs also felt they had more control, and were more willing to take actions based on that belief.  People who see luck as fleeting, on the other hand, would be more likely to believe that luck follows an unpredictable pattern of ups and downs. This skepticism can effectively undermine your desire to push on.
• UNDERSTAND YOU CAN CREATE IT: Know that most people are not born lucky. They become lucky by learning, improving, understanding, believing and putting in the work. Lucky people don't count on luck. They make a choice to think differently about it and take action, and luck happens.

We all need to revisit how we perceive luck. Because in doing so it may actually be the key to improving yours. If we can internalize a view of it as something that is stable, always there, and creatable, we may maximize not only our luck in general, but our success as well.

What do you think? Do you feel lucky?

Make today great!

Curtis

"I believe that people make their own luck through great preparation and good strategy." - Jack Canfield