"Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you're prepared for it."- Denzel Washington, American actor
Whether you believe in the concept of luck or not, some actual research has been done on it and the findings are pretty interesting. Like a lot of things with personal development, luck (unsurprisingly) seemingly starts with the mind. How we define and frame luck is ultimately what determines if we are "lucky."
As a child, I had a typical kid-relationship with luck. I'd do the little superstitious things belief in luck required, like not stepping on cracks, for example (my mom should've appreciated that more) or making wishes with a chicken bone with one of my siblings or friends. At best, I'd increase my chances for something good and at worst, nothing would happen. I didn't take it very seriously, but it was another one of those things in the back of my mind.
Back then I didn't give much thought to what luck really was or meant and over time, those little superstitions slipped away. But when I think of luck now, my questions about it are a little different.
We all have our share of what we might call "bad luck" -- when everything in our day goes wrong, or we get bad news after bad news -- but is it real? Did we somehow bring it upon ourselves? And can we change it?
Well, according to some studies, luck is real. But maybe not in the way you think of it.
The Luck Factor author Richard Wiseman says luck is, "a way of seeing yourself which then has impact on how you behave and how you think and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, in a sense, it absolutely does exist.”
So if luck is how we see ourselves, how do we make it work for us?
Well, not by avoiding sidewalk cracks or breaking bones of innocent poultry. Though we may carry some of those childhood rituals into adulthood, we don't do it because we necessarily believe they are inherently lucky. More likely, they bring us a sense of comfort and confidence that helps us feel lucky.
Wiseman notes that the belief in luck is very much shaped by our environment. Our circumstances, society, and genetics all contribute to whether or not we believe we are lucky (or not). Since these aren't things we control, there may be some predisposition to how we engage with the concept of luck. For example, if we believe we are lucky, the chances are good we stay that way if our environment reinforces that belief.
But what if we consider ourselves unlucky? Can we change it?
Again, it's about how we frame it. So yes we can change our mindset around luck, which leads to changes in our behavior that increase our chances of "being lucky."
Here are some ways to do it.
Expect It
Whatever happens in life, we may unconsciously choose to label it as lucky or unlucky. However, if we expect to be lucky, we can view even the adverse things as positive. I'm sure there's been many times in your life when you were happy that things didn't go the way you had originally wanted them to. Because the outcome was better than what you imagined, or you learned a valuable lesson, or that thing wasn't for you. By framing it this way, you continue to see how lucky you really are.
Listen To Your Intuition
I think we can all agree that listening to our intuition gives us the best outcome. When we do it consistently, we strengthen that inner voice so we get more and more positive results. Whether we call it luck or not, it reinforces our belief that good things happen to us.
Get Out Of Your Routine
When we do everyday things differently, our brains respond. We are more alert and open. Opportunities that weren't there or we didn't notice before become more obvious. We also allow ourselves to be a little freer. We might talk to a stranger who becomes a friend, or notice a flyer for a workshop we're interested in. Getting out of our routine broadens our focus and again helps reinforce the belief that we're lucky.
Want more about luck? Check some of these out:
How to Get Lucky and Stay Lucky - Inc. magazine
How to Be Lucky and Create the Life of Your Dreams - Brian Tracy
4 Ways to Improve Your Luck - Psychology Today
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