Let's talk about luck. Do you consider yourself lucky or unlucky and why? Let me know your thoughts. It's an interesting concept. I'd love to hear any stories of how bad luck turned into good luck or vice versa. People often don't see the good luck because they're so preoccupied with what seems like bad luck.
The definition of good luck describes it as something that's beyond our control; 'An unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favourable outcome'. However, I'm not so sure. Let's take a couple of examples. What about someone who's made redundant from their job? At first it seems like a huge insurmountable problem, but if you're the type of person who looks for alternatives it could mean you have the opportunity to start working in a field that makes you happier, or else start your own business doing what you truly love.
Then there's the example of being stuck in a traffic jam. So many of us rage away about the traffic and become highly stressed. It may seem like bad luck to be sitting there stationary for several hours, but what if it means you miss a plane or train that crashes? You could say that in both instances the bad luck becomes good.
Dr Richard Wiseman (the author of The Luck Factor) found in his studies that our thoughts and behaviour affect much of what happens to us. It seems that 'lucky' people create their own luck. It's largely to do with the way you see life. The good news is that we can all learn to be more lucky. There are four basic ways you can do this:
- Listen to your intuition when making decisions.
- Embrace new experiences and breaks in normal routine so that you will create and see chance opportunities.
- Give some thought each day to things that have gone well in your life and realise that sometimes what seemed like bad luck turned out to be good.
- Expect to be lucky. Have positive expectations and visualise things going well before you do them.
So called lucky people are people who have good self-esteem and self-awareness. This means they are more able to convince other people that they're worthy of help and more able to achieve what they want in life. They tell themselves they are worthy and deserve the best. They believe they are entitled to good luck and they therefore often go along with the unexplainable things that happen, knowing that the overall outcome will be good.
To put yourself in the right frame of mind for good luck you need to appreciate yourself. Think of all your strengths. Are you a good helper, a good listener, a good friend? Do you surround yourself with individuals who appreciate you? Sometimes people unintentionally fill you with negative thoughts about yourself. Try to avoid them. Look at what you think of as negative experiences in your life and realise that they almost always teach you life lessons that have benefited you.
Let me know what you think and here are some great 'good luck' quotations:
'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.' (Seneca)
'I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.' (Thomas Jefferson)
'We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.' (Charles R. Swindell)
'Luck is believing you're lucky.' (Tennessee Williams)
