I come from a very lucky family. I’m not talking about being blessed or fortunate or anything like that. We just genuinely are lucky people. Things work out for us. We have luck on our side. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m going to break luck down for you. My family is known for being lucky because we (mostly unconsciously) do all of these things. In life and in business here is how you be lucky.
Believe that you are lucky. It’s all about mindset. Hold onto and recognize the luck you have had. Tell yourself and others that you are lucky. If you feel like you are lucky, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. There is a certain amount of optimism involved in this. Believe that things will work out. Believe you are lucky and you’ll see it happen more.
Notice your luck. Be grateful for all the ways you are lucky. If you keep telling yourself you’ve had a bad or unlucky week, the things that stick out will be all the things that went bad. Just like when you buy a new car you start seeing that car everywhere, if you tell yourself you are a lucky person you will start to notice your luck more. Bonus points if you stop complaining about your luck and only share (only repeat and give power to) the stories of what great luck you have had. Take stock of your good luck and be grateful for it.
Be prepared for anything. This is the single biggest thing you can do to be luckier. A lucky person is simply someone prepared to take advantage of being in the right place at the right time. Serendipity happens to us all. The lucky people are the ones with the flexibility, resilience, quick thinking, mental toughness, and optimism to make the most of things when chance comes their way.
Jump-in mentality. Now it all becomes action. A lucky person believes they are lucky, is prepared for anything and ready to adapt to anything, but most importantly, a lucky person jumps in. They are ready for anything and jump at the chance to try something new, face a challenge, and tackle the unknown. Its when we jump into these situations that we seize opportunities that make other people say “damn you lucky S.O.B. I wish I was that lucky.”
Trust in your luck. The final piece of the puzzle pulls it right back to the beginning. In order to be prepared (mentally) and jump into opportunities, you have to be confident in your own preparedness. More than that you have to trust your luck, trust your god, and trust yourself. A bird does not need to trust the stability of a branch, just their own wings to carry them if the branch breaks. Luck is about faith. For my family, it is faith that God is watching out for us (not to mention an insane network of family). It is also about faith in your own abilities and ultimately, your own luck.
So there ya go. Luck isn’t all that mysterious after all. You can actually become a luckier person just by shifting the way you think about luck and being confident and ready to jump in trusting that you will land on your feet.