To become lucky you have to see luck for what it really is – a state of mind. Because it’s not what happens to us that makes the difference in our lives. It is our attitude toward what happens.
Research shows that lucky people often make their luck because of their attitudes. We all create and shape the realities of our own lives to a large extent. Of course there is a difference between luck and luck. I am not talking about the poor man that bought a lottery ticket for his last money and won 50 million bucks. That kind of luck is impossible to predict and may change your life, but it is a single random event that just happens (althought there are exceptions – check out the man that broke the lottery code).
The luck pattern
What I define as lucky people in this post are people who consistently seem to have flow in everything they do. People that continuously have margins on their side. Because if we can find a pattern for how people become lucky we can break it down and perhaps increase our chances of become lucky ourselves. And guess what, research shows that there is a pattern for people that become lucky. Those who consider themselves lucky seem to have similar attitudes and behavior. Richard Wiseman has identified four principles that characterize lucky people:
1. People that become lucky tend to maximize opportunities. They are especially adept at creating, noticing, and acting upon these opportunities when they arise.
Take responsibility of yourself and don’t be afraid of failing. Even if there are opportunities around us all the time, we sometimes tend to be lazy or afraid. It is kind of a cynical way to think of life as a series of events where you try to avoid making mistakes. It might bring you to a good job, but if you want to become great you have to aim higher or you will be forever mediocre. If you start looking at life this way it will change the way you create and notice opportunities as well. Laziness and fear makes you ignore possibilities, and that is a bottleneck to the whole process of maximizing opportunities.
2. People that become lucky tend to be very effective at listening to their intuition, and do work such as meditation that is designed to boost their intuitive abilities.
The more you know your own self, the easier it is to trust your own feeling. Sometimes the unconscious thoughts are more important than the conscious ones. Having a hunch of something doesn’t mean that it is right, but often that hunch is built upon something that raises the chances of it being right. Even though you don’t know what. Listen to other people and data, but don’t forget to count your gut instinct into the equation even if you can’t explain it.
3. People that become lucky tend to create a series of self-fulfilling prophecies because they go into the world anticipating a positive outcome.
Everything is always much easier when things are going your way, but don’t forget that they go your way because you have made them go your way. I believe luck is an accumulative element that grows the more you have. Why? Because the positive mindset makes you believe, and if you believe it is much easier to make other people believe as well. Suddenly you have more people on your side, helping you to become luckier.
4. People that become lucky have an attitude that allows them to turn bad luck to good.
Belief can move mountains. That is a fucking cliché, but it is true. Just watch a game where one of team has scored a goal and is on their way to turn the game around. The positive feeling that they can creates a momentum that gives them an edge towards their competitors. And in a tight game, that momentum could be what wins the game. To rise when you have crap up to your knees and become lucky you need to look for a game changer, something that nudges you in a new direction. It is out there somewhere, you just need to find it. Because when you do you can ride on the wave that the nudge created.
Sweden turned 4-0 to 4-4 against Germany, one of the world´s best football team. In the same qualification series, Sweden turned disadvantages to victory against Ireland and Austria. Was it a coincidence or did the team maximize their chances of being lucky?
You will get back what you put in
To use an expression that I heard a lot when I studied at Hyper Island:
"The harder you bounce the ball, the higher it will go."
You will get back what you put in, even if don’t see the results right away. To become lucky is to create a state of mind and stick with it.