How to create good luck for yourself in life!
You want to have good luck. Well, at least you want things to go your way in different areas of your life, right?
What is even luck?
Wikipedia defines luck as "The phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of notably positive, negative, or improbable events."
Well, can luck be created?
Luck is not an obscure trait. Our thoughts and actions are what gives rise to it.
According to Richard Wiseman's ten-year scientific investigation into the subject, almost all of one's good and bad fortune is one's own doing; he states: "Lucky people generate their good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, making lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, creating self-fulfilling prophecies via positive expectations, and adopting a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."
The key is to do things.
Lucky people try stuff. Unlucky people tend to have paralysis by analysis. They would only do something once they walked through every angle, and the world had moved on by then. They need to gain the benefits of learning through doing.
Luck can be positive or negative, but when it usually goes our way, we have another word that we use: Serendipity.
In simple terms, serendipity is good/smart luck!
How does serendipity occur in our lives?
The trigger: The moment when you encounter something unusual or unexpected.
Connect Dots: Take note of the trigger and establish a connection to something that doesn't appear to be linked; this will help you understand the potential value in the seemingly random occurrence, and this is when you'll have your "Eureka!" moment.
Tenacity: If you follow through, better things will undoubtedly occur.
Christian Busch author of The Serendipity Mindset shares notes on how to be lucky:
We tend to think of serendipity as something that just happens to us, when actually it’s a process of spotting and connecting the dots, to see bridges where others see gaps. ‘Smart luck’ or serendipity is about creating meaningful accidents – and making accidents meaningful!
Many of the world’s most successful and joyful people use a ‘serendipity mindset’ to create their own luck and live meaningful lives.
Cultivate your own serendipity mindset by challenging the biases in how you see and relate to the world, including by recognising the role of the unexpected and improvising rather than falling prey to functional fixedness (ie, not seeing past established ways of doing things).
Adopt simple techniques and tools to further cultivate a serendipity mindset, such as streamlining your routines, setting aside ‘me time’, engaging with people more meaningfully, and reframing challenges and mistakes as opportunities.
Whether you’re an extravert or introvert, there are conversational skills you can learn to connect with others. There are also ‘calm sources’ of serendipity that play more to introverts’ strengths.
“You might think of serendipity as passive luck that happens to you when it's an active process of spotting and connecting the dots. It is about seeing bridges where others see gaps and taking the initiative and action(s) to create smart luck. Serendipity is a guiding force in great scientific discoveries, but it's also present in our everyday lives, in the smallest moments and the most significant life-changing events. It's how we often 'unexpectedly' find love, a co-founder, a new job, or a business partner – and how inventions such as Post-it Notes, X-rays, penicillin, microwaves and many other innovations came about.” - Christian Busch
