Quick and easy ways to bring more good fortune into your life.
Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash
A delivery man came by asking for Lucky King today.
It is remarkable how often people mispronounce my name in this way. I get called Lucky on average once or twice a week!
I have treated this as a game for years. Every time someone calls me Lucky I imagine I receive a good luck credit.
Ka-ching!
At a wedding one time my nameplate was misspelt as Lucky King. People came up to my boyfriend all night asking to be introduced to Lucky.
That evening was a bonanza for me!
Ka-ching!Ka-ching!Ka-ching!
Seriously though, I do consider myself blessed in life. Like most people I have dealt with family, health and employment difficulties. When times have been challenging, I?ve always believed I would get through ? and somehow I do!
I am conscious of not shying away from challenges due to fear. Making a fool of myself is okay. Failure is okay. I have done both on many occasions and learnt useful lessons each time.
Facing fear head on is important because ? fear blocks good luck from entering your life.
Is good luck something we can create more of in our lives?
Yes! Whether or not you believe in lady luck, horseshoes or not walking under ladders, there are ways to increase your good fortune.
Broadly speaking there are two types of people in the world.
Type A) People who appear to live a charmed life
These people seemingly cruise through life. They are always in the right place at the right time. They get everything they want ? from good grades and interesting jobs to attractive partners and perfect children.
These good luck magnets are no less attractive or intelligent than everyone else. Yet somehow they are sprinkled with magic pixie dust. They are the enviable ?winners? in life.
Type B) People who feel the odds stacked up against them.
These are the people cursed by accidents, ill health and financial woes. They are bad luck magnets who struggle to get good grades, good jobs and often attract the wrong people into their lives.
I?d like to stop right here and point out that all people (Type A and Type B included) have similar life experiences. In fact Type A and B could easily be the same person.
The difference is Type B spends more time thinking about unpleasant events in his or her life. Type A seeks out information and experiences that brightens his or her mood.
As always it comes down to mindset.
Good luck is a state of mind.
It?s your perspective ? the way you view your environment and how you choose to perceive and interact with your world.
A belief in luck can provide self-confidence. It can also reduce anxiety and improve performance. ? Matthew Hutton, The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking.
Believing you are lucky is a self-fulfilling prophecy because it increases your expectations of success.
Takeaway ?1
Luck is not about passively waiting for good things to happen, but being an active participant in your own life.
For action
Try out alternative ways of thinking to attract new opportunities and reframe how ?lucky? you think you are.
- Do regular things different than normal
- Walk home a new way
- Talk to people you normally would not
- Exercise more often
- Be conscious of your body language
- Meditate or do yoga
- Keep up your social connections
When you focus more on interacting with others (less directly on what you want from them), you start to attract the type of luck you may have been missing till now.
OK, so being lucky looks like a quick mindset fix ? but is there a catch?
Yes. You don?t hear lucky people complain much and they are generally not high handed towards others.
This is not a coincidence.
Stress hormones released in response to negative emotions like anxiety and irritation cause tunnel like vision. The negativity you generate makes you non-creative and weighs you down like ballast as you go about your day.
This is why you see a lot of articles and memes on social media about cutting toxic people out of your life.
I?m not suggesting that we all become Pollyanna, oblivious to the realities around us. But there are degrees of negativity.
Statistics show lucky people score low on neuroticism, which affects our levels of anxiety. Having a calm, relaxed approach to life, and not getting worked up when things go wrong, seems to have an impact on how lucky we are.
Takeaway ?2
If you chose to look for downsides in life, you will find them. When you cast things in a positive light, you can create opportunities for yourself.
A belief in luck provides emotional resilience for when things don?t go the way you?d hoped. This is important as life is changeable and there are many things outside of our direct control.
Actions you can take
You can make good luck for yourself by being bold, optimistic and positive. Understand that which you can and cannot change and operate accordingly.
It?s about flipping a mental switch and changing your outlook to enable you to better pursue your dreams and goals.
The last word
Much of success, which looks like luck, is in fact the result of dedicated focus, practice and preparedness. If you have a happy-go-lucky attitude combined with a strong work ethic consider yourself blessed ? because that is the magical combination for living a charmed life!
Till next time,
Lucy 4.0
