All of us are born equal, with the same opportunities to achieve the success we desire. Many people blame their failure on their constant bad luck, but there is something we have to make clear: we don’t have good luck; we make our own good luck. It’s our own attitude toward what happens in our daily life the reason to achieve success or not in whatever we do.
Next, I will show you 5 simple tips to improve your luck as much as possible:
1- Be awake and alert
Unlucky people have the same opportunities than lucky ones; the problem is, they just don’t see them. You have to pay attention to what’s around you to identify opportunities.
2- Be brave, take risks and act
Once you have identified the opportunity, you have to take one more step and act. If we don’t act we will see how anyone else is going to take that opportunity and then, we will feel frustrated, angry and sad just thinking we could be the lucky ones. In most cases good opportunities have an intrinsic risk. We have to think about if we can face or not that risk; we have to weigh the costs against the benefits of taking that risk. You only live once, so take risks (in a reasoned way) and act.
3- Pay attention to your intuition.
Don’t overlook your feelings. Pay attention to that inner voice that tells you what to do or not to do. The intuition is the solution that the subconscious find to a problem. The subconscious works with tons of information that we don’t even know about; this information has been extracted from our life experiences throughout the years. When a problem or question appears subconscious leaks all that information and give us an answer in a feeling way. Follow the path indicated by that feeling because in most cases it will be right. Believe in your feelings.
4- Don’t be afraid of being wrong & learn from mistakes.
All the choices and decisions we make in life have an intrinsic risk. Sometimes those decisions will be right and sometimes will be wrong, and then, we will suffer the consequences of that mistake. But don’t get discouraged when you make the wrong decision because every mistake rewards you with a valuable lesson, that is, every mistake provides you with valuable information to make a better choice for your next move. When you make a mistake you have to put effort into identifying that lesson and, then, you have to internalize it to avoid making the same mistake in the future. Our mistakes allow us to make positive changes in our life. Al Franken said once: “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it’s a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.”
5- Believe in yourself and in your potential.
You have to believe you’re worthy of your goals and are capable of achieving them because, with that confidence, there will be strong likelihood to achieve success. But, if you don’t believe in yourself you will probably fail in whatever you are trying to accomplish in life.
If you follow these 5 simple tips, soon you will realize how much your luck improves and you will enjoy its benefits in your life.
Written by: David Cantone
What do you think about luck? What would you change or add to this list? Share your thoughts with the community.
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Lucia Pinizotti
// Sep 29, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Hi David ~ Nice post. Other readers who enjoyed this post might like to check out Dr. Richard Wiseman’s “The Luck Factor: How To Increase Luck in Your Life”. It’s a very interesting book I just started a few days ago. As a research psychologist, Dr. Wiseman’s team conducted a 3 year study about the notion of “luck”. His conclusion: Luck is something that can be learned! His book is full easy exercises you can do at your own pace, with before and after results, to increase your capacity for luck in your life. I’m having fun with it!
David | ilcantone.com
// Sep 30, 2009 at 8:54 am
Hi Lucia and welcome to ilcantone.com 🙂
Thanks for the comment and for sharing this info about the book. I haven’t read this book yet but it sounds like a good one to read.
Robin Dickinson
// Sep 30, 2009 at 10:49 am
Hey David,
This is an excellent post. We all need more luck!
I would add…
THE HARDER I WORK, THE LUCKIER I BECOME
My luck always seems to increase when I work harder. In fact, in my career, all things being equal, the harder/smarter I work, the luckier I become – doors open, opportunities appear, business “falls into my lap”, great people arrive into my life.
Yes, if I add hard work to your list, I certainly have a powerful plan to generate more luck in my life.
Yours in luck and in life, Robin
.-= Robin Dickinson´s last blog ..How to stop procrastinating and get more productive =-.
Justin- AlittleBetter.net
// Sep 30, 2009 at 11:55 am
Definitely some good tips. I’ll admit that the word luck bugs the hell out of me for much the reasons you listed. I would like to add one tip though. Believe that the world is bringing things in your favor. This will make it easier for your mind to find those opportunities you mentioned in point one.
.-= Justin- AlittleBetter.net´s last blog ..How to Choose and Attract Friends Wisely =-.
David | ilcantone.com
// Sep 30, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Good tips. Thanks for your helpful comments.
-The harder & smarter I work, the luckier I become.
-Believe that the world is bringing things in your favor.
Tech-Freak Stuff
// Sep 30, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Believing in yourself and Taking some calculated risks mostly paves way for success but, it is necessary to plan what you are going to do in future rather than having a blank mind!
.-= Tech-Freak Stuff´s last blog ..Find Invisible or Offline people who are infact online on Facebook! =-.
Blaine Bullman
// Oct 1, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I remember reading a study on this actually of finding out what makes someone lucky and it’s not actually luck it’s people that are looking and finding opportunities think they are lucky, it was quite interesting.
I think we all have opportunities but only the people who act on them will think they’re lucky.
.-= Blaine Bullman´s last blog ..6 Benefits Of Blogging =-.
David | ilcantone.com
// Oct 1, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Thanks Tech for the comment.
Yes you´re absolutely right: it´s necessary to plan what we are going to do in future. To my way of thinking this is essential to achieve our goals. I would add: we need a plan divided in steps or small parts and go through each one of them and, finally, we´ll have our reward of good fortune :). In addition to this: B plans are also very important.
I will write about it in future articles.
David | ilcantone.com
// Oct 1, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Yes Blaine, I think like you: we all have good opportunities but only those who have the correct attitude are able to identify and take advantage of them (the lucky ones).
Thanks for your comment.
Sean Durrant
// Oct 2, 2009 at 9:04 am
Hi David
Nice post – It’s good to be reminded of these things.
My favourite is LUCK – Stands for Labouring Under Correct Knowledge.
David | ilcantone.com
// Oct 2, 2009 at 10:14 am
Hi Sean and welcome to the blog 🙂
Good one. Thanks for your contribution.
Jim Hardin
// Oct 3, 2009 at 1:32 am
Great post David! I like number 2 and 4. If we don’t take risks we will never get ahead. We need to take risks at times to be successful.
Kinda goes hand in hand with #4. Dont be afraid to be wrong take a risk and learn from it and move on. This is how you can become successful. Successful people take risks if you dont you will just stay right were you are.
.-= Jim Hardin´s last blog ..Breast Cancer Awareness Month =-.
David | ilcantone.com
// Oct 3, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Yes Jim. To take risks (in a reasoned way) is the best we can do if we want to be successful. Life is uncertain, uncertain things are risky, so…life=risk.
Thanks Jim for your comment.
Joanne Wotherspoon
// Oct 6, 2009 at 4:53 am
“Believe in yourself and in your potential.” This has served me well. I have stumbled once or twice; but always manage to catch myself. Positive self talk is so important to reaching your goals. When others doubt themselves or their abilities, I even find myself saying, “Whether you say you can or you can’t, you’re always right.”
Something else I’ve learned is that “life sometimes pushes us in the direction we should have found for ourselves.” Looking back, there were times I felt cheated because I believed I was being forced into a direction I didn’t want to take. I later learned that, had it not been for that, I would not be where I am today.
I’m blessed. From time to time, we all need that affirmation.
Joanne
tarek el targeta
// Oct 14, 2009 at 11:02 pm
hi dave!
i like very much your post. I think is awesome!
actually,i took a lot of risks in my life and i´m very proud about how the things happened in that cases… thanx
Ben Lumley
// Dec 27, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Successful people make their own luck.
I think most people misunderstand the idea of luck. They think that luck is just happens to people in some kind of random cosmic way. It doesn’t 99% of time.
Most of the luck people experience is simply a result of all of the opportunities they create. Sit on your backside and expect everything to just happen, you’ll never experience any lucky. You’ve got to go out there and make your own luck; you’re 5 points show how you can do that perfectly.
.-= Ben Lumley´s last blog ..Merry Christmas Everyone! =-.