Is it Luck? Or is it Calculated?

 It is far too easy to look at others around you and push off their accomplishments or positive graces as “luck”. We do this because the explanation of universal chance is far easier to swallow than the possibility that others are simply more successful than ourselves. This very mindset is a part of what is holding us back. The truth is they didn’t get that internship out of luck; they don’t have your dream body by chance; and their smile isn’t beaming across their face just by coincidence. Others have features in their lives, not because they’re lucky, but because they’ve worked for it. The best way for you to become “lucky” is by doing the same, and of course by reading this post where I will walk you through how to increase your chances for good fortune. 

Luck is described as something that occurs by chance instead of one’s own actions. When things are truly by chance, there isn’t much we can do, but often, things we view as just luck aren’t and if nothing else, we can at least increase our odds. Here, we will do this through two main changes: a positive mindset and hard work.  

Step 1. A Positive Mindset 

It is often more common to look at others good graces and be jealous, rather than appreciating our own. A common reason we think others are “luckier” is because of this, because we fail to recognize when something goes right in our own lives. Being able to see, absorb, and appreciate the good in our lives is the easiest way to feel luckier. It is also important to avoid the jealousy we feel when the people around us seem to be succeeding more than ourselves. At the end of the day this is all about perspective, by taking time to appreciate life as it comes, we will find ourselves feeling graced with this presence of luck. 

 One way to change your perspective and mindset is by getting rid of the jealousy in our lives. Instead of looking at others and pushing off their accomplishments as luck, we should look in admiration. Be happy for those around you, congratulate them on their success, and take inspiration from what they’ve done and how they’ve gotten there. You will find that being a supportive beacon for others rather than tearing them down to build yourself up, is far more rewarding. By giving to others what you would want to receive back, you will find yourself building a much healthier community and gaining more out of your life. 

Another is gratitude. I previously mentioned appreciating our own lives as they come. If you take the time to look at yourself, at your life, you will see how lucky and graced with abundance you have already been. We don’t see how lucky we are because we are absorbed into looking at what we want rather than what we already have. Take time every day to practice gratitude and you will find yourself having an incredibly positive shift in your life. There is so much to be grateful for in our lives, you just have to take the time to see it. Think about this: How lucky are you to be able to study and work? To move your body? To have people to stress over? Everything we have, someone else is looking at us wishing they had the same, so appreciate it.  

Step 2. Hard Work 

While changing your mindset will help you realize your own luck, if you truly want more in your life it is up to you to get it. If you think that the people you are marking off as “lucky” for soaring in the parts of life you want to yourself haven’t worked for it, then you’re wrong. Just as you have to work for the success in your life, those around you have as well. Of course, you are never going to “get lucky” if you are waiting for success to enter your life. Instead, put in the work on gaining the life that you want, know what you want and go for it. In order to get become who you want, you have to act as though that is already who you are, in order to gain what you want, you have start reaching for it. While I cannot tell you how to do this as everyone’s path to success will be different, there are moves you can make towards this that will apply to all.  

To start off, simply, do not wait. Stop telling yourself that you will start tomorrow. Chances are, tomorrow will turn into the next then into a week then into a month, until it simply slips your grasp. The common phrase “never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today” is no doubt a cliche and in turn often overlooked. However, if you take it at its full you will find Ben Franklin may have been on to something. The sooner you act, the sooner this luck will find you, so stop waiting and take it.  

Next, remember that no action is too small. When your goal is something on a incredibly large scale it is often common to push certain actions off as irrelevant. So maybe making your bed every morning and getting ready seems useless when you’re trying to be a world-renowned neurosurgeon, but it really is not. Doing these small actions put you on the right track for your day, feeling more energized or motivated which will impact your performance in school and so on. So, do the small things, even if they seem useless because in the long run they will make a positive impact. 

And finally, be who you want to become. In order to gain what you want and become who you want to be you have to act like it. In this same way, you are attracting what you want. This may sound silly, that you are attracting your future, but if you break it down it’s really not. You aren’t going to get good grades if you act like a bum rather than a scholar. You aren’t going to find the love of your life if you are drinking every night rather than finding your own peace. You will become what you are, even if right now you are faking it or it is just an act, long term this will manifest into what you want.  

In broad terms, it is up to you to become lucky. Your life is not simply to chance, nor is anyone else’s, it is to how you think and act. And by the time you begin to feel lucky, you may begin to ask yourself this: Is it luck? Or is it calculated?