Want to Get Lucky?

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca (Roman Philosopher, 1st Century)

Most people have heard of this quote in one way or another. I interpret it to be a gentle chiding to make yourself ready, to be prepared for the possibility that opportunity comes your way. Seneca appears to be giving us 50% of the responsibility, while the fickle nature of opportunity is given the other 50%. Will this magical opportunity walk our way or not? If it does, will you be prepared. If not, alas, you did what you could, and you just weren't lucky enough to have opportunity come your way... It's sad, in a way, according to Seneca, we are only partially responsible for our own fortune. According to him, we can only work so hard, and the rest is up to chance.

There may be more truth in a slightly different commentary on "luck" by Thomas Jefferson,

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

Jefferson takes the concept of luck and fortune, and places it solely in our laps, telling us that we are responsible for our own good fortune through our own hard work. He tells us that we have what it takes to do the job, and to reap the rewards of "luck".

If we were to take these two comments together, maybe we are responsible for both our own preparation, and creating our own opportunity?

I would like to think so. Current research appears to indicate the same. But I won't wrap you up in statistics and scientific method this week - we'll save that for next week's article. Instead, I want to give you one simple change you can make to create your own opportunity and luck.

Maybe your days are like mine; full of lists, chores, tasks, jobs... all kinds of things that I "have to get done". I have wake up with a list running through my head, and then I have check the list next to my bed. It's my job to make the coffee - I've got to go get that done first thing. Then I have to take care of the animals, from there I have to wake the kids up and start breakfast while my wife gets ready for work. It's a fast paced morning of things I have to get done.

From there, I have to try to get some exercise in - hopefully a run. Because, let's face it, I can't promote exercise as a cure-all for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical wellness unless I am doing it, right? Ugh, I have to go out there and do it. So I dutifully lace up the shoes and drag myself out on to the pavement. Ugh, running.

After that, I have to do the start the routine of checking the news and emails - what's going on in the world out there, and in my world here? From there it's off to the office to do what I have to do - seeing clients, making phone calls, consulting with doctors and insurance companies, writing articles... Ugh, it can be a drag...

Can you feel your shoulders slumping and your brow furrowing? Does this remind you of your day? Do you have pity for my unlucky and misfortunate day?

Don't.

This is not the way I go through my day. And I hope you don't go through yours like this either. If you do, we're going to change that right now. Here's how.

You can go ahead and stop agreeing with this kind of day. Relax your shoulders and raise your eyebrows - smile. Let go of any pity, and start thinking about preparing yourself and creating opportunity.

Here is the pay-off. Your one simple step to luck, fortune, opportunity, etc.

Replace the word(s) "should", "have to", or "must" in each one of these statements with a more positive affirmation of how "lucky" you are to be doing these things - just how fortunate are you to GET to do, to be ASKED to do, to be ENCOURAGED to do, to be APPRECIATED for, what you do?

It's that simple. View your day as an opportunity, realize that you are already "lucky" and more of it will come your way.

Here's how it looks:

I get to wake up and look at a list of things I get to do today that stimulate my mind and give me purpose! From there, I am blessed to be able to put coffee on - not just because I have an on-going love affair with coffee, but because I get to be of service to someone who appreciates coffee almost as much as I do - my wife. From there, I get to spend my morning with two little girls who adore me, and will always remember how their dad got them up and made oatmeal for them every morning, even though they had "dragon-breathe".

From there I get to lace up a worn out pair of running shoes - worn from the miles I have been fortunate to log over the past few months. I am blessed to run in the bright sun, or through the cooling rain. Most importantly, I get to run in a world where many others can't; and I get to share my experiences from this simple exercise with important people in my life.

All that in just a few short hours of the morning!? How lucky am I?! From there I get to go to a job I enjoy. I am fortunate enough to be present with people making changes in their lives, I get to help them develop insight into themselves, and I am honored to be a witness to their healing. With that, I have an outlet to write and share my ideas, and hopefully serve more people through my writing.

Same day. Completely different outlook. Is it that simple - just changing a word? Yes. The concept is a simple one - the implementation may not always be, but I encourage you to keep at it. You will find more "luck", opportunity, and good fortune coming your way by making this simple change in your thinking each day.

Next week, I will share with you the wealth of research that has been compiled around this simple idea.