With St. Patty’s being celebrated this month it always makes me think about the word luck. Luck has the reputation of being life’s X factor. Luck is that element of surprise, that part where factors outside of our control make themselves known. The way you feel about your luck determines whether you’re going to purchase a lottery ticket or stay indoors, but Lady Luck can be a fickle mistress. It’s wild, untamed, and cannot be controlled. You are lucky or unlucky, and you have absolutely no control over that, right?
Wrong.
“Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
As an adult, you control the level of participation that you have with your life. You can choose to believe that nothing good ever happens to you and that you’re doomed by your bad luck never to succeed. With this type of attitude, you might believe that you have bad luck with finding mates, receiving job opportunities, and other events. Instead, what happens when you believe that you have good luck?
There is a universe of opportunity in front of you. Right now, you can choose to do anything, and the attitude that you possess while doing that thing will determine its outcome. So, let’s say that you decide to go to the store. If you are open minded and positive about opportunities which you may receive, you might be let in on some great deals by the people who work there. The opportunities which exist for you are created by you, they don’t just spontaneously form.
Luck is “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.”
Think about a lucky person in your life. This person appears to receive and capitalize upon more opportunities than the average person. The lucky person is supposedly more likely to receive the job, get the girl, and win the competition through no hard work of their own. Have you also noticed that the lucky person is also one of the happiest people in the room? Which do you think came first, the happy or the lucky? Put another way, have you seen really lucky party poopers?
Attitude is contagious! It’s the truth! You are affected just as much by someone else’s smile as you are affected by their frown. You will mirror those reactions and start to take on the emotions which those facial expressions encompass – even when you don’t start out feeling happy or sad. Because of that natural human connection with others, we are likely spreading around our emotions right now. Do you want those around you to be happy or sad because of your presence?
If others are happy, they’re more likely to be at ease. They’re also more likely to be confident around you. That ease and confidence makes others want to be around you more often. Simply put – spreading warm cheer attracts others like a magnet. Cheer and happiness are like drugs – at the first little sniff of them, we want as much as we can get. Offering that is a back stage pass to the opportunities which you desire.
Not only will others want you around more often, but they will take active steps to bring you into their lives more often. You will get invited to parties. You will get more business opportunities. You will have more shots at love. In fact, you will find that people want to do more favors for you and that they’re willing to bend the rules to make your life that much easier. While some people place this on luck, they’re really side effects of an intentional positive attitude. In other words, luck by design, not chance.
Creating a positive attitude is creating your own luck in a situation. When you take the time to make others feel great through your own positive attitude, they are more willing to offer you things and opportunities of higher and higher value. A boss is likely to offer the job to someone who has the experience and the positive attitude rather than someone who merely has the experience. A person is likely to become your friend if you make them feel good upon first meeting them.
You’re more likely to remember the person who made you feel great, too. Let’s say that you meet the social butterfly at a company function, and that person happens to be a receptionist. You need a receptionist in your area, and the job comes with a higher pay grade and better benefits. There’s a high likelihood that you’ll offer this receptionist position to the social butterfly, just based on their great attitude. Those around the new receptionist might say that it’s luck, but it was that person’s positive attitude which affected your decision.
There isn’t good or bad luck. You make your own luck. Your attitude, whether good or bad, paves the way for the luck that you have. Spreading around the positive attitude will make people remember you, and it will make people more prone to give you the best things that life has to offer. They will invite you to events simply on the basis that they want to be around you. Others might consider that to be luck, but you are the one who chooses to have the positive attitude. It’s by choice.
GOYA-cise:
When you think, talk, and act positively toward yourself and those around you, opportunities will come your way. Take a few moments each day to document these positive opportunities which come about as a result of your new positive mindset. You will start to notice just how important being optimistic in life will attract the luck you deserve.
“Remember that it is up to you to choose everyday to Get off Your Attitude and to create a positive lifestyle for yourself and others.” Ryan C. Lowe
