It’s Time to Change Your Luck

Added March 3rd, 2009

Some people call it fate, kismet or simply chance. They roll the dice, let the chips fall and bemoan how the cookie crumbles. Whether or not you acknowledge the flying finger of fate, fortune’s wheel turns. Musicians, poet-philosophers and founding fathers have weighed in on luck:

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.” (John Lennon)

“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.” (William Shakespeare)

“I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” (Thomas Jefferson)

So, the question to ask is: Can you change your luck? Yes.

Psychologist Richard Wiseman in the UK has studied this question and believes anyone can improve their luck by at least 40%. How? His method reminds a bit of what I remember studying decades ago as an aspiring psychology student.

Carl Jung, protégé of Freud, theorized life is full of coincidental happenings–at any time there are forces at work you can use to your advantage if you are open to them. The key is being open to them. Being open means expanding your mental field of vision to recognize even the seed of a good idea. This awareness may result in something as simple as a hunch.

Anticipate these coincidental happenings. Expect them. Use them to your advantage. This is how you improve your luck. What if you woke up to this thought every morning: I know there is an opportunity somewhere for me today. Beginning your day with an “opportunity mindset” will improve your luck because it means you will be looking for it. Open your mind, eyes, ears and heart. There is opportunity out there as long as you don’t impose restrictions on what that opportunity is. Don’t tie luck’s hands.

In tough times, you need all the luck you can find.