Make yourself luckier
Do you consider yourself lucky or unlucky? It could be important when it comes to your mental health and wellbeing. This video should change the way you think about luck and help you feel better.
If you don’t have audio, or prefer reading, I’ve included a transcript below:
Can you really make yourself luckier? The definition of luck is that it's success or failure that appears to be down to chance, rather than actions.
While I accept that when it comes to luck there are a lot of things that are out of our control, I'm confident there are two things you can do to stack the odds in your favour. To make yourself luckier, and I'm going to explain them now.
Adopt a growth mindset
Something I always think about whenever anyone mentions luck is a TV show by Derren Brown. He looked at groups of people in an English town that considered themselves lucky and unlucky.
He found something significant. The people who considered themselves lucky, generally seemed to be happier. They spoke about how they'd win things. Maybe not life-changing amounts, but the odd 50, 20 or 100 pounds. Little, pleasant surprises. They also reported that good things tended to happen to them.
Those that considered themselves unlucky, as you'd expect, would say that good things don't usually happen to them. They never win anything and they weren’t really given any breaks. This wasn't down to some magic cosmic force, because when he looked a little closer, he found something interesting.
Generally, the people who considered themselves lucky took part, they entered competitions, and were open to opportunities. They adopted a growth mindset, that’s often very open, and positive.
This is a stark contrast to those who were unlucky. They’d adopted a fixed mindset, that’s often very closed, and negative. There's no point in entering that competition, because the odd's are high, and they’ll never win. Think about what happens when an opportunity comes along.
There was one person in particular who kept complaining that they were unlucky. Derren Brown organised for him to be given a spoof competition entry. If he had just mailed it in, he would have won a prize but guess what, he didn't. He said he was unlucky, that good things didn't happen to him and that he’d never win. That should tell you something.
So have a think about how adopting a growth mindset could make you luckier.
Work hard and prepare
Another thing that comes to mind when people mention luck is one of my personal heroes. The Formula One driver, Michael Schumacher. He was phenomenally talented, highly successful and he appeared to be very lucky.
You'd often see him leave the track and somehow rejoin. He also made the right decisions in a race that helped him win. Again, when we really look at what was happening though, it probably wasn't down to some magic cosmic force. He put in the work. He didn't just rely on talent.
When he arrived in Formula One, he set driver fitness levels to a whole new level. Before he arrived, team bosses were often factoring in around a 20% drop-off in performance due to driver fatigue. Not with him. He was 100% throughout the whole race, and everyone else soon had to get to that point.
You’d also hear people he worked with talk about how he'd spend hours in the garage, working into the evening just looking at sets of tires. Looking at which one to put on at the right time. Again, that didn't just happen. That required hard work.
When he used to come back on the track after going off, he'd taken time to inspect it before the race. He'd walked or cycled round, spending time looking at all those points preparing.
What we can take away from this is that we shouldn't just rely on talent. Shouldn't just rely on chance. Sometimes we've got to put in the work. We've got to make ourselves lucky.
Now you have two things you can do to make yourself lucky.
I just like to leave you with two important quotes that I really think sum this up perfectly.
First quote is from the ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. He said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don't take”.
Now think about that.
There's another great quote from a golfer, Gary player. He said, “the more I practice, the luckier I get.
Again, have a think. I hope this helps and it gets you thinking about things you can do to make yourself luckier.