It’s Not Luck

By Aparna Mele

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

Are you feeling lucky or are you down on your luck?  You can build a “lucky mindset” that either works for you or against you, because your views on luck can dramatically influence your success.  For example, if you think that success is out your control, then there’s no point in trying too hard.  On the other hand, if you think you can influence success through the right actions and the right attitude and mindset, you’ll work at improving your success.

So is success attained by luck or skill?  It is what you believe it is.  If you take a passive view on luck, success may happen to fall your way or it may take away all of your opportunities. You may be given the same opportunities as the “lucky ones”, but you don’t see them, because your whole life perspective and world view is blurred by your self-imposed limits of luck. Luck implies that you have no control over things. What a self-defeating concept!

But what if you take a positive view on luck? You can increase your ability to deal with negative situations, as well as take advantage of opportunities as they occur. No, you cannot control luck, but you sure can improve your skills with time.  If you believe that action can lead to results, you are more likely to work to attain those results, rather than waiting for luck to swing your way.  Self-awareness and skills make an enormous difference in the probability of success.  It’s less about what happens to you, and more about what you make of each opportunity, and what steps you will take to achieve your goals.  Having drive and focus will help you work towards your goals and work through challenges. Building a strong support network helps you on your journey and builds your confidence. Problem-solving and self-assessment can help you learn from and navigate through mistakes.

Don’t justify your failures by blaming them on luck. When something goes wrong, it is more productive to ask yourself what you can do to improve the situation and solve the problem. Remember that when you are looking at someone and thinking how lucky they are, what you are seeing isn’t the product of good luck at all. That “luck” is most likely stemming from years of hard work, dedication, consistency and sacrifice.

To succeed in any field, you only need one ingredient, perseverance. Your educational background, socioeconomic status, house, network—none of that matters. It’s applying your will to succeed that can make your dreams a reality.  If you work for your goals, you will become successful. Because your intentions will always create your circumstances.

“Luck is what you have left over after you give 100 percent.” – Langston Coleman