Success isn’t luck

I was walking on the beach this morning, thinking how lucky I am to be able to do this, pretty much whenever I want.

And then I thought about it, and realised, no, it’s not luck. It was a combination of Shaun and I making big (and sometimes very scary) decisions about how we want to live, doing some solid planning and then capitalising on an opportunity that presented itself.

One of my favourite actors, Denzel Washington, said that luck is when an opportunity comes along, and you’re prepared.

I believe luck is a mix of being observant, grabbing opportunities, taking action and being optimistic.

British psychology professor Richard Wiseman says that luck can play a role in our lives. In his book The Luck Factor, he describes how ‘lucky’ people engage in more eye contact and smile more often. They meet more people, are less neurotic and anxious, and are open to new experiences.

He believes that to increase your luck, it’s important to:

• keep an open mind and seek out opportunities

• look at the positive side of life and be grateful that bad things weren’t worse

• listen to your intuition and gut instinct

• step outside your comfort zone and do something new or different each week.

Author Margie Warrell tells us to create our own luck. ‘Don’t wait to feel brave before you start acting as though you were.’ She says nothing worthwhile is ever created without risk, and she is right. ‘Push yourself outside your comfort zone and lay your vulnerability on the line for something more important than your pride and short-term safety.’

What are you going to do this week to be ‘lucky’?