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Luck is a skill, and you can become good at it

So, lucky people are simply better at spotting opportunities than everyone else.

Photo credit: Igah | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • You’ll also have more luck if you have a goal, because that means you make good choices. Like studying hard if you dream of getting a degree.
  • Listening and watching everything that’s going on around them, rather than only focusing on what they want.

You know something? There really is this thing we call luck. You know, the way some people always seem to be in the right place at the right time? While for the rest of us nothing ever seems to go right?

But luck doesn’t quite work like you imagine. It’s not something that just falls out of the sky on some people, and not on others. It’s all about spotting opportunities. So, lucky people are simply better at spotting opportunities than everyone else.

You’ll also have more luck if you have a goal, because that means you make good choices. Like studying hard if you dream of getting a degree.

Without an inspiring ambition, it’s all too easy to give up. It also helps to be a hard worker. Because that means you’re always actively developing your abilities.

Lucky people

But, above all that, luck is a skill that you can develop. For example, lucky people have learned how to meet lots of people. They smile a lot, make really great eye contact, are easy to get along with, and keep in touch. And they deliberately seek out new experiences, looking for new places to go to, new things to try, and new people to meet.

That might all sound trivial, but it isn’t. Because the more people you talk to, the more opportunities will come your way. Job possibilities, dates, business deals, you name it. And lucky people don’t only go around searching for what they want. Like a new date, or a new client. Instead they’re always alert, and open to every opportunity that comes their way! So, at parties, meetings and the like, they’re relaxed and receptive.

Listening and watching everything that’s going on around them, rather than only focusing on what they want.

In fact you’re most likely to be successful if you blend all these approaches together – working hard, pursuing your goals and watching for opportunities. Because there are real benefits to keeping things flexible and open. While just focusing on your plan can be limiting.

Makes enough money

For example, you can become so fixated on a goal that it becomes impossible to abandon it, even when it’s clear that you should. Like endlessly working at a business that never makes enough money.

Rigidly focusing on your plan can also make it harder to achieve, because you become reluctant to make even a small adjustment to your approach. Even though it’s not working out as you hoped.

So the best strategy is to be open to all the possible ways you could satisfy your aims in life, rather than insisting there’s only one route to success.

Because opportunity knocks often, but surprisingly quietly. So rigidly pursuing your ideal job, for example, may mean you miss the chance to find another that would be even more fulfilling.

Instead, focus on achieving each day’s objectives, meet as many new people as you can, and be alert to every possibility that could take you towards success.