You have amazing luck.  Here is a lesson in lucky to tap into it.

Dr. Richard Wiseman, a clinical psychologist who has studied why some people consider themselves lucky, while others consider themselves unlucky, for over 10 years.  He’s quantified why some people feel lucky, and other’s feel cursed.

Here’s what luck really is:

• Luck happens primarily in your head. Two people will have a very similar car accident. The lucky person is excited everyone survived the accident, and finds easy friendship with another driver on the scene. To the unlucky, the accident is another horrible event to happen to him.
• And act accordingly.  Because every “bad” event is seen in a positive way, the lucky are try and try again people as each set-back is seen as an opportunity.  The unlucky feel discouraged, quit and pacify their agony with Jack Daniels & episodes of Lost.
• The lucky are not attached to outcome. Instead of driving towards a goal relentlessly, the lucky stay present and change course when intuition pulls in another direction. The lucky meditate and clear out their thoughts to be able to tap into this intuition. The unlucky are unlikely to deviate from an original goal or plan, even when it is not working.
• Lucky people are certain that the future will be bright. Daniel Pink summarizes Wiseman’s work in a solid article, where he wrote that:

Over time, that expectation [of a bright future] becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure and positively shapes their interactions with other people.

I LOVE this. It reflects the work I do.  Hey — maybe that’s why my clients are so lucky!

Hardest Part = Most Important

I find that people are most resistant to the most important piece of creating your good luck: You must change what’s happening in your head.

The reason most people struggle here is the belief that a person cannot choose her thoughts.  I can personally relate to this.  It took me actually trying out some of the thought-changing tools, and experiencing the impact myself, before I saw this as anything more than insipid fluff.

But, oh, just try it out — it is anything but weak & lame.  It has literally transformed my life.

Try it out and see how you feel before dismissing it. Here’s the best way to start out.

Create Luck In Your Head

There are tons of models for re-working your thoughts. If you’re just starting out, use the model created by Brooke Castillo, caled Self-Coaching 101.  Here’s the quick-and-dirty on it so you can try it today (but buy the book, you guys; it is short, to the point, and excellent):

• Circumstances (lead to) your thoughts about the circumstances (which lead to) how you feel (which leads to) the action you take (which leads to) the result you get.

The only piece you can control in the moment is your thought.  You clean up your thought, then you feel better, and you take action that is better for you.

Example:

Circumstance: Family won’t have dinner with me.
Thought: They don’t love me.
Feeling: Sadness, loneliness
Action: I withdraw.
Result: Family has no opportunity to show me love.

Interesting how the thought always proves the result. To change me thought, I first decide how I want to feel about the circumstances:

Circumstance: Family won’t have dinner with me.
Thought:
Feeling: Happy
Action:
Result:

Then, I come up with a thought that feels true to me and also creates the feeling that I want to feel.

Circumstance: Family won’t have dinner with me.
Thought: My family doesn’t have to eat with me in order to love me.
Feeling: Happy.
Action: I make additional effort to see family.
Result: I have more opportunities to be loved.

I challenge you to show up for yourself and re-think the way you look at things for the next two days.

Then, if it hasn’t drastically improved how you feel, you can chuck it.  I’d be shocked if that were the case.

I’m going to do this, too.

Here’s how: For two days, whenever I feel badly, I’m going to use the self-coaching model…

… and you’ll hear all about it in Friday’s Review.

I’m excited! Let me know how it goes.

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