Do you know that feeling when you’re celebrating success and people are amazed at ‘how lucky
you are’? Or when they say ‘things fall into your lap’? What if I told you that I disagree with these
statements? I do not believe people ‘just get lucky’. However, I strongly think there are people
out there who demand luck in their life.
Now, what do I mean by demanding luck? If you imagine someone counting falling stars or
decorating their houses with horseshoes and four-leaf clovers, think again. When I say someone
demands luck, I notice their mindset is successful for them. In other words, their mindset results
in accomplishments that are important to them. As a wise person once said, ‘When something
so great like this happens to you once, it’s a coincidence, but when it keeps happening, it is no
longer luck’. Now, that very wise person is my dad so you could say he is, kind of, biased?
But let’s take a second to think about what having a successful approach or mindset means.
When I read this, I immediately think about being happy. Because if your approach and mindset
work for you, you can be successful at everything, whether we’re talking about education, career
or personal life. If you do the things that make you happy, you will have plenty of ‘successes’ to
celebrate. That being said, whenever I talk about luck, I conclude somebody has something to be
happy about.
However, referring to the quotes, in the beginning, I find it strange this positivity can be turned
into something negative. I think we should stop downgrading people’s pride and successes.
Because isn’t that exactly what is happening when someone tells you you are a lucky person?
How come these people determine it is luck instead of the result of your hard work? I have
noticed that I tend to downgrade my own successes because of these types of responses. It
sometimes makes me feel as if I shouldn’t be proud of my own successes.
Do you recognize yourself in this story? Were you ever excited one moment, but felt ashamed or
sad about it when sharing with others? How come we tend to be embarrassed about our own
pride and successes?
For starters, I can imagine the fear of seeming to be pretentious or even superior. We tend to
think in a negative way about people who share their personal growth and successes. But
shouldn’t we turn this feeling around and see someone else’s success and progress as
inspiration? Wouldn’t this make our own lives much easier? Imagine scrolling down your LinkedIn
feed and only experiencing negative thoughts because of other people’s successes. Perhaps this
situation sounds very familiar to you. I am curious, how have you handled this situation in the
past? Are you satisfied with your approach? I know I am.
I do not mean to sound pretentious, but I noticed this approach works for me. Because
whenever I feel jealous of others, I reflect on these emotions. By doing so, I eventually come to
the conclusion I have to make a change in my own life or mindset. After I have done that, I can
truly say I am at a place in my life that I enjoy. I think because of this, I no longer tend to get
jealous of others because I am satisfied with my own personal growth and successes. As another
wise person in my life once stated: ‘If it doesn’t open, it is not your door.’
I find so much comfort in that statement because it fits my mindset and lifestyle. I have learned
you cannot always plan everything, even more so, many things in life will turn out even differently
than you hoped they would. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean the outcome is worse, on the
contrary, sometimes it turns out to be better. Because of this, I learned to have an open mind
and tend to plan little in my life. I noticed by doing so, I find more joy in the little things and I
strongly encourage you to do the same. Even if it’s only for a week – and I promise you, you will
start to feel ‘lucky’ too.