The meaning of luck as per Oxford dictionary is – “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions”. We have all been influenced by luck at some point in our lives. Some of us believe highly in the hand luck plays in our lives and few not so much. It’s not uncommon to put our belief in luck, I mean it does play some role in defining certain events in our lives. But many times we put too much emphasis on this part that we fail to understand it’s our actions which help us get things done and carve out the lives we want to have. It’s very easy to blame your luck when a certain thing doesn’t work out. But if we analyze a bit close, we understand that probably we haven’t put our best efforts to achieve it.
1. Be more courageous
Fortune favors the brave – Latin Proverb
Let’s take a scenario – you are applying for a job position. Would you try to prepare the best resume possible which articulates your skillset or would you rely on luck to get a call from the recruitment team? Any sane person would best prepare for the interview by polishing on his skill set. Of course, there might be some elements which determine if you get the final offer from the organization or not. But those factors are not under your influence and it would not serve you any better if you worry on them. Instead, it would demotivate you more. So what is under your control? Your actions!! You should consider vesting all your energy on your actions under any circumstances. One of the finest books on self-development – The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen R Covey sheds more light on this, so if you are interested to read a bit more, then I would suggest you check out this link,
https://uthscsa.edu/gme/documents/Circles.pdf
2. Do not carry the victim mindset
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand – Randy Pausch
We all do this at one point or the other in our lives – Playing the victim role. We get all worked up and curse the fate or God or some superpower for ruining our lives and making us miserable. We sincerely believe that somehow our actions and decisions have nothing to do for the state we are in at present. It is all part of some sick joke being played on us. This kind of mindset might provide us some temporary relief but it is a dangerous mindset to cling on to. We are where we are in our lives solely because of the actions and decisions we made. Pure and simple. If we fail to understand this, then we are falling into the trap of victimized. You are not unique to suffering and hardships. Everybody has to go through that in life. The answer is, whether you react to them or you respond to them. How you respond to the hardships in life determine what kind of person you are.
3. Attitude matters the most
How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking – David J. Schwartz
The most unique character that sets human beings apart from the rest of the species is Attitude. The mindset we carry during tough times in our lives is very important. You should have a positive attitude in order to weather the storm. It would be so easy to lose all the hope and optimism during a difficult situation and give up. But many times the situation demands of you to take them on and ride them for a short while. Once that is over, you would get to enjoy the benefits of having a positive attitude. Suddenly you will begin to trust your guts, you will have tremendous belief in your methods and more importantly, you would know what it feels to take on a tough situation and come out stronger on the other side. We see people with so many obstacles achieve great things in life. Sometimes our situation isn’t even that demanding but we fail to put on a positive attitude and accept defeat easily.
In the end, we do not get to choose what is thrown at us, but we can always choose what we make out of it. Our response to the situations matters a lot in spite of the end result. There is no end to the motivation and inspiration around us. Let’s strive to be better, let’s strive to be braver.