“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.”
~Coleman Cox, 1922
May the luck of the Irish bless you this month of St. Patrick’s Day. “The luck of the Irish” is a curious phrase (I can get behind being Irish myself!) that I had to take a look into the history of. It seems to have started in the 19th century when many Irish immigrated to the United States to try their hand at mining and, due to sheer numbers, many were mightily successful. Then there is Murphy’s Law (which comes with a good Irish name), a true, mathematical concept stating that if anything can go wrong, it will. Hmm, maybe the Irish are both lucky and not.
Or maybe, we are each responsible for our own luck. This is the camp I fall into. Who remembers “The Secret?” It was truly revolutionary when it came onto the scene, and yet something was missing. There was full, in-depth discussion on our mindset and making sure our focus was on the outcome we want, but what was not included was that action is necessary to get us where we want to be.
Things to consider in making your own luck:
1) What we focus on expands-we have the ability to direct our thoughts towards what we want-the Positivity Principle-direct attention on the wants rather than the don’t wants-as we do this we are literally rewiring the synapses of our brain to seek out what validates those thoughts-our brains are neuroplastic-never too late to switch to the power of positive thinking and consciously move towards your desired outcome-be an optimist!
2) Trust our intuition-evolution has equipped us with somatic markers (change in muscle tone, heart rate, etc.) so when we are faced with a decision to make our past experiences and gut reactions guide us to make the right choice-this is a practiced skill that gets stronger and clearer through use.
3) Work for what we want-our actions must match our words-getting what it is we want often requires a lot of sweat equity and time-be diligent in working towards whatever that desired outcome is-each moment of each day is an opportunity to push in-keep at it and our work will pay off.
4) Ask for help-strength is to ask for what we need-maybe it is a coach or a therapist or a role model or someone that is at the place you desire to be-ask for their insight and wisdom-it will probably make the journey easier and, possibly, more enjoyable-learn from the mistakes of those that went before.
5) Just because something didn’t work doesn’t mean we failed-it just means it is time to learn from that and try something else-please don’t give up-be resilient and willing to keep moving forward.
Slainte to us all making our own luck!
