Prevailing wisdom would suggest that luck is something that happens to us. That it’s external and not in our control.
When we say things like, “She got a lucky break,” or “As luck would have it,” or “A stroke of luck” what we’re really saying is that some force stepped in to bring a positive circumstance to someone. And that force is in the driver’s seat as to who gets it and who doesn’t, and when it arrives.
While this is a tempting and easy explanation for why it appears that some people get more of what they want (money, love, status, success etc), it’s simply untrue.
Luck is the residue of design.
You know those people you idolize or compare yourself to? They aren’t lucky, they just make different choices. They aren’t overnight successes, they regularly put into motion of a series of decisions and actions that cumulatively lead to the ‘lucky breaks’ you now witness with wonder (and perhaps a bit of envy).
They may….
Have made a choice to publish content every week instead of only when they felt like it. Or they made a choice to reach out to influential people in their market instead of hiding out hoping to get picked. Or they chose to start charging a fee that would actually support the lifestyle they desired. Or they purposefully designed a work schedule that would afford them every Friday off with their family.
They are intentional and deliberate about moving from an idea (desire) into action (outcome).
Choices that bring you closer to what you want, or further from it.
When I think back over some of my bigger successes like becoming a Top 40 Under 40 or being named one of Alberta Venture’s “Top 25 Young Leaders to take Alberta into the Future” or creating a booked-solid coaching business — I don’t think about luck. I wasn’t lucky, I simply made choices to bring about prosperous and exciting opportunities, and then capitalized on them when they came.
Conversely, I think about the times I’ve felt stuck and unsure – those moments (or weeks) when any form of success seemed miles away. What I know is that in those times, I wasn’t making good choices. I was choosing to listen to the inner critic that told me I was confused about my message, or that everyone else had already said what I wanted to, or that I just was too late for the party (PSA: you’re never too late to the party. The doors are always open).
And if I’m being REALLY honest, sometimes I just decided to choose not to choose (which is still a choice). Talk about a luck-repeller!
Luck isn’t for the chosen few, it’s the residue of design. It’s created through conscious, intentional focus and clarity – and by being willing to make choices that support rather than subtract from your intended outcome.
And believing that you are as worthy of all the success as anyone else.
Rumi has a great quote that says:
“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favour.”
If you believed that to be true, how would you begin to navigate the world and your work? If you got that ‘luck’ is simply the intersection of where opportunity and effort meet, how could you rig things in your favour? What steps would you take you’re not currently?
How can you start to design your own luck? Consider this framework:
Preparation + Action + Opportunity = LUCK
Let’s break each one down.
PREPARATION:
The people who appear to be lucky have really just done the work to prepare themselves for an opportunity. They’ve put into place the resources, people, infrastructure etc to capitalize on the opportunity when it arrives.
Because it’s rarely that the opportunity doesn’t arrive, it’s that we’re not ready for it and so either dismiss it or let fear get in the way of accepting it. And then we bemoan why we’re not luckier when it comes to business.
If you want to scale up your business, look at whether you have the systems in place to support growth. Can you actually handle an influx of clients or customers? Do you have anything else to offer beyond your time-for-money service? Many entrepreneurs find themselves plateauing out because while they wish for growth, they haven’t actually put the tools in place to support it.
If you’re early on and desperately seeking clients, what are you doing to set yourself up to be a client magnet? Do you have clearly defined offers? Are you identifying connections who could become clients or refer you to them? Are you working on your sales approach so when luck arrives, you can grab it?
Whatever you’re desiring more of in your business, look at where you can better prepare for your desired outcome. I don’t mean getting trapped in a rabbit hole of over-preparedness and singing the “I’m not ready” song, but I do mean setting up the conditions to support getting what you want.
ACTION:
Luck never comes to those who sit on the sidelines.
To bring luck into your business, you have to get out there and claim it. Once you’ve readied yourself for an uplevel, your next step is to start to take action on the things that will bring your desired outcome closer. This is where having a plan is mission critical for your business. If you’re floundering and flopping from one thing to the other, and don’t have a clear vision of the road ahead, you are not giving luck much of a chance to show up for you.
Success comes from action.
Opportunity comes from action.
There’s a great tale about a man who prays every day to win the lottery. He asks God, “Please let me win the lottery,” over and over and over again, until God finally talks back to him and says, “Well then go buy a ticket!”
Luck is not passive, and it’s rarely coincidental. Luck is doing the work, staying consistent and trusting that the harvest will come (even when it feels like it won’t).
If you want to feel luckier in business, start doing things that will bring about more luck! It’s really not that hard.
OPPORTUNITY:
This is where providence kicks in. When you’re taking continual action toward your goals, things start to just happen. A connection reaches out and refers your ideal client to you. You get the perfect speaking gig you’ve been hoping for. You have a chance encounter on Twitter with an influencer that invites you to partner with them on a project.
Haven’t you had that experience where things just seem to line up? I know I have. When I got the call that I was selected for the Top 40 Under 40, I was elated. And then I got the call that I was going to be on the cover. And then I got the call that I was going to be featured on a number of media outlets. A series of opportunities showed up after that catapulted my career and life.
It “seemed’ like I had a lucky break and honestly, it felt like that too. But the truth was that I had been busting my ass for years honing my skills, building relationships, volunteering in the community and advancing in my career. This was NO lucky break. It was where preparation and action met an amazing opportunity (that I confidently accepted). Had I not done the first two, the opportunity wouldn’t have presented itself.
Bottom line: opportunities are always available. Are you open and ready for them?
Luck is the residue of design.
So design it the way you want it and put it into motion. I can’t say when the opportunity will show up – but I do know it beyond a shadow of a doubt that it will. We all have luck available to us – it’s ours to create and invite in.
