4 Habits of Extremely Lucky People

Luck is one of the most common attributes you will hear from and about people who’ve been successful.

Growing up in one of the poorest countries in the world, luck is the only somewhat positive attribute that I always heard people around me attributing to success. The other of course being corruption.

When I turned 21 and left my country for the first time, I started getting a new perspective on what it took to get lucky and there are a few common themes that I found, whether it was in a lottery winner, life long relationship full of love, extremely rich individuals or any other reality to which luck is attributed.

I of course wrote most of them down, practised them, and found that I myself was lucky after all. I always got the perfect friends I wanted, I always had the money I needed, the grades and talents. To me these are meaningful but anyone can attain them and much more than that.

Defining luck

You may have heard about this definition sometimes. But I first heard my favorite science teacher defining luck when I was 16.

He defined luck as “Laboring Under Correct Knowledge”

That definition is the one I used when I got expelled from school due to poor grades, became better in my classwork, and ended up moving to a new country on a scholarship to study engineering.

Laboring under correct knowledge makes us understand that we can all be lucky since we all do some sort of work and all we have to do is to do work that is on the right track and this is what we are going to explore through the habits extremely lucky people have.

The habits…

1. Mindset

The first and most important habit that all extremely lucky people have is the mindset.

Whether it is someone who picked up a rabbit’s foot and won a million dollars the next day or someone that spent sleepless nights to build a trillion-dollar company, the one habit they have in common is their mindset.

Both science and religion agree that there is a higher power that underlies all existence although it is called different names by both disciplines. I call it the universal mind.

This is important because we are part of that universal mind and we get to channel that mind or energy based on what we focus on.

When we constantly focus on the good, and possibilities, we automatically move our energy vibrations to match the vibrations of that which we are focusing on.

When you want money, for example, I look at it as a vibration of a certain frequency. Having the mindset that is positively expectant and grateful for that money makes you vibrate at the same frequency as the money you seek.

This does not turn you into the money of course but it lets money flow into your life through serendipitous events or ideas on an action you need to take that will get you the money.

There is no magic to this as science has already shown as well.

Lucky people always know they are lucky. They do not just think they are lucky. They know.

How then do you make yourself know that you are lucky?

There are many ways to do that but in my case, I make-believe.

I try to focus on all the good things that have happened in my life however little they may be. It may be as small as picking up a coin on the ground and I give thanks for even that

Here is how top performers in sports talk about mindset.

How to improve your mindset.

Try to focus on finding small things that can make you feel lucky.

Start with your being lucky to read this, and then look for more and more evidence in your life as the day goes by.

Once you do this, you will start to notice that you will be getting more evidence of “luck” in your experiences.

Have you ever wondered why starting your day with a small argument can ruin your whole day and make you very unproductive? This is why.

Your mindset must be focused on what you want.

Where your attention goes, your energy flows and you will get the experiences to which your energy goes.

There is a lady who won over 5000 contests and all she was saying is that she always just knew she would win. Well, she only convinced herself by holding attention to the win and not any other thought.

I am not a fan of lottery or gambling but here is where you can quickly see the effects of people’s mindsets. Those who manage to get their minds right have all the things they need. Just listen to the interviews and you will see.

2. Strategic Thinking

Most extremely lucky people find several ways in which to approach a task or challenge that they need to do.

This of course comes from them having their mindset in the right place so that they can brainstorm better ways to solve the task at hand if there is any work that needs to be done.

Scientists have shown how strategic thinking is very important in boosting productivity in this research

Strategic thinking involves asking yourself questions such as, “How can I do this better?” or “What’s the best way I can solve this problem?”

If you have heard so many streaks of bad luck, chances may be that you do not take time to find better ways to solve a problem. When people are presented with a problem, the majority will be in a state of panic and despair. This hinders the creative input that they need to get things done.

How you can become a strategic thinker.

If you want to become a more strategic thinker, you have to train your brain. The brain is like a muscle and your cognitive capability will increase in response to the training you give it.

When you are presented with a challenge, take a few minutes or hours (depending on how long you have to get it done) to think about 10 different ways to get that task done best.

When I have a client project, for example, I know that my turnaround time is about 3 days at a minimum. The first day is always dedicated to me finding at least 10 ways in which I can do the work I have.

This has resulted in me over-delivering and blowing my client’s expectations away leaving them so grateful for the work I do for them.

Strategic thinking will give you many approaches to a task however mundane and all you should ask yourself is how you can do your work better.

3. Action takers

Lucky people are action takers. I feel this is a very obvious thing but the nature of action also matters. Have you ever seen people that work so hard but get nowhere? This is because they are working hard without proper guidance.

Imagine where you’d end up if you decided to fly a plane from the U.S to the U.K without GPS or navigation.

This is what most people do but not lucky people.

The reason why I brought this point after mindset is because the action needed is going to come from your mindset.

In most cases, once you get your mindset right, you will have intuitive ideas that feel right for you to do. These are the ideas you should be working on.

If you are full of anxiety and despair, the intuitive ideas you will get are going to lead you into taking action that will lead you to tremendous loss, and more anxiety.

What you need to do is to calm your mind and be optimistic. Then act on the intuitive ideas that come from that place.

You can calm your mind through activities like taking a shower, taking a walk in nature, speaking to friends, meditating, or doing anything that you feel makes you relaxed.

I was once short on money and my rent was coming up. I was in India, with 0 rupees in my bank account and I could not figure out how and where I was going to get money for my rent that was coming up in 20 days. During this same time, my food was done. I had no friends or family in Vellore (the city in which I lived) and I also didn’t know anyone.

I was growing anxious and started emailing like 200 people per day to get some freelance work. Sure many of them got back to me. I got so many offers and Within 10 days, I had worked on about 20 projects from logo designs, animations, all the way to video editing. Of the 20 projects, 15 of those clients loved the projects and 5 didn’t. All the 15 however ended up not paying me as they faked excuses.

I had not eaten food in 10 days but only survived on water and a spoon of sugar per day. I was hungry and frustrated but then I took up my phone, switched on my meditation app, and just tried to get back my positive attitude.

My body had gone through constant shivers and shakes due to hunger and although I was weak, I had stopped feeling any hunger at all.

I focused on that and somehow started to feel happy again. After my meditation, I switched on my laptop and decided to watch the hobbit movies since they take me to my happy place.

Halfway through the movie, I got a phone call from a friend from whom I had borrowed Rs.1500 a few months back and as the thoughts came not to pick up the phone, I just thought positive about it and felt grateful that I was talking to someone.

She had left India at this time and as we talked, all I expected was that she would ask for her money but I also took comfort in the thought that she was my friend and she was very understanding.

Money talks came up, she asked me how I was holding up and I pretended like all was perfect. I told her there was this project that I was working on that had some good money coming for me.

She seemed not to care since she then told me that she had left some money in India and wanted me to have it. I was surprised that instead of asking for her money back, she wanted to give me more instead. At the same time, I thought it was like Rs.500 or less so I thanked her deeply and went to meet the person she had sent to give it to me.

On reaching there, I saw a lot of Rs.2000 notes that were being given to me and I could not believe my eyes. She had given me Rs.14,000 on a claim that she didn't need it. She had also told me not to worry about the Rs.1500 as well.

10 days I spent taking action that gave me nothing but defaulting clients and it only took one hour for me to get 14000 rupees and a forgiven debt.

This showed me that my action had to be always rooted in optimism and not pessimism if I wanted it to get anywhere.

Pessimism serves its role in helping you and I plan better but it should not be the driving force of action otherwise you will end up overworked, with no food for 10 days, and nothing to show for your work.

Trust the intuitive ideas that come your way when your mindset is in a positive mental state. This will lead you to what you really want through a series of serendipitous events and people will call you lucky.

4. Consistency

Consistency should be applied to all habits from a positive mindset to taking action. Most people are lucky sometimes because those are the times they get their minds in a positive receptive state and take action from that state.

Extremely lucky people are always consistent in making sure that their mindset is positive and are taking action on the intuitive ideas that come when they are in that state.

You are not always going to be thinking positive thoughts and that should not make you give up. Your goal should be to think more positive thoughts than negative.

Start by actively trying to change your thoughts whenever they do not feel beneficial to you and be consistent at it. It will help you rewire your brain and your 38000 thoughts you have per day will be mostly positive and then you will see yourself being “lucky”