5 Ways to Turn Your Bad Luck into Good Luck!

Has this ever happened to you? You’re running errands. The day is sunny and cool. But as soon as you get to the check-out line, the sky darkens and it starts raining. You end up running to your car and everything gets soaked. Bad luck?

Most people think that luck is something other people have. Some people have good luck and some people have bad luck.

Did you know that you could turn your bad luck into good luck?

But according Richard Wiseman, a psychology professor and author of “The Luck Factor,” your actions and mindset can increase your chances of being lucky.

Want to change your luck? Try following these steps. I’ve started on some of them and I can already see changes in my own luck.

Have a Positive Attitude

Start your day with a bright outlook. Look at things on the bright side.

Keep a journal for about two weeks focusing on the things that went right.

• It didn’t rain until you got home from running errands.

• The photocopier didn’t jam the whole time you were using it.

• That girl at the coffee shop smiled at you.

• Traffic wasn’t that bad coming home. At least there wasn’t a wreck!

After the two weeks, you’ll automatically start noticing the good things that happen all the time.

1. Believe in yourself. More good things happen to you than you realize.

2. Be an optimist. Try to find something lucky about an unlucky situation. Dr. Wiseman used this scenario in one of his experiments.

3. You’re waiting in line at the bank. Robbers come in and start shooting. You get hit in the arm. Are you lucky or unlucky?

4. Choose to think positive.

As the Dalai Lama XIV once said, “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

Pay it Forward

Practice gratitude. Show more kindness. Be generous.

You don’t have to donate money. You don’t have to serve at a soup kitchen. Little gestures of kindness matter.

• Give a random stranger a compliment.

• Pay for the bill in the car behind you in the drive-thru. (I’ve done this a lot. The girl in the window said that one day she had a string of 20 cars paying for the people behind each other. See – people got lucky!)

• Help the lady at the store when her bag breaks.

Being sincerely kind also puts you in places where you’re more aware of fortunate circumstances. It creates relationships.

When you’re around people and you are sincerely generous or kind, people respond in kind. They could give you advice, assistance or connections.

Good deeds sometimes lead to unexpected rewards.

What goes around, comes around.

Trust Your Intuition

Listen to your gut. Not those rumblings after lunch, but those feeling that when something’s right, go for it.

Most lucky people trust their intuition and act on it. Why don’t you?

Unlucky people are usually tense and anxious. Dr. Wiseman found that anxiety leads to indecision.

Be the person that follows their gut. Don’t hesitate.

What would have happened is Sara Blakely hadn’t wanted a more comfortable way to hide bulges? We wouldn’t have Spanx and I sincerely thank her for that idea.

Who would have thought that trying to get rid of your wife’s beanie baby collection would turn into the world’s biggest online marketplace? (Ebay)

Have you had an idea that just won’t go away?

Follow through on that hunch. That idea that popped in your head as you left the coffee shop might be the beginning of something big.

Carpe Diem. Seize the day (or opportunity!)

Expand Your World

Don’t keep going to the same places, change your routine.

Eat at a different restaurant.

Go someplace different for vacation.

Get out of your comfort zone.

• Talk to the lady in line at the grocery store.

• Engage in a conversation with someone at work you don’t really know well.

• You saw on the news that someone did something great. Send them a admiring note in the mail.

You never know who you might meet. Expand your world.

Try, try again.

Most lucky people don’t quit. Thomas Edison said he didn’t fail. He found 10,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.

Try a lot.

Try more things.

Your book has been rejected by 8 publishing houses? Try again, and again.

You want to get a better job? You’ll never get one if you don’t try.

It’s good to have a willingness to learn. But you also have to have the willingness to keep trying when you fail.

Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected thirty times

Here are a few other things that will also help turn your luck around.

1. Ask. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you ask, you might get a yes.

2. Keep your promises even when you don’t want to.

3. Have good values

4. Smile to people as you walk past.

5. Listen more, talk less. If you’re a listener, others are more likely to listen to you and your ideas.

6. Know your goals and dreams. Focus on what you want and what you want your life to be like.

The conclusion to all of this?

Work at it. The more you try, the more likely good things will happen to you.

Stay healthy. You can’t be lucky if you’re not healthy. Some people say that fortune favors the bold. But really, fortune actually favors the prepared.

Prepare your life to be lucky. Open the door to luck and it will find you.

As Tennessee Williams said, “Luck is believing you’re lucky.”