Luck is not a passive thing that happens to us.
Luck is not a passive thing that happens to us. It’s something we have the power to influence, to bring to life. There are certain habits that “lucky” people tend to have. Let’s learn what they are and how to put them to use.
Modern Mentor is hosted by Rachel Cooke. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. And luck you - today’s episode is all about how to be luckier. The secret? Well, it turns out you make your luck. Let’s talk about how to do it.
On our fifth wedding anniversary, my husband and I took a trip to Napa Valley, CA to attend an event being hosted by our favorite winery out there. There were tons of people there, and as we schmoozed our way around, we realized we were perhaps the only ones who had traveled across the country to be there—and we’d shared that fact with the winery when we registered.
That day, they held a raffle. And the grand prize was a magnum bottle of a high-end wine, signed by the winemaker herself. It was super coveted. And out of hundreds of entries, my husband and I won the bottle. How lucky were we!!
Only years later did I come to realize that raffle was rigged. I just know it for sure in my bones. They were never going to randomly pull a ticket from the hat. Nope—they were going to reward someone for putting in the effort to be there. It just happened to be us.
Do I believe in random good luck? Sure. But most of the time, folks, luck is not a thing that happens to us. It’s a thing we make happen—actively. So if you’re ready to lean into being one of the lucky ones, let’s get you off the sideline and onto the field!
What do the luckiest people do, not just at events centered around adult beverages, but in their professional lives as well? Here goes:
There’s so much focus today on maintaining boundaries, on protecting your time, on being better at saying “no.” And these things serve us to a point. But they can also limit our exposure to new things.
Say “no” to the things you don’t enjoy—the meetings you have nothing to add to, the parties with people you already know. But sometimes, say “yes” to the unknown or the “I wonder” or the “what even is that?” things that come your way. Because really, you never know.
During graduate school, I took a crazy, unpaid internship with an entrepreneur who was almost bouncing off the walls. On paper, it made no sense. But I was intrigued and I took a chance. Oh, also, I met my husband there. The job was fun. But my life was changed forever and for the better [I know, insert gag. But I’m sure glad I leaned in].
I speak at events, say yes to networking introductions, read books—the list goes on and on—that make no strategic sense. But every now and then something really meaningful (some might even say “lucky”) emerges from those long shots.
I don’t take on more than I can handle. I just challenge myself to say yes for no reason sometimes. Because you never know.
Long-time CEO of McDonald's Ray Kroc once said, “I was an overnight success all right, but 30 years is a long, long night.”
As you look around you and see all the “lucky” people, take a beat and ask yourself: What did they do to deserve those outcomes? What groundwork did they likely lay to be in this lucky position? I’m willing to bet there’s some hustle hiding in there.
I was recently coaching a client on this. She was bummed because a peer of hers had recently been promoted and was now her boss.
At the start of our call, I caught my client dropping the L-word. But when I really pushed her to think about why her colleague may have been chosen over her, she was able to identify a few things her colleague had been doing and she hadn’t. Like…
· Posting thought leadership on LinkedIn several times per week.
· Taking online courses and sharing tidbits of insight with teammates.
· Networking pretty proactively with colleagues in other parts of the business.
· Letting people know she was hungry for a new opportunity.
With an honest look not just at her colleague’s luck but the actual steps she’s taken, my client is now working on crafting her own “luck” in a more proactive way.
There’s an English psychologist named Richard Wiseman who’s done some pretty compelling research on the subject of luck.
In one experiment, he made appointments to meet with a handful of different people (one at a time) at a coffee shop. Some of these people had already self-identified as “lucky” while others as “unlucky.”
Then, prior to each meeting, he placed some money on the ground just outside the coffee shop.
When people would arrive for the meeting, it was the “lucky ones” who were more likely to have spotted the cash. The unlucky ones, not so much.
The takeaway is that sometimes luck doesn’t just happen. It requires your eyes to be wide open—to be looking for it. It may just be lying on the street.
Take a look around you. Maybe your boss has dropped a subtle hint about looking for someone to lead a project, to supervise an intern, to start an employee interest group. How open are your ears for these cues? Don’t wait for the official invitation—look for luck in subtleties around you.
Stephen Hawking was a world-famous physicist who suffered—and ultimately died from—ALS.
He once famously said, "I was lucky to have chosen to work in theoretical physics, because that was one of the few areas in which my condition would not be a serious handicap."
Personally, I don’t think his choice of profession was what made him lucky. His choice to see his choice as luck is what made him lucky. In other words, lucky people are lucky because they can look back on their days, months, choices, and decision points and find luck. The more we see behind us, the more we expect ahead of us.
I’m a big bullet journaler. I used to maintain a gratitude list within it. Some people love that practice, but for me, it felt forced—it fell flat. I’ve replaced gratitude with a section I call “daily captures” and here I capture moments throughout my day that literally feel like lucky moments. How lucky that I sent that reminder email to the prospect who’s now a client. How lucky I showed up for my kid who actually needed me but was afraid to ask. How lucky I checked in with my dad who was feeling a little blue today.
Rereading my captures at the end of a night or weekend always reminds me not of the luck I had, but of what I created. And it primes me for the day or week ahead where more luck is sure to be hiding.
How lucky for you that you chose to listen to this episode. Now please go make something happen.
Hope you’ll join me next week for another great episode. Until then, you can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out my website at leadabovenoise.com – or follow me on the Modern Mentor page on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.