Luck. How far can it bring you?

Music: “Just A Blip” by Andy G. Cohen

From the Free Music Archive Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it" -

Thomas Jefferson - Psychologists use the term hindsight bias to describe our tendency to think, after the fact, that an event was predictable even when it wasn’t. Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along effect or creeping determinism, is the inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it. People really don’t like to hear success explained away as luck—especially successful people.  - Now when we tell stories, we're all biased; events that turned out negatively against us are easier to recall than those that were positive. Tom Gilovich calls this the headwinds/tailwinds Asymmetry - Life ultimately, is a numbers game. The more you put yourself out there, the harder you work, the more opportunities you expose yourself to; and the better your outcomes tend to be. Talk about future episode about the 3 Ps, Preserverence; patience and persistence. "Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity" - Lucius Annaeus Seneca - We should keep working and exposing ourselves to opportunities. Similar to our episode on challenges and failures, we need to keep going. Because; like life, luck is a numbers' game; but one which actually works in our favor. - We need to remember that there is a full spectrum to what we consider as luck. Very good luck could happen whereby some people just happen to make the right moves at the right time or happen to know the right people or end up in the right set of circumstances. Or Very bad luck. Some people make all the right moves, but it’s not the right time. We covered this specifically in our episode on failures; and why you should just treat it as a failed number and move on and try a new approach. - Luck might give you the first opportunity, but you have to be ready to act on it. Not making the most or giving your all for opportunities just because you have been hurt from past failures will mean that you are sabotaging your own chances of success. "Luck always seems to be against the man who depends on it" - Anon - In the end, there are 2 ways to look at luck. The passive attitude on luck. In this case, you assume that success is outside of your control, and there’s no point in trying to hard since you assume you won't get it. And the positive attitude on luck. - More important than luck though; is gratitude. Almost all of us born and located in peaceful, developed countries. Even though we may not be doing "well" or be very wealthy or as successful as we want to be; we are most definitely doing much better than a similar person in a 3rd world country or in a country with war.  - Instead of looking at luck and seeing missed chances, look at the luck and good fortune you HAVE benefited from. Be thankful and grateful; because Gratitude strengthens our emotions.  - we may even find that recognizing our luck increases our good fortune; when we give more and become more generous, we increase our opportunities inadvertently.