How To Be Luckier

"Some people are just luckier than others."

I heard that comment earlier this morning. "Kyle" was talking about relationships and how difficult it was being single.

"You've been together 19 years?" Kyle said. "I'm not that lucky."

At the time there were too many distractions at the swap meet that prevented me from getting into a deeper conversation with him.

Here's what I wish I'd said:

You can change your luck. You can be "luckier" than you've been in the past. You can change your luck today.

And here's how:

1. Awareness. Be more aware of the times when you're lucky. Find an open parking space? Reach the person on the phone that you needed to talk to? Did the medicine work and you/your child/your pet is no longer sick?

Be aware of it.

Just notice it, and then:

2. Acknowledge it. Make a mental note or say aloud "I'm lucky. Look at what just happened!" Take 5 seconds to acknowledge that something — no matter how small — happened that proves that you're now creating luckier experiences in your life.

3. Activate. Simply by taking the steps above, awareness and acknowledgement, you're consciously activating your filter through which you're viewing life.

The science behind it is called the reticular activating system. Which simply means that, if you're like Kyle above, and believe that you're not lucky, you're going to view your life though those lenses and find evidence of being unlucky. Now, by using these 3 simple steps, you can actually rewire your perception and create instances and evidence that you are, in fact, lucky.

Yeah, but...

Be careful.

Your mind has gotten really comfortable seeing and believing certain thoughts and ideas.

You're going to get tripped up occasionally and find evidence to prove that you were right all along.

You'll want to prove to yourself that you're unlucky.

When that happens, do steps 1-3 again. And again. And again. Until the filter through which you're viewing your life grows stronger.

Be patient with yourself.

Old patterns are so subtle and challenging to identify because they feel like an integral and ingrained aspect of who we are.

Yet, that doesn't have to be true for you any longer. Not lucky? Ha! That's an old story, a thing of the past. Become aware and acknowledge all the ways in which you are indeed lucky, to be alive, to live where you live, to have a safe place you call home, to have a healthy body even some of the time. Add a dollop of gratitude, do it again.

Soon you'll likely find more and more instances of being lucky — and suddenly, without warning, you'll hear yourself joyfully singing right along with Mary Chapin Carpenter's I Feel Lucky!

So, go ahead.... Let us know in the COMMENTS below, what are you lucky about?

We're lucky to have you in our lives, sharing our musings and ideas with you. Thank you!

Big love,

Joseph + Eli