People often associate success with luck.

The notion of luck is the easiest way to explain factors of success that are usually difficult to identify directly. In reality, however, there is no such thing—luck is simply the coinciding of life’s random events with one’s own desires and goals.

The successful person simply understands and adheres to a different way of thinking than most of us, and often what seems to be sheer luck in a person’s life is the result of their way of thought translated into their physical reality. A key element of success fundamentally depends on the way you think.

At the core of it, success in business, in relationships and just about anything, for that matter, has no necessary relation to your academic education, your experience in the field or your exceptional talents. Of course the aforementioned qualities will naturally contribute to your journey to success, but ultimately all of them mean nothing if they are embodied in a mind that unconsciously hinders their true potential.

Success is the direct outcome of how you think. It is a state of mind which ultimately becomes a way of life.

So, if you want to start calling yourself one of “the lucky ones,” you must first be willing to change your way of thought. And if you still choose to call it sheer luck, well then, here is the formula to getting lucky!

1. Every set goal for the lucky person is already a ‘done deal.’

Whatever it is that they have set before themselves to achieve, they have already mentally decided that it is going to happen—no question about it! There are no obstacles big enough that can hinder their path. Sure, one must always be prepared for challenges that may or will arise during your journey. It is part of life, and overcoming them often teach us invaluable lessons about ourselves and even hint us toward a better direction.

What sets the lucky person apart from the rest of us, however, is their predisposition toward their future goals. Before anything has been accomplished, they have already convinced themselves that either way their goal is going to be achieved, it is going to happen, and that’s the end of it! It’s a done deal!

2. The lucky ones are ‘here, now, always.’

They do not live in the past, nor in the future. The lucky person lives here, now, in this very present moment where reality lies. They do not wish to travel back in time nor run ahead of time. They create new possibilities instead of wishing to change past events. They concentrate on the task at hand instead of waiting for future opportunities. They understand that to live in either state (past or future) incessantly is painfully detrimental to one’s progress in life.

To align your goals and desires with life’s events, you must understand where you stand in the frame of time. Don’t waste your time living in a phase that’s already been lived. Change can only occur with time, so if you want to make a change in your life, begin aligning yourself with the present moment.

Understand that time is change. Neither phase of time was ever better or worse, they were and will continue to be a reflection of their present state. If you’re still stuck in the past, just keep in mind that your “bad” times will soon be the “good old days” of the unlucky ones of future generations.

Just be here now!

3. The lucky ones do what they can, with what they have, where they are. Without excuses!

Delete from your mind such thoughts as, “I will start on my business idea once I have enough money to rent an office” or “I will be successful once I leave this town.” Things don’t miraculously happen to lucky people—they simply do what they can with what they have, no matter where they are.

Unless your life is in direct danger at this very second and you’re fighting against your heartbeat, there is no reason as to why you should not be doing what you wish to do right now. The hardest obstacle in achieving your goals is often overcoming the fears and excuses of taking the first step. Presumably, you are healthy enough to be alive, you are conscious enough to be reading this, and therefore fully capable, as humanly possible, to do what you can, with what you have, where you are now!

Not tomorrow—now!

4. Lucky people understand that nothing is meant to be, it is what they make it to be.

Most of us have heard the saying, “everything is meant to be” or “everything happens for a reason.” Well, these impressions may be comforting to some, but the truth is that nothing is meant to be, everything is simply what we make of it.

Good things happen to lucky people because they understand the role that they themselves play in the process. When they want to achieve something they do not sit back and allow for destiny to hand out the cards to them. Instead, they shuffle the cards themselves—in their favor! If all things were truly meant to be then what would be the use of doing anything at all? We can just sit back, complain, whine, cry and blindly accept that things are meant to be this way, or it all turned out like this or that for a reason.

Well whatever happens, there is a psychological and a physiological reason why, but things don’t happen for a reason, there is a reason before things happen. Reasons always precede the outcome.

Things will happen as a collective result of what you think, do and say. They will not happen by themselves, and they sure will not happen for some higher purpose, or because it was meant to be that way by some external force or godly influence. They will happen because there were thoughts and actions put into play by you that lead to the outcome or circumstance that you are in right now. Period!

The lucky ones understand this, whether consciously or unconsciously. The sooner you realize the true power and potential that is within your control, the sooner you will make your destiny what you wish to make of it.

5. The lucky ones are always first and foremost grateful.

Most of us are keen on counting up the bad events of our lives more often than the good, because doing so validates our own vulnerabilities, and leads us to unconsciously seek for comfort by reminding ourselves and everyone around us about how unlucky we are, and how unfortunate we are and so on.

What sets the lucky person apart from the unlucky, however, is often the mere acknowledgment and verbal expression of whatever good they posses in their life. The next time you feel the urge to validate your vulnerability and seek for comfort in the mind of someone as—or even more—oblivious than you are, stop yourself. Validate your heartbeat. Validate the fact that it’s still going strong, still there by your side (or rather inside you) helping you to stay alive and live another day to enjoy all the amazing experiences and feelings that life has to offer.

Instead of dreading over how unlucky you are, begin acknowledging all the other aspects of your life that you have managed to bring into reality. It may be your partner, your family, your kids, your friends, your dog, the roof over your head, the chair you’re sitting on, etc. Start being grateful for at least one thing everyday, and you will start seeing the great fortunes and possibilities that have been in front of you all along, just like the beating of your heart.

Being lucky means understanding and acknowledging the luck in every possible aspect of your life. By being grateful for even the smallest of things that have turned out well (even though you may not see them now), you open and expand your mind to seeing, admitting and appreciating that speck of luck when and where it happens next.

6. Lucky people are not just optimistic, they are self-willed optimists.

Whether the cup is half full, half empty, neither or both depends on how you choose to look at it. In any case, whatever your answer may be, you are equally right. It is fundamentally up to you how you choose to conclude the state of the glass, just as much as it is up to you on how you choose to take in the circumstances, the events, and environments of your current state of being in life.

Sure, being realistic or pessimistic is often necessary in certain judgments, but it is where you choose to take the potential of your realistic or pessimistic perspective that matters. Lucky people know that part of the outcome of any given event depends on how they choose to think of it, and by willing themselves to be optimistic they have already tapped into that reality.

The main point here is not about being blindly optimistic in the face of turmoil, rather it is about self willing yourself to be optimistic in the face of that same turmoil. When you begin to will yourself into thinking positively, you allow yourself to expand your thoughts into further possibilities. Because in the end, whether one thinks the glass is half empty and another thinks that it’s half full, are both equally right.

Next time life hands you a half empty glass, consider it for what it can also be…half full!

7. The lucky ones find what they look for.

Lucky people understand that whatever they come across, mainly depends on what they continuously look for. For this reason, they are conscious of the things they seek for mentally. Life is abundant with random events, and the chances of you finding yourself in any given possible outcome are all almost equally possible. Therefore, if one is constantly thinking about how unlucky they are, rest assured that they will find it in more ways than not.

This isn’t some kind of magic, it is just the way things are. Whatever you seek is already there, and whatever you seek you will find, because it is already there. Begin to think of the things you wish to find. Mentally search for the things, events, people and circumstances you wish to find.

Luck, too, is always there, you need only seek it to find it.

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Assist Ed: Ben Neal/Ed: Sara Crolick