Tag Archives: serendipity

How Can You Become More Lucky?

Do you look at people who are lucky and wonder what they do or have that you do not?

According to James Austin, chance combined with creativity is the equation you need in order to fill your life with more serendipitous events. This equation does not necessarily give you enough information on how to create more serendipitous events in your life.

Chance or luck definitely plays a part in creating these moments of pure genius. However, luck alone would leave your to very minimal odds of getting that stroke of luck you desire. And because serendipity requires a bit of trust in life and going with what is presented, it can make you feel a little out of control–which few of us like to feel.

Are there specific things you can do to increase the serendipity and luck in your life?

The good news is, yes, you can influence how “lucky” you are. Here are some of the key things I have found impact your ability to create a charmed life.

  • Listen! Everyone gets those nudges, hunches, and ideas; but do you follow them? Instead, you probably let your rational mind convince you the idea is silly or unrealistic. The people who tend to be lucky more of the time, listen to these crazy nudges.
  • Connect, connect, connect! The more people you meet the more opportunities you will find. It is really a matter of numbers. Put yourself in situations more often where you might meet the right person or learn something that puts your dreams in motion.
  • Share and be vulnerable! If you are like most people, you hold your ideas close to your heart and rarely let others know what you are dreaming. This can be useful to avoid ridicule from friends or family who might belittle your aspirations; but if you do not share your passion with others you cannot find the people who will help you turn your dreams into reality. Take a risk!
  • Keep learning! The more you invest in learning about your interest the more likely you will learn about the key people and things that can move you forward.
  • Believe your idea will take flight! The last, but perhaps most important element of creating serendipity in you life is believing what you desire to happen will in fact happen. Imagine it is like knowing a certain show is on TV but you do not know which station, or a specific movie is in theaters but you don’t know which one. You would never question the existence of the television show or the movie; you would just search until you found it. Having that kind of belief in your own dreams allows you to be open to the flow of magic called serendipity. When you are trying to force things or doubting they will happen you will miss the cues from life that tell you which channel to tune into.

How Serendipitous Is Your Life?

Don’t you love when things just fall into place, as if by magic? I do.

I have found that most of what I have pushed and pulled to make happen rarely was as sweet as the things that have enchanted, serendipitous beginnings. Yet, I also have suspected that I co-create these moments of serendipity since they seem to happen frequently when I am curious and looking for treasures in the mundane moments of life; and they seem to disappear when I am anxious and stressed.

In a New York Times article I recently read, Pagan Kennedy says the word serendipity originally did connote action on our part, not some good fortune or luck. It originated from a Persian fairy tale about three princess from the Isle of Serendip who had keen skills of observation allowing them to discover things they were not looking for but were present on their travels.

Isn’t that exactly how serendipity works? You are looking for something in your wallet when you see a card from someone you intended to call but forgot. If you pick up on the clue and make the call right then you find some enchanted outcome you did not expect but nevertheless are now overjoyed by.

The keys to cultivating serendipity is in your observing the small cues and then acting on them!

It is a two part process–observe and act. If you are stressed about other things you are not likely to notice the card at all and just push it aside in pursuit of your original quest. If you are in a hurry you might notice, but maybe only make a mental note to make the call later rather than do it now. Either way, the moment will be lost.

According to the NYT article Dr. Erdelez studied 100 people in the 1990’s “to find out how they created their own serendipity, or failed to do so.”

She categorized her subjects into three groups: 1) those that stayed focused on tasks and to-do lists when searching for something, 2) those that occasionally “wandered off into the margins” and had infrequent moments of serendipity, and 3) those she called “super-encounterers.” These were people who expected magic and found it because they looked for “happy surprises” in odd places.

If serendipity is a skill we can cultivate, I want to become a student of it today and increase the enchanted encounters in my life. How about you? Three things seem necessary.

Curiosity

Observation

Action

I am going to bring more curiosity to my life, looking in the oddest places for “happy surprises” and expecting to find them. And when I do, I will act. Sounds like a great adventure!