I heard someone I know the other day say “cross your fingers for me.”

Those who know me know that I wouldn’t do that if it were the last thing I could do on Earth. Luck is a figment of the imagination. You don’t get lucky; you create your own luck.

What makes you lucky is four simple practices:

A) You practice being happy
B) You put in the work
C) You play the long game
D) You serve others

That’s kind of it. I know you were expecting some big 5000-word explanation but that’s not how I roll.
The best advice is simple, to the point, inspiring and honest.

These four things have made me lucky over the last few years. People think I must have married a girl with the last name “lucky.” The truth is I’m single for now, so that’s also a myth.

When I reminisced on all that I’ve achieved, I realized that I wasn’t lucky. What I really was, was action orientated. I found the tools and then I made bold decisions. Decisions such as:

A) No more drama
B) Think the best of every situation
C) When time’s get tough, find someone who’s in a worse position
D) Focus on moving forward. Look through the windscreen, not the rear vision mirror.

You’ve seen these four decisions many times I’m sure. Have you religiously practiced them every hour, of every day? I doubt it. That’s the difference between those who seem lucky and those that seem to be unlucky. You have to decide to be lucky. You have to make the decisions that form so-called “luck.”

The myth

I feel like the concept of investing is an excellent way to think about luck.

Investing is the result of doing the same thing over and over, playing the long game and diversifying your risk. Basically, investing is about being consciously smart. So is luck.

You become successful by:

Playing the long game

Luck is stupid because people think it happens in the blink of a moment. Success happens over the long haul. I think it’s at least five years, but insert what ever number you like. My point is that success happens beyond 30 days.

If you don’t think you have created your own luck, then it’s because you haven’t waited long enough. You have to be able to go the distance

Crossing your fingers and hoping for a miracle is like expecting someone to touch your forehead and make you a millionaire. I saw this in a church once by the way, so I’m not making this stuff up.

Doing it over and over

We’ve read a million blog posts about habits and I know for a fact that people love hearing about habits. Too bad people don’t practice them the way they worship the advice. Investing works when you put money into an asset that generates a return over and over.

Success is sort of the same. You must put in energy, effort and belief into your goals every day before you can become what others call “lucky.” It’s boring as hell but it works. It’s the monotonous tasks that create success in the long term.

Diversifying your risk

Luck happens when you spread your risk. I like to have three things or less that I focus on so that if one stuffs up, then the other one can take the lead. You wouldn’t put all of your money into Bitcoin now, would you? You might put a small percentage in though to diversify your risk.

What’s holding you back from appearing lucky?

This is a pretty straightforward question to answer and you’re not going to like it. What’s holding you back is you. More specifically, the “YOU” I’m referring to is your mind which controls every decision you make.

“The way you change your mind is to ask better questions”

Questions are what makes you lucky. With a new question, you can create an entirely different life experience. A question that has made me appear lucky is:

How can I inspire people daily with my dream?

This recurring thought has made me lucky because now I want to serve others using whatever I can to inspire them. I spend a lot of time looking in every hidden crack for a dose of inspiration that could change someone’s day.

This single question has made me lucky. What will make you lucky is:

A) You practice being happy
B) You put in the work
C) You play the long game
D) You serve others

I did these four practices unconsciously at first; now I do them consciously due to the awareness that comes from success. As you develop yourself and learn about who you are, you see what works and what doesn’t work. What’s funny is that what works is pretty similar for all of us.

That’s why we need to compare notes with each other to see that being lucky has nothing to do with success. We create our own luck through the above four practices. We determine if we are lucky. Therefore, luck is something we create and you can create it too. We all can create luck.

“My point is that luck doesn’t fall on your lap with a set of keys to a Lamborghini”

If you find yourself saying “fingers crossed,” or “hoping,” or “with a bit of luck,” then you’re leaving your life up to chance.

By doing that, chances are you will not do anything meaningful or fulfilling. I want more than that for you. Think about that for a moment then go out there and create your own luck.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net