Welcome to the March 2014 edition of Insights. I hope you will find this month's selection of articles interesting and thought-provoking, and that you will take from these words at least one thought or idea that you can use to bring about a positive change in some aspect of your personal or professional life.

A blind man was sitting in a park with a cardboard box at his feet and holding a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." He had been there almost two hours, but there were only a few coins in the box. 

A man walked by, took some coins from his pocket and dropped them into the box. He noticed how few coins there in the box and said to the blind man: "I know a little about marketing, do you mind if I change your sign a bit?" The blind man said "not at all." Then the passerby took the sign, turned it around, wrote a few words on the back, and returned it to the blind man saying "try this." Before the blind man could even ask what the sign now said, the man was gone.

Soon the box began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind man. Not only were there many more coins, but there were also many bills of which there were none before the wording change. He also noticed that several of the donators actually spoke with him, conveying positive, uplifting messages, whereas none did previously.   

By afternoon the money kept rolling in, and the blind man's curiosity was getting the best of him. As yet another person put some money in his box, he appealed to the person saying, "I know this may sound silly to you, but a few hours ago a man changed the wording of my sign and he left before I could find out what he had written. Would you please tell me what the sign I am holding says?" A lady replied, "It says 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.' "  

The reason for the different responses to the two signs has to do with the subconscious message each communicated. Of course both signs conveyed the idea that the man was blind, but the first sign simply asked for a donation by trying to get people to feel sorry for the blind man. The second sign didn't even ask for a donation. Rather, it connected powerfully with people's emotions, making them realize how fortunate they were that they could see the beautiful day, thereby inspiring them to donate to the blind man.

I think there are two points to this little story. The first is that people are generally more motivated to act when their emotions are triggered in a positive way than they are in response to a more negative approach. The second is that it's important for each of us to reflect from time to time on how lucky we are and how thankful we should be for what we have. When life gives you 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

If you know of anyone who you think might also be interested in receiving Insights, please forward this issue on.

As always, I would be very interested in receiving your feedback.

Pat Iannuzzi  

THREE WAYS TO INCREASE GOOD LUCK  

It's interesting to consider the different ways that people view the concept of "luck."  Some believe that luck, whether good or bad, has simply to do with random chance happenings that occur throughout our lives. They see luck as resulting from being in the right place at the right time. Others maintain that luck is predetermined by mystical forces that influence the outcomes we experience, implying that fate or karma plays a role in the luck we experience. Either way, luck is often cited as the predominant factor responsible for a person's success or failure, suggesting that an individual's particular set of circumstances is more the result of chances occurrences outside of a person's control than the direct impact of one's own actions. Still, others feel there's really no such thing as luck; rather, that good fortune is merely a byproduct of one's hard work and determination.

Certainly things happen to each of us all the time that appear to come clear out of the blue. We all experience misfortunes as well as happy surprises that we had no role or responsibility in creating. Finding a hundred dollar bill on a sidewalk or having a car dented accidentally in a mall parking lot are events that are random and difficult, if not impossible, to cause or anticipate. Such instances are pure chance occurrences that either benefit us or harm us without any connection to our plans or intentions. Max Gunther in his book The Luck Factor defines luck as "events that influence our life and are seemingly beyond our control." At first glance, it might look like there is truth to this idea. After all, some people's lives overflow with abundance, vitality, successful careers, and loving relationships seemingly without obvious intentional effort.

LUCK CAN BE A POWERFUL FORCE

Luck, however, is more than just a chance event, whether mystical or accidental. Webster's Dictionary defines luck as "a force that brings good fortune or adversity; a force that operates for or against an individual." So, if luck is a force, why shouldn't we be able to tap into it? For centuries, people have tried to do just that. Those who believe in the luck force have tried in various ways to harness that force by summoning the luck power of various objects and rituals.  

The practice of knocking on wood, for example, is thought to date back to pagan rituals aimed at eliciting help from powerful tree gods. We still do it today though few, if any, of us worship tree gods. It is well known that many so-called "lucky people" carry a "lucky charm" of some sort such as a horseshoe or a four leaf clover. Franklin Roosevelt carried a rabbit's foot in his pocket for many years; Napoleon carried a lucky coin; Michael Jordan, the famous Chicago Bulls basketball star, spent his entire NBA career wearing his old University of North Carolina shorts under his team shorts for good luck.

CHANCE EVENTS PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LUCK TO HAPPEN

While the words "luck" and "chance" are closely related and are often used interchangeably, it is important to recognize that they are not the same thing. A chance event is basically an unexpected random occurrence of some kind while luck has to do with the kind of impact such an occurrence has on us. Chance events in themselves do not generate luck, but rather provide the opportunity for luck, good or bad, to happen. Luck, then is the effect of chance on our lives. Whether and how such an event affects us is largely determined by our own attitudes and behaviour. We may have little or no control over the elements of chance, but we can have a great deal of control over how we deal with them, and how we deal with them shapes our luck. 

We are continually confronted by pure chance events through our interaction with the people, things and situations we encounter in the course of our daily lives, but we ignore most of them either because we don't perceive them to have any significance for us or we don't recognize them in the first place. It is only when a chance occurrence, either good or bad, has a significant impact on us that it gets our attention, thereby causing us to acknowledge it and respond in some manner. Meanwhile, because most of the chance events that pass through the sphere of our lives go unnoticed by us, we may be missing out on a multitude of opportunities for good luck simply because we never devote the time or effort to really become aware of them.

TAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO LUCK

For some people, it's a comforting thought that success may be due to luck. It means that they do not have to do anything more than just carry on and hope that luck (like winning the lottery) might make them successful. It can be satisfying to feel that successful people really aren't much different than they are except that they're just luckier. This reflects a passive approach to luck; just hoping and waiting for something good to happen. A proactive approach toward luck is when we put ourselves in a position to recognize and take advantage of potential luck opportunities when they come by. It means that we are not only ready to spot such opportunities, but that we can intentionally generate them.

This attitude acknowledges that we can make our own luck by focusing on key elements such as knowledge, skills, strategy, style and persistence. It's less about what happens to us and more about what we make happen out of each opportunity. If we take a passive view on luck, success may happen to fall our way, but if we take a proactive view on luck, we can increase our ability to generate good luck and take advantage of opportunities as they occur. We will so increase our effectiveness in handling negative situations that may arise.

THREE KEYS TO INCREASING GOOD LUCK

1. Prepare To Receive Good Luck 

We can improve our luck by making ourselves more ready for the chances of life that come to us. According to the Roman senator and philosopher Seneca, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." While being in the right place at the right time can be an important contributor to luck, most people find themselves in such a position because of design rather than by accident. They get what appears to be the big break, but in reality they worked hard planning and following their hearts to get to where the big breaks come. When we are prepared, things go our way more often. When we are not, things can fall apart. A major key for having more good luck is to develop the skills, self-awareness and attitudes that prepare us to recognize and take advantage of an opportunity when it arises.

Someone who by chance encounters a career opportunity for which he or she is well qualified is truly lucky, but another person who is not qualified and is faced with the same opportunity is anything but lucky. That person might even be described as being unlucky, but that person is not unlucky because something bad happened, but rather because something potentially good happened that the person was not prepared for. Most successful people come to understand over time that the harder they work, the luckier they get. They view "good luck" as the direct result of consistent, organized, enthusiastic preparation and effort. Our beliefs about luck can really shape our chances for success.

2. Expand Your probability For Good Luck

Luck has got more to do with probability than anything else. Probability relates to the likelihood or odds of something happening. The more we can increase the probability that we will encounter potential luck-generating events, the more likely we are to actually experience good luck. The more curious we are, for example, the more situations we may able to create from which luck may emerge. Open your eyes, look around, ask questions and put in that extra efffort. Assume nothing! Curiosity will lead you down roads that you might not otherwise have traveled. You just never know what you might bump into, what opportunity might present itself, or what positive change you will affect through your creative and curious mind.

Two of the best ways to "be lucky" are to be willing to take calculated risks and to embrace unexpected opportunities. Try new things. Go to new places. Change your routine. Don't just do the things for which you know the eventual outcome. Stretch yourself.  Go outside your comfort zone. Open Your Mind. Consider chance opportunities. Lucky people regularly have them; unlucky people don't. Expand your personal network so that you will have more support and resources to help you thrive in more situations. Even though winning a lottery may be an incredibly remote probability, purchasing a ticket can dramatically improve your chances of winning.

3. Be Persistent 

There is a powerful correlation between persistence and luck. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are the authors of the best-selling book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. You could say that they were pretty lucky to have become so successful with their literary idea. The fact is that they approached over 130 publishers over a two-year period before a struggling publisher agreed to publish their book. Similarly, Thomas Edison had over 10,000 failed attempts to create the light bulb before he finally got lucky.

Luck needs time to evolve. Attempting something for only a short time usually does not generate a lucky outcome. Persistence is closely connected to preparation and probability. The more we attempt to do something, the better we usually become at doing it. We learn from our experiences. Furthermore, the more times we attempt something, the greater becomes the probability we will succeed. As in baseball, the more times a player comes to bat, the more likely he or she is to get a hit.

Some popular singers make it with a poor voice; some celebrities make it without being the most beautiful, the most talented or the most connected. It's because they are persistent and believe in what they're doing, through and through. Ultimately, the key to seizing luck is to finish what you start or to work it into a new way to try again

No matter how you view luck as an element of success, it's up to you to seize that moment to control your future,. No one else can do it for you. How lucky are you?

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Pat Iannuzzi
Symbiont Performance Group