***How Lucky Are You?

Surprisingly, luck is not a matter of chance! It has been scientifically proven that we create our own luck—good or bad—and that we can change our luck, too!

Last Saturday I took part in a local Toronto conference entitled Discover Your Personal Branding. I was offered a free pass, and I have to admit that initially I was reluctant to accept it. For one, I am choosy about how I spend my free time in our all-to-short summers—even though that day turned out to be cool and grey. For another, I was not expecting very much out of the conference—and I apologize to everyone who in the end made it a fantastic learning experience.

As is evident, I decided to go—and I am so very pleased that I did for a number of reasons:

First, I was among a group of very positive people open to new experiences. Second, I learned a lot—the insights I gained from the panels and workshops I attended were great. Third, I was opened to a number of hot leads—which was not my reason for going and I didn't expect. The words "helping you to clear your internal limitations" below my name on my name tag stopped people who wanted to know how I do it—I ran out of business cards!

And so, I felt very happy—and lucky—that I had been offered the ticket, and that I had accepted it and had decided to go. Had I stayed at home doing what I usually do on Saturday mornings, I would have missed out on the opportunity for new learnings and new friends—and all the fun.

Over the years I have come to realize that for the most part we are the creators of our own experiences. Our so called "mind-set" is determined by how we think and what we think about, what we believe—both consciously and unconsciously—how we behave, and how we feel about the experiences and the events in our lives. More important, we can influence and change the patterns of our experiences—and thus change our lives. This has been proven time and again in the past two decades by psychologists and other behavioural and cognitive scientists examining what determines "destiny"—our so-called "good luck" or "misfortune."

A number of key factors have been identified as important determinants in how we experience life. Based on a decade of research, Professor Richard Wiseman has concluded that people who consider themselves lucky "generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."

In short, there are many things that we can do to change our luck for the better:

• Allow for and be open to new experiences. New experiences bring possibilities for new opportunities. At the same time, work to reduce our stress and anxiety levels can improve our ability to perceive these opportunities. Constant tension and worry have been shown to raise our anxiety levels and undermine our capacity to perceive opportunities.

• Trust the guidance of our intuition. This can best be achieved in multiple concurrent ways: Heighten the sense of being connected with energy sessions, meditation, and/or other stress-reducing relaxation practices. Live more closely to nature and/or be exposed to experiences that raise levels of vibrations. When we strengthen our sense of being connected, we live more from the heart and are better able to access our inner wisdom. We learn to trust our sense of ourselves and our intuition to make decisions that are the most beneficial from the opportunities that arise.

• Consciously change our perceptions of our experiences and/or circumstances. We can train ourselves to think positively and to expect positive outcomes. In time and with practice, this will be second nature.

• Choose our responses to events and situations in our lives. How we respond to events and situations in our lives affects the probability of similar experiences recurring in our lives. The proverbial glass holds the same volume of water for everyone; it is up to us to decide if we perceive the glass as half-full or as half-empty. When we see the glass as half-full, we are more inclined to consider experiences in our lives as positive and to seek more of the same; we feel lucky—and we are happier, too. Our "failures" we more easily accept as valuable learning experiences, steppingstones on our way to success. By contrast, when we see the glass as half-empty, we feel unlucky and perceive the slightest missteps as signs of misfortune, that we are "losers" and should have never tried in the first place.

So, the next time you are offered an opportunity—perhaps a free ticket to an event—accept it. Or, take a small step now on your own to offer yourself the possibility of an opportunity. Perhaps take a different route to work: You might get lucky and meet someone who changes your life. Or you might find that the commute offers pleasing scenic views. Make a change—and make a change often and routinely. And be creative in all areas of your life. When you change the way you do something, you can expect changes in the results of what you do. It's a win-win—and you might even get a chance to share the benefits!

It would be greatly appreciated to hear from you on your experiences.

Svetlana S.