Does Luck Really Exist?

Written on April 29, 2010 by Ali Davies in Business Success Blog
14 Comments - Leave a comment!

Does luck really exist?It doesn’t sit well with me when people tell me I am lucky.

The sort of things it would seem people think class me as lucky are that I only work the hours I choose, my business operates around my family life, we live in a stunningly beautiful part of the world (we moved from the UK to Ireland to live in 2006) and so on.

I am not trying to paint some image of picture postcard perfection here, because it isn’t. We experience challenges that threaten our ideal lifestyle, ups and downs and all the rest of it. But they are things to be dealt with as part of life and part of protecting what is most important to us.

I must admit that in the past being called lucky used to hack me off because the life I have now has got nothing to do with luck. It is a result of tough decisions and choices, financial planning, persevering when you just feel like lying down and giving up and a fair amount of blood, sweat and tears.

These days it doesn’t bother me at all if I get called lucky. I take it with a pinch of salt and move on. The reason being is, personally, I don’t believe in luck.

But let’s come back to the title of this post – does luck really exist?

I believe we create our own outcomes through our mindset, behaviour and choices.

So it really concerns me when people think luck is something that randomly happens to some people and not others. It is almost like they have dissolved personal responsibility for grabbing their life by the scruff of the neck and making it into what they really want it to be.

Life isn’t a dress rehearsal. This is the real thing.

So, for me, the answer to the question “does luck really exist?” is – no, not as something that happens randomly by chance.

What about you? Do you believe in luck? What do you attribute things you’ve achieved to?

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  • I do believe in luck but I don't rely my fate on it. This life we are living is full of mysteries, and it will takes us a lifetime to get even an iota of understanding. I have experienced luck once, and it defies many principles. :-)
  • Hi Walter, thanks for sharing your perspective.
  • Hi Ali, lovely blog, may I share my thoughts?

    Luck isn't a commodity or a right, it's not individual selection, it's there for all of us. We make luck happen by being willing to look up, look out and grab opportunities or possibilities.

    I too (nearly) always get a parking space just where I want it. When I'm clear in what I need or want, it appears ... not by magic, but by being willing to look beyond the obvious and 'suddenly' realising what or who I know, and even asking for help to find it.

    The greatest part of the word attraction is action and without it, we will never be lucky!
  • Hi Jackie, thanks for dropping by. I think what you are saying is all about the power of mindset. To me mindset is the largest foundation stone to success in all areas of life.
  • "The more I practice the luckier I get" - so said Arnold Palmer years ago and he was probably right!
    But what about coincidences? Aren't they just a bit of luck sometimes?
  • Hi Anthony, thanks for dropping by. Great quote - reminds me of the one by Michael Jordan "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed".
    I guess both quotes are proving that practicing and never giving up are part of the success formula.
    On the point of coincidences, I don't have a conventional viewpoint on that as I tend to see coincidences as a result of a choice or decision.
  • Mark Lankester
    Ali, this is an interesting point, which I believe comes from someone else's envy of what they perceive you have. I always remeber being told about someone who always found a parking space wherever he went, even in the busiest cities. Wherever he was he literally drove up and a parking space miraculously appeared! A friend of his always said you are the luckiest man I know that never happens to me! Well the explanation he always gave was that he was not lucky, he just had belief and positive thinking that the space would be there. Luck comes back to what you make for yourself in life.
  • Mark, funny you should mention the parking space thing. Hubby and I have been trying that one out since we read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne and, with the risk of sounding woo woo, it works for us too.
  • Hi Ali, this post gets one thinking. I certainly believe you make your own luck and I agree with all the things you say. There are just some things in life - like the right place at the right time sort of stuff that makes people say, that was luck. This is where I do believe that there can be random 'out of the blue' (or so we think it is) luck if you want to call it that. I'm off to keep making my own luck - keeping focussed and concentrating on the important things in life and letting the rest take care of itself.
  • Sharon, your point about focussing and concentrating on the important things in life is so true - as the saying goes "you get what you focus on". So many people are so busy focussing on what they don't want that they have lost sight of what they do want and so don't take the actions that would get them to where they want to be.
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