Luck is defined as: “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.”
There are two types of luck being observed in the world:
- The actual definition above, where the outcome is created by complete chance and the participants had no effect on the situation.
- The same definition above, but only we assume that the participants had no effect on the situation.
Examples of each would be:
- He is lucky the tree branch did not land on his head.
- He is lucky to have found a great job.
In the first scenario luck was applicable, in the second it was not. Luck may have had something to do with being in the right place at the right time to get the job, but the decision to look for the job still lies with us.
So, we will focus on the second example and why it is not a healthy mindset if you happen to think that way. “He is lucky to have found a great job.” is accurate in the observable sense but not entirely applicable to the point that I will be making. Which is to help you see the downside of luck-mentality.
Luck-mentality is a victim-type mindset brought upon by a negative view of one’s own self-reflection. It is based on our negative view of not believing that we can be successful. If others become successful by being lucky then we must be failing because we are not lucky, and not because of a reason that speaks of our efforts or our abilities. When others succeed and we don’t, we make ourselves feel better by removing their efforts and assigning luck to their results.
“He is lucky to have found a great job.” sounds like a positive perspective applied to a negative situation. But, it is more like our own negative perspective projected onto someone else’s positive results. It makes us feel better by removing the power another person has over their life in creating themselves a favorable situation.
It would be a better mindset to assume that he worked hard to be in that favorable situation and luck had nothing to do with it. Without realizing it, assigning luck to results is not useful to have as a thought. Thinking that others have success because of luck does not help us get luck, or become lucky.
Staying with the second example from above, instead of assuming someone was lucky, the perspective that would fit better is “a perceived outcome of success to the observer of a situation they know less about than the participants of the situation”. More often than not, the assigned term “lucky” is an observation to a situation we are not involved in. Which makes the observation pretty inaccurate.
The original definition states “..brought by chance..”. Chance is similar to odds. Odds can be different depending on the situation, and in some situations you can control the odds. But, saying someone is lucky by ending up in a situation they did have control over, rather than gotten “by chance”, is an incorrect observation.
Most of the time, a person in a situation that was observed from the outside was not actually lucky. Instead, they ended up there by changing their odds. They increased their chances that the outcome would result in a benefit to their life. And if luck can be manipulated then it is not assignable as the reason for the outcome.
The word “luck” is often used without being applicable, where the result has more to do with your actions than with actual luck. Actual luck still occurs with no intended input from you, to create it. Whereas opportunities that were put in place by your actions cannot be labeled as luck.
Increasing your chances also means more occurrence of bad results, not just more occurrence of good results. But, those extra chances still aren’t creating bad luck or good luck. Actual luck will have a higher chance to appear, and be observed, but that doesn’t mean it’s the reason for the result.
Some people believe in luck as if it was fate. Fate has a different definition. It’s similar, not only occurring by chance but also aided by a supreme being. Neither luck or fate-mentality is useful as an excuse or a motivator in your quest to live your best life. Living your best life requires an attitude that can appreciate, but does not rely on, a supreme being.
Luck does have a place in your life though. You can avoid car accidents almost daily, which may or may not be within your power. If it’s not within your power and you just happen to not get hit, you can consider yourself lucky. Although, you can consider yourself lucky every second of every day, as your heart beats on.
Ultimately, there is no point in seeing luck as an event. Especially an event with power another person has that you can’t have. Instead, it should be treated as nothing more than another word for chance. And, if chances can be changed, then you can create the results that you want without luck.
